Whodunit: Murder at the Italian restaurant

The employees are dropping like flies at Il Giardino, and it isn't because Deacon is working them to death. Steffy hurled accusations Sheila's way. Read on to see why it probably isn't L.A.'s resident poisoner, but could it be Bill's new daughter? Thomas played proposal chicken with Hope one last time, and she blinked! Get the two scoops on why wedding bells may never ring for Thomas and Paris. Plus, why is Hope suddenly in the market for a man? Let's scoop!

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Er, so I guess Hollis won't be chaperoning Luna and R.J., after all. Last week, it was chuckle-worthy when Bill set Hollis straight about Luna having a boyfriend. While I wish Hollis would have quipped back, "No, Bill, I like older blondes," there was nothing funny about MILF Sheila finding Hollis dead behind the bar at Il Giardino the next day. There have been stirrings among the viewership that Hollis might have killed Tom, but unless Hollis just poisoned himself, I believe we have a serial killer on our hands.

Could it be the Count, who might be upset that his sommelier position got phased out for Tom's concert events? Maybe it was the disgruntled Li, looking to smear Sheila with something more criminal than Bolognese in the face. Perhaps it was Justin, who hoped that keeping Luna's real paternity a secret might help him get Bill Spencer back on his friends list. And what about Jack, who had a seemingly harmless drink with Hollis the night of the concert? Could it be Poppy, who crushed up the last of her pills and sprinkled them into Tom and Hollis' drinks?

If someone as sexy as Hollis had to die, all I ask is that Brooke has a flashback ode to his riveting smile and self-esteem-boosting kiss. After that, Chief Baker can hang up the phone on Detective Solve Nothing Steffy and focus on who the real killer is -- because it sure ain't Sheila.

And Then There Was One -- the one they always blame

All the Kimberlin Brown sinister-mugging in the world won't get me to believe Sheila is Il Giardino's serial killer. The primary reason I won't is because Steffy called the police on Sheila. Steffy, known for jumping to the wrong conclusions -- mistaking a razor for a gun -- shouldn't be taking a stab in the dark at this, pun intended. Her inability to leave Sheila alone, the very thing she expects Finn to do, spells the demise of her marriage. Steffy needs to stop sticking her nose in other people's business before it gets cut off.

I'm aware that the crime has Sheila's MO stamped all over it. Poison. Sheila has been known to taint tea with mercury or switch sparkling juice with liquor. She also tends to use one's weakness to her advantage, such as Lance's bee allergy or Mike's fear of dogs. However, I don't believe Sheila poisoned Hollis and Tom any more than I believed she shot Bill or Quinn during those mystery stories, and here's why:

First, consider the victims. If Sheila really wanted to kill someone, who do you think would be first on her list? That's right. The self-deputized busybody Steffy. Or Jack Frost's evil grandma, Fridgid Li. Second, there's no motive. If Sheila refuses to let anything get between Deacon and her, she surely isn't going to let a double murder indictment wiggle its way between them.

Hollis was killed for what he knew about the letters. Something really bad for Sheila would have to be in the letters to make her kill Hollis and leave him in the open at the restaurant or cause Tom to croak before a crowd on stage. She didn't even want Tom's biohazard backpack on the premises, let alone two dead bodies on the floor by table one!

Dead bodies all over the place is bad for business, and Sheila is not a sloppy killer. Plus, she's smart enough to know she will be the first person on the homicide squad's suspect list if two people at Il Giardino crop up without a pulse. The first death might be viewed as an overdose, but two overdoses in two days, possibly with the same drug? I have a hard time believing Sheila, lucky to be alive, is on a killing spree, starting with the man who helped save her life.

Unless...

Putting all we know about the cunning villain aside, could Tom's letters to Poppy contain information about Sheila's affair with Jack that might indicate that Finn is not Sheila's son? Nope. I doubt even that because if it were true, Sheila would have already disposed of that backpack, and Hollis never would have found the letters.

