When the cover-up is the crime

Bill thinks he's good at keeping secrets, but Thomas busted him for using hair dye and teeth whitener. If Bill can't keep those secrets, how will he manage a cover-up with blabbermouth Liam by his side? Bill claims he'll do anything to protect Liam, but does that include doing time? Get the two scoops on why Bill might have to put his life on the line to save Liam's.

When Liam missed his lunch date with Hope, was anyone else wondering if Hope was tempted to call Steffy to make sure Liam didn't show up on her beach vacation? I'm just saying -- I sure would have. The last time he mysteriously texted that he wouldn't make it, he was busy getting busy on Steffy's couch. Liam's done something wrong again, but luckily for Steffy, she gets to sit out his latest bonehead drama.

This time, Liam's partner in "crime" is Bill. Bill has got himself beard-deep in a cover-up after Liam hit something in the road while driving Bill's car home from Brooke's house. I got bad news for anyone hoping that something was Flo. Sadly, it wasn't. That something, however, was indeed a someone, and that someone was Vinny.

For anyone who longed for the return of the cutthroat, refuse-to-let-the-police-take-prisoners Bill, he's back and sexier than ever when he's protecting what's his. What's not sexy is the literally faint-of-heart Liam, whom his father picked up like a princess in distress and rescued from the big, bad responsibility dragon called justice.

Bill took care of everything -- the clothes, the wallet, the phone, and the car. While doing it, he even committed some bonus crimes like robbery and fleeing the scene. Bill has it all handled. All Bill asks Liam to do is shut up and eat tofu like normal, so no one suspects anything. There's just one problem. Liam can't keep a secret to save his marriage. If Liam's guilt is anything close to the way Liam felt about his one-night stand with Steffy, Bill had better try locking Princess Liam in a tower until this mystery gets solved.

Unfortunately, while calming scared Liam's guilt, Bill probably made some cover-up mistakes that might lead the police to his doorstep. When the police come a-knocking, Liam is gonna start a-talking. The question is, will Bill take the blame for Vinny's death to keep Liam out of prison?

Let's get two scoops deep into the cover-up that has become worse than the non-crime because Bill decided to get rid of evidence in an accident. Also, they say idle hands are the devil's workshop, and we'll talk about how loud and embarrassing it can get when Quinn ain't got nothing better to do, this week on The Bold and the Beautiful.

One of the most important elements in a cover-up is getting your story straight. In fact, if Liam and Bill had gotten their pre-crime stories straight before the cover-up began, there might not even be a cover-up. It's too bad Liam passed out like Princess Waffle before they could talk. Oh, wait a minute -- they did talk beforehand. Bill must have been too wasted on the Dressmaker's tequila to remember that Liam, not Vinny, is responsible for Liam's marriage problems.

Bill thinks he needs to protect Liam because the police will assume that Liam intentionally hit Vinny because Vinny ruined Liam's marriage and family by switching the paternity test results. The only problem with that theory is that Vinny didn't ruin Liam's marriage or family. Liam did.

All Liam and Bill have talked about for weeks is Liam's marriage troubles. Even though Bill blames them on Thomas for kissing a doll, Bill certainly knows Vinny isn't the reason Hope and Liam are separated. If anything, Vinny finally confessing helped improve Liam's situation with Hope. Liam couldn't stop grinning on the whole ride to the crime scene because he finally kissed Hope for the first time in months. Why in the world would he ruin that by intentionally running Vinny over?

I'm hard-pressed to buy that the cops will think Liam killed Vinny at a time when the wheels of justice had just started to turn for a crime that only affected Liam because he was too lazy to get his own DNA test. Vinny was out on bail, but he was about to face justice for falsifying Finn and Steffy's paternity test results. I repeat, Finn and Steffy's paternity test results, not Liam's

All the altered test Vinny cooked up did was state that Finn wasn't the father. It didn't state that Liam was, so how can a prosecutor link that back to Liam wanting to kill Vinny over the result? If Vinny had altered a test involving Liam's DNA, I'd understand.

Bill also makes the case that Liam hated Vinny for giving Steffy a fake test result. Liam even said he hated Vinny for it. Guess who else wronged Liam and caused problems for him and Hope but manages to still breathe above ground? Bill, Quinn, Thomas, Wyatt, and Flo, for starters. So, while I get Bill's motivation to protect his son, I'm unmotivated by the motive Bill has come up with for the prosecutors to seek to send Liam to the electric chair.

Liam has factors working in his favor if Bill had let Liam tell the truth. First, it was dark on that road. Second, Vinny was wearing all black. Third, Vinny might have bruises on him from a fight, so if Bill and Liam had gotten him help, maybe Justin Barber could prove in court that Vinny staggered into the road after someone else beat him; however, no one will listen to Liam and Bill now that they left Vinny like roadkill. And that begs the question: What's Vinny's story? Why was he on that road?

I don't know if we'll find out what Vinny was doing walking around Bel Air in the middle of the night. I don't recall where Brooke's home is located. I didn't think it was Bel Air, but maybe it is. If so, perhaps Vinny was going to Brooke's house to apologize to Liam and Hope for complicating their troubles by switching Steffy and Finn's test results.

Vinny might have been out there selling opioids; however, when Bill went into Vinny's pockets, we didn't see a wad of money or drugs fall out. The news report said it had been a robbery and mentioned nothing about drugs or wads of cash, so we might be able to rule out a drug deal.

The nagging mystery I'm left with about the drugs is how Bill knew Vinny was a drug dealer. I don't recall anyone telling Bill that about Vinny. I don't even think anyone knows that but Steffy and Thomas. And yet Bill called Vinny a low-life drug dealer on Friday's show. Interesting.

