Who killed Diane Jenkins?

That is the million-dollar question that has every fan pointing at possible perpetrators. Most fans assume the killer isn't likely to be a Genoa City regular.

That is the million-dollar question that has every fan pointing at possible perpetrators. Although the flashbacks made it appear that each of them could have killed Diane, most fans assume the killer isn't likely to be a Genoa City regular. Which pretty much eliminates all of the bridge visitors. Although this storyline is only beginning to meander its way through many expected twists and turns, some fans are still tossing out some early guesses. Fans Annie and AJ suspect Deacon as the killer. Fan Pat aims a suspicious finger at Nikki, while Marge, Colleen, and I, for the moment, have placed our penny on Patty's square. And finally, several fans wish the killer could be Phyllis, Adam, or Victor, because they are three residents some fans wish would go away forever.

I picked Patty, not only as the possible killer, but also as the mysterious person Adam spoke to on the phone. At first I thought the caller could be Skye, who used her athletic prowess to climb out of the volcano, having perhaps only fallen onto a ledge just below the surface. But if Adam knew Skye was alive, there would have been no point to the prolonged storyline involving the memory card. And yes, I am keeping in mind that occasionally our scribes have penned a tale or two that made no discernible sense to us fans.

But, in this instance, let's presume Adam has had to continually feed cash to Patty to keep her from returning to the scene of the Hightower crime, among others. Since he seemingly refused to send her any more financial assistance, perhaps she came back to blackmail him in person. Of course, since we are talking about Jack-obsessed Patty, it's not that much of a stretch to believe she may have first paid a visit to Jack's house, just in time, of course, to witness Diane dropping her dress before Jack's unbelieving eyes. That performance would definitely have incensed the brain-scattered one enough to whack Diane in the head ten hard times. A sane person would have stopped after two blows, three tops, and we all know sane has not applied to Patty for a very long time. By the way, we all saw the peeper drop something as he or she hurried away. Obviously there is more to that part of the story yet to be told.

I have to admit the whodunit week hooked me from second one and kept me that way until the credits rolled on Friday. It's too bad Maura West had to be sacrificed on the altar of storyline fodder, but no one can say she didn't get a heck of a sendoff! Her performance leading up to her murder more than made up for the dreck she slogged through getting to this point. I don't know whether her death was conceived along the way or exactly what the scribes had planned for her from the beginning. If it was the latter, then once again I have to call our scribes brilliant. And if it wasn't, whoever came up with the idea should take a bow.

It was great fun watching her bring all her antagonists to the brink of blind rage. Even more entertaining was hearing her break them off a piece of her furious mind as she told them all about themselves. I know I couldn't have been the only fan whose thoughts sometimes rolled right off Diane's sarcastic, razor-sharp tongue. My two favorites -- to Phyllis: "Everything you got, you either got on your back or by snatching it out of someone else's hands." Too often true. And to Ashley: "save your sanctimonious drivel, you frigid ice queen." She's right. Ashley's always been sanctimonious, and her love scenes have seldom come across as overly warm. Many of Diane's words to her self-righteous enemies were hilarious and contained more than a grain or two of truth. My rewind button was working overtime because some of her jabs had to be enjoyed multiple times.

Okay, I don't know who I'd like to smack sensible first. Victor or his whiny daughter, Victoria. First of all, I am itching to sit Vicky between my knees like I do my daughter and take a good strong brush to her messy mane. I know a wafting tendril or two can be sexy, but this is more than a tendril or two, and it darn sure is not sexy. My biggest problem with this look is that I remember Victoria as almost always polished and well put together. She's a Newman, often accused of being a prideful ice princess. When did she turn into such a poor me crybaby? Suck it up, girlfriend. Don't you have any big girl panties?

As for Daddy, what is his problem with Victoria's love interests? I know she's a Daddy's girl, but this is ridiculous. Isn't Victoria close to 40? He doesn't micromanage Nicholas' love life. And, except for the fact that he's a hated Abbott, Victor has no real reason to hate Billy with such passion. All Billy did was love and respect Victor's daughter. Yes, Billy pulled some bonehead stunts trying to make that whiny woman smile again, but he didn't abuse her, marry her for her money, defraud her, kidnap her and keep her captive in her own childhood tree house, or cheat on her. Victor needs to get a grip or a hobby and let Victoria live her life.

I rather like Ashley and Tucker together, but I have to admit I enjoyed karma paying a call on him. Tucker had plenty of chances to come clean about his close and kinky encounter with Diane; instead he chose to let his lie cause a rift between mother and daughter. At least he did have the good grace to finally admit his indiscretion. He deserves props for that because with Diane lying dead on the pond bank, unable to ever dispute his version of events, he could have gone to his grave with the truth unsaid. Oh well, he'll likely be in the doghouse for an extended amount of time, but I'm guessing he and Ashley will eventually find their way back to each other.

I'm glad Ronan is back so we can finally find out why he ran away after his brother's sacrifice saved his life. Poor Nina, a mother who is only allowed one son at a time. So, besides concentrating on eliminating murder suspects until only one is left standing, which Genoa City woman will eye him with lust or love? Heather or Chloe?

Okay, I officially detest Katherine. Who is running Chancellor Industries, while she's trying to take over McCall's? And now she's meddling in Tucker's marriage, the son she once didn't even remember. She may be doing what she thinks best out of love, but I'm not enjoying this side of her.

The coming weeks should be full and juicy. Besides the murder mystery, there has to be a huge clash of the titans coming between Jack and Victor over custody of Kyle. Could this be the one battle Jack finally has a chance of winning?

Then there's Adam. His plans haven't had the best track record for success, and although he thinks he thought of everything, Diane has all kinds of monkey wrenches thrown in the murder machinery he's managed to cobble together. With Diane dead, he may be off the hook with the SEC and possibly back on the Newman board, but he could be charged with Diane's murder. (You just know they are going to find those shoes with just enough mud residue left for CSI to prove they came from the mud around the pond).

Speaking of that mud, won't CSI have their hands full tracking all those footprints the many suspects made while manhandling Diane?

Well, I'm out of here for this week. Until I next appear, I hope you enjoy a few comments from your fellow soap junkies. And send me an email to share your thoughts with me -- and your email might appear in a future column.

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August 5 was one of the worst shows. I hated the voiceover. They tried it once before and apparently everyone hated it. This is not Sex and the City -- it worked there. - Susie

I am sorry to see Maura West eliminated from the cast. I think she did a fantastic job portraying a poorly written, ill-conceived character. Diane was manipulative, crafty, self-centered and needy. But she was not stupid. Any intelligent person, and Diane was an intelligent professional woman, could have foreseen the consequences of her actions. The writer's had Diane in a perpetual state of hurt surprise when people reacted badly to things she had done. Diane could have been a really interesting character if the writer's had known what to do with her. - Yvonne

Hopefully when Diane flew off the bridge, she landed on the memory card that Adam threw out; someone finds it and we can put an end to the ridiculous storyline of Sharon/Sam/Adam! - AJ

I've had this recurring thought as I watched Adam and Sam. What if Adam isn't really Hope and Victor's son? He's Tucker's. While Sam really is Hope and Victor's? The babies were switched at birth. While baby switching storylines aren't my favorite, can you imagine the irony of Adam, a known baby-switcher, having been switched at birth (whether purposefully or accidentally) himself? It would be an interesting twist other than the by-now-obvious theory of Sam being Tucker's son. And, if good ol' Sam turned out to be a Newman, it'd be interesting to see him mix with his brand spankin' new siblings. You know that Nick and Victoria aren't always the most accepting. - Tiffany