My vote for the killer isn't Steffy's birth mother-in-law. It's her father-in-law. Jack pointed out that he'd had drinks with Hollis the night of the concert, so it wouldn't surprise me that Hollis would talk to him about the letters if he showed up again. Did you notice that when Sheila discovered Hollis, the bag and Hollis' drink were gone from table one? I also question why Jack was at the hospital. Was it really to see Finn -- or to steal some drugs?

Wasn't it odd that Jack was talking to Finn about Finn's relationship with Poppy and Luna? Jack somehow knew of Luna's newfound paternity and spoke of Poppy with love in his voice. I think either Jack or Finn is Luna's real father, and Tom had known something about it. Perhaps it could be that Tom had even contacted Jack before his concert to start legal motions inquiring into Luna's paternity, something Jack didn't want to happen.

Heck, if it ain't Jack, I'm pulling a wild card. It's Luna. Luna had seen the name Tom Starr before on a letter her mom had kept. After seeing Tom's name on the event flyer, Luna opened the letter and then confronted Tom. She poisoned his drink with leftover mints and killed him. When she went to cheer up Hollis, he showed her the letters, and she tapped some drugs into Hollis' drink, too. Long shot? Let's tune in and find out!

Three strikes, you're out!

The rule of baseball also applies to romance, and with three strikes, Thope is out. Thomas tried to force Hope to put up or shut up about a future with him. When Hope did neither, Brooke had a moment of reckoning with herself in order to get Hope to see that she was attempting to reunite with Thomas to avoid her newfound feelings for Finn.

Hope rebounded with Thomas to avoid dealing with her divorce. She then rebounded from Thomas by getting the hots for Steffy's husband. Hope attempted to rebound with her initial rebound, Thomas, to get over her second rebound, Finn. Sound confusing? Not to Brooke, who saw her daughter repeating her mother's old patterns.

Recall that Brooke, after losing Ridge, went after Thorne and wound up hooking up with the married Deacon when things fell apart with Thorne. Is Finn Hope's Deacon? If so, that means Liam is Hope's Ridge, and Lope is on the horizon. They will reunite after our emotional Goldilocks figures out that no man is perfect, but Liam is just right for her.

Does it mean Thomas will marry Paris? No. While Rome might be the city of love, Paris is the city of breakups. Liam and Hope hit the skids when Liam was late to the meeting spot in Paris. Zende moved to Paris with his wife Nicole but returned to L.A., divorced. Maya flew back from Paris after her marriage with Rick had ended. Thorne and Taylor broke up in the city of lights, too. Something tells me that Thomas will return from Paris without Paris just in time to make the third point of a love triangle with Hope and either Liam or Finn. Of course, like 95% of the time, I could be wrong.

Solving Hope's romantic geometry problems is just as unpredictable as solving her single problem. Why is Hope suddenly scoffing in doubt when anyone tells her that she'll find the man for her? More to the point, why are Brooke, Finn, and Ridge down the rabbit hole of Hope finding a man at all? I thought she was still processing her divorce, working on her line, and focusing on motherhood. Yet the new refrain for Hope's life seems to be to hold on because she'll find the man for her -- but she doesn't need a man. Which it is?

In a look ahead: Baker brings Sheila in for questioning

As the B-Character murder train rolls full-steam ahead, Li and Finn make a significant discovery during Hollis' autopsy. When they divulge it to Steffy, she lets the allegations fly. I assume she doubles down on her accusation against Sheila, and if Sheila was smart, she'd respond back with allegations of her own -- like Steffy is just trying to set her up.

Deacon begins to wonder if two deaths in his restaurant are more than a coincidence. You think, Deacon? A missing clue causes Baker to take Sheila in for questioning. While I believe it's true that Baker doesn't have a clue, the clue referred to in this spoiler might be Tom's backpack.

Finn issues Liam a warning about Steffy. Nothing new there. Brooke worries about the trouble Hope's feelings for Finn could cause. Nothing new there. Steffy lays down the law about Finn and Hope for the Future. Nothing new there, either. However, what could be new, if Hope isn't fantasizing, is that Finn denies Hope when she discloses her burgeoning feelings for him.

That's it! That's all the scoops and nothing but the Two Scoops! Scroll down to the comments section below and give us your two scoops for the week, and until we scoop again, stay bold and beautiful, baby!

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