Here are some comments about it from our Soap Central message board:

"Bill did try to kill a woman and her baby that he thought was his grandchild at the time. That's why I was surprised yesterday when Liam said this is not who 'we' are. This is exactly who Bill is." -- ABeth

"We have to ask ourselves what's worse -- falsifying test results or killing someone and leaving them on the side of the road? Vinny's life was no less important than Liam's." -- LBC

"Bill (to Liam when back home): 'Out of 4 million people in L.A., you had to hit Vinny.' Gotta hand it to B&B for keeping things a little campy." -- Diamondgold

Yes, Diamondgold, Bill gets the best lines, and it was very appropriate, considering how often Liam bungles things. Scott Clifton and Don Diamont are proving why Liam and Bill are the best father/son duo in daytime. Their characters couldn't be more opposite, and yet, they are stuck having to work with each other from total opposite ends of the justice spectrum.

On one hand, Bill has a complete disregard for any life not connected to his own. On the other hand, Liam is a sniveling pool of nerves at the idea that he took a life. Some viewers shun Bill for his disdain toward Vinny, but as ABeth said above: it's who Bill is. The question remains, if Bill's cover-up falls apart, would he be willing to go to jail to spare Liam?

Last-minute cover-ups are probably not Bill's forte. He's used to dumping his victims into the ocean or letting them fall off the cliff, so the fish can deal with them. Unable to transport Vinny from the scene, Bill took Vinny's personal effects instead and tossed them into a ravine. The next day, Bill jogged down to see if there were any cameras at the scene. He got rid of his and Liam's clothes, and he scheduled the abrupt sale of the damaged car.

Did Bill cover all of his bases?

Bill didn't see any cameras on the scene, but I hope he checked to see if any car parts from his "one of fifty" of that kind car fell off. The grille was damaged, meaning Liam and Bill actually hit something. Since the news report didn't say there was a deer or dog beside Vinny, there's no way around the fact that the something they hit was Vinny. If Bill's car grille was damaged, I wonder if the emblem on the front of the car fell off. If any piece of a rare car falls off, it's got to be traceable back to a rare car, right?

Next, Liam warned Bill about the tire tracks in the road. They will be traceable. Bill asked what car and bragged about selling the car to a sheik halfway around the world. I'll tell Bill what car. It's the car that will be listed on the bill of sale for those fancy tires at the shop where he bought them. Bill must not watch Forensic Files, y'all.

Third, Bill might not have seen any cameras, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a witness. Is it possible that someone saw Liam and Bill hit Vinny and leave him to die in the road without medical help? And that brings me to the most important thing Bill missed. Vinny's pulse.

Bill keeps saying that Vinny was dead, but he never checked Vinny's pulse. What if Vinny had merely passed out? What if paramedics could have revived him? Whether we find out there is more to Vinny's death than just Liam's role, the hard truth is that Bill left Vinny to die. The moment Liam regained consciousness and didn't call for help, Liam became guilty of it, too.

Bill is gung-ho about protecting his son and making sure his son doesn't lose his family and freedom. I just wonder if blood is thicker than a prison sentence. If the police implicate Liam in the crime, will Bill protect Liam with everything Bill has -- including Bill's freedom? If the police track the crime back to Liam, I'm interested to know if any of you think Bill would tell police that he was driving in order to save Liam.

Liam laid down some hard truths this week when talking to Bill. Liam said he didn't know who he was anymore after the things he'd done. Liam stated that he wasn't a good guy. Bill reminded Liam that he was William Spencer III, son of "Dollar Freaking Bill." Liam said something else about himself. "I'm pathetic," he stated, and that's the truest statement of all.

Zende planned a romantic date, but thanks to Quinn and Zoe, gastrological clouds grumbled across his French-themed evening for Paris. He had looked forward to learning more about her, but he wound up hearing more than he ever wanted, straight from her gut. In the end, though, Paris learned the most important thing about Zende: he'll love her despite her toots.

Evil is like air. It must fill every crack. Quinn is evil. Even though Paris had done nothing to her, and Zoe means nothing to her, Quinn just had to pull a nasty prank on Paris. Some will say that Quinn didn't tell Zoe to do it, but the Devil didn't tell Eve to eat the apple, either, did he?

Quinn never got caught spiking Brooke's drink, and there she goes, spiking someone else's drink without even knowing if Paris would be allergic to anything in the herbs. I hope Eric knows that Quinn hasn't changed one bit.

All that aside, the actors hammed it up and enjoyed the scenes. After all, we're all twelve at heart, according to Quinn. It even sounded as if Diamond White (Paris) had added extra vocal sound effects to the gurgling. Her looks were priceless as she tried to figure out just what was wrong with her.

Paris ran out and went to work, of all places. Come on, writers. Everybody knows people prefer to sit on the toilet at home in peace with an Eye on Fashion magazine. Please give Paris an apartment. Maybe if she and Zende had somewhere else to go, Quinn wouldn't have tried to "gas" them out of her house.

Eric and Quinn are becoming distant. I suspect his stomach might have something to do with it. We can look forward to Eric confiding in Ridge about it, and Ridge can look forward to gagging as he listens. Zende will try to heal his relationship with Carter, and Zoe seeks her happy ending. Meanwhile, the police investigation heats up, and Liam and Bill feel the pressure when the accusations start to fly.

Thanks for scooping with us this week, and I look forward to reading your comments in the comment section below. Until we scoop again, before you sell your murder weapon car to a sheik, make sure it doesn't have a GPS or recording camera inside before it ships. I don't know why, but I worry that it might be important later. Stay bold and beautiful, baby!Chanel

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