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 Feeling
rejected by her children Gina and Mack, Phyllis Blake temporarily leaves
Santa Barbara for San Diego in February 1990. There, she reunites with
Cy Agnew, an old friend with whom she had lost touch.
Cy
is a small-time crook, scraping by with petty theft. No matter the
schemes or the marks he is trying to fleece, he only cares about the
money that keeps him going until his next crime. He warmly welcomes his
friend Phyllis to the small dingy hotel room he's staying in.
While
listening to Phyllis over cans of beer, Cy is already thinking about how
he can use her. Engaged in a poker game with two of his friends, Moe and
Larry, Cy arranges for Phyllis to win all the money. But behind this
small-time scam, Cy has another idea in mind : to get Phyllis to invest
in another of his schemes. Cy manages to convince her to invest $150,000
in a project. Eager to get her money, he does not hesitate to follow up
with her. And without asking any questions, he accepts a check from
Phyllis signed by Gina, money actually intended to pay for the insurance
of the Lockridge Villa.
One
evening, when Brandon suffers a head injury in the swimming pool at the
Lockridge mansion, Cy is there to rescue him and take him to the
hospital with Phyllis. It is also the night Laura Asher sets the mansion
on fire, destroying it completely. Phyllis then realizes that the check
she gave Cy was actually the one intended to pay the mansion's insurance.
She tries to reassure Gina by explaining that Cy's investment is
expected to earn them 1 million dollars, one quarter of the amount Gina
will have to pay Augusta Lockridge in compensation for the fire damage. But
another piece of bad news soon follows. Phyllis receives a letter from
Cy informing her that the person to whom he entrusted the money has
disappeared, and that the entire investment has been lost. By choosing
to hide behind a letter rather than face her in person, Cy bids Phyllis
farewell and, at the same time, makes his own exit from Santa
Barbara...
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