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Wednesday, February 21, 2001 Henry visits his employer Mei-Lin in jail, thinking he has
the upper hand now. It turns out he's wrong; he's still in trouble, and so is
Craig. Mei-Lin is in the Oakdale jail and has told Hal that Craig
murdered Winston Lowe. So far she has not given away the identity of her
accomplice, Henry, despite Hal's repeated questions. The guard tells her to look
alive, she has a visitor. In walks Henry, claiming to be "just another
member of the press, looking for a statement. Do you think you can give the
Intruder a quote or two?" "Why not," answers Mei-Lin, and the
guard leaves them alone. "I have a few moments between appointments, and a
few unprintable phrases for you, Coleman. What are you doing here?"
"Is that any way to talk to a visitor?" asks Henry. Mei-Lin tells him
he must be out of his mind, the police are trying to trace the fingerprints that
he left in the horse trailer. Henry responds that he takes risks, that's why she
wanted him to work for her. Mei-Lin says she thought he would have been far away
by now. Henry asks how he could have done that, with no money and no contacts.
Mei-Lin tells him that if he's looking for money, he's come to the wrong place.
Henry tries to threaten her, "I need to get out of town now. If you can't
help me do that, then, well..." "Well what?" asks Mei-Lin.
"What are you going to do, call the police? Welcome to the real world,
Coleman. You work on commission, and in this case, that means you should get the
cell next to mine." Henry asks her to listen to him, and she says that he's the
one who needs to listen. If he says one more word she'll tell Hal all about
Henry's part in this. "You seem to have forgotten who you're dealing with.
You do not give me orders, you take them. And I have one for you right
now." Defeated, Henry asks her what it is. Mei-Lin reaches through the bars
and grabs Henry's tie, telling him to find Montgomery and tell him to post her
bail. "Well, as much as I would love to speak to Craig on your behalf,
we're not on speaking terms right now," admits Henry. "Fired again?
You're not very good at keeping a job, are you? Or perhaps you think you're
safer with me behind bars." Of course not, Henry protests, why would she
think that? "Go to Craig, and you tell him that his latest girlfriend's
husband is putting quite a lot of pressure on me to come clean. He's typed up a
statement blaming Craig for everything, and all I have to do is sign it."
"When you say everything, can you define that, exactly?" asks Henry
worriedly. Mei-Lin tells him that he doesn't want to know, just find Craig and
get him to cough up the bail money. His neck and Henry's are on the line. Henry
asks what happens if he can't do that, and Mei-Lin says he better pray he can.
"Because if I go down for this, I assure you I am not going alone. There's
room enough for three in here." Henry leaves the jail and goes into the police station,
where he eavesdrops on a conversation between Hal and Carly. He threatens to
take Parker away if she doesn't help him get Craig. Meanwhile, Craig is having a drink with Barbara at the Lakeview. He has told her about his financial difficulties and has turned down Barbara's offer for a loan. Henry walks in saying, "I hate to interrupt." Craig tells him, "I don't have time for this now." "Well, you better make time, Craig." Barbara asks if this is about business, and Craig replies that it better be. He tells Barbara that he hates to cut this short, but they will be together again soon. She leaves and Craig says, "All right, Henry, be succinct." "My pleasure. Your friend Mei-Lin is going kamikaze. She asked me to pass along a message to you. EIther you bail her out of jail with all deliberate speed, or she will, I quote, 'tell them everything.'" "Everything?" asks Craig. "She implied you'd understand," replies Henry. "Is that all?" asks Craig. Not quite, says Henry. He tells Craig that he overheard Hal threaten Carly that if she didn't find something to pin on Craig, she'd lose visitation with her son. Craig doesn't seem too happy about what he's heard. "Thanks for coming down, Henry. I have a few obstacles to get rid of, once and for all."
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