1982 (#31) - Traci's line problems and the dream come true of singing with Danny

Even the youngest of John's daughters, Traci, decided to stay in Genoa city, to the joy of her father, following the arrival for Jack's wedding. John, in fact, hoped that Traci would be able to enroll at a prestigious university, but in the end her choice to enrol at the less high-profile Genoa City University makes John happy anyway, so he can be close to his daughter. In fact, Traci's decision is essentially due to Danny's presence in the city, of which she is a fierce supporter. Traci, a very different girl from her older sister being more shy and introverted, is a much more problematic and rebellious girl than Ashley. The first problem, for Traci, is her body shape; Traci feels ugly and doesn't accept herself for what she is. Luckily for her, however, Traci meets a valuable friend in Angela, who helps her in her goal of losing weight and becoming more attractive. Angela, who worries Robert quite a bit when she runs away from home, since Robert is afraid that she might end up in the Golden Touch prostitution ring, soon starts attending Jona's, taking Traci with her. Traci soon stands out for her love for Danny and is unanimously elected president of Danny's fan club after Patty, now married, resigns from the role. Traci gets to know Danny and highlights his magnificent singing skills; the girl literally amazes the rock star, who decides to have her perform in front of the audience during one of his concerts. Impressed by the young girl's voice, Danny decided to let her join the band, which leaves a very happy Traci speechless. She realizes her dream as a child and soon develops a crush on Danny, with whom she falls madly in love. Meanwhile, Gina Romalotti, Danny's older sister, returns home. The boy, as soon as he sees her, closes the door in his face, but to the woman's demands he finally gives in. It turns out that Gina has just come out of prison, where she has been locked up for five years, being a long time scammer. Danny wouldn't want anything to do with her, but having no courage to kick her out of the house, not having any property, he decides to take her in. Right from the start, Gina takes an interest in Danny's business and life, congratulating him both on his success as a singer and on his acquaintance with Traci, an Abbott and therefore a great economic potential for them.

1982 (#22) - Andy and Paul's undercover investigation

Shocked by the accusations against his father and the suspension from work, Paul decides to investigate. With him, there is also a determined Andy, who after being left by Jill decides to start a new life by going to work in Paul's own detective agency. To be convinced that there is much more behind Carl's accusations is not just Paul, but also the head of the department Frank, who secretly contacts Paul to investigate the case. Frank warns the two boys that theirs must be an undercover job that no one should know anything about; in particular, not even Mary and Carl himself should suspect anything. To do this, Paul stages a furious quarrel with his mother Mary for futile reasons, culminating in the abandonment of the house; this inexplicable episode, for Mary, is followed by an argument with Carl, in which Paul accuses his father of being a corrupt and a criminal. Having eliminated all suspicions and any relationship with his family, Paul can finally act undercover. Paul's first objective is to track down Pam Warren, who doesn't work at Jona's anymore. Paul meets Cindy, another maid who, he suspects, may be linked to the prostitution trafficking, having been caught with Tony Di Salvo, a mafioso who works under Pete's name. Paul, unlike his father, shows an interest in dishonest business and, when Tony is arrested for violence on poor Cindy, Paul contacts Tony to help him out of prison, in exchange for some information and tips to reach other members of the gang. Tony then confirms that he works for Pete in the drug trade, while Lenny Wilkens organizes the prostitution trade in a new club called Golden Touch. Because of this, having touched one of Lenny's favourite girls, Tony found himself with the problems he now has with justice. Paul, therefore, now knows who to contact - Lenny. Through him, he finally manages to intercept Pam Warren. Andy repeatedly tries to warn Paul of the danger he's in, but he doesn't seem to have a clue, not even when Lenny puts a knife to his neck as a warning. During his stakeouts at the Golden Touch, Paul also intercepts young Angela and, before she can be hired and put to work as a prostitute, she is rescued by the man and, without being seen by Robert, is taken to safety before an interested Lenny can hire her.

1982 (#21) - The relationship between Leslie and Robert and Claire's catatonic state

Setting aside Vanessa's death, Lorie's trial and acquittal, as well as the struggles over the acquisition of Prentiss Industries and Brooks' custody, it's time to start a new life for Leslie. After Jonas' departure, she finds herself alone again trying to forget her feelings for Lance. Luckily for her, it's the lawyer Robert who is standing by her, who, after exonerating Lorie, hasn't had as much of a future with her as he'd hoped. However, it was at the trial that Robert got to know Leslie, with whom he first had a simple friendship, then a growing relationship that soon turned into love. Robert soon finds himself involved with Leslie, to whom he confides he is actually married despite his wife, Claire, who has been hospitalized in a psychiatric center in a catatonic state for fifteen years that has projected her out of the world. Robert then admits that he has a 16-year-old daughter, Angela, to whom he never had the courage to tell the truth and who therefore believes that her mother is dead. In the meantime Leslie gets to know Angela and there is an immediate connection between the two, so much so that Angela hopes she can be a good companion for her father. Soon, Leslie tells Robert that she thinks it's right to tell Angela the truth, and so Robert discusses the matter with her daughter. Angela cannot believe her father's words and immediately asks to visit her mother. The visit, however, turns out to be very different from what the girl had hoped: Claire finds herself in a complete state of shock and hardly reacts at all to stimuli. The doctors, however, urge Robert to pursue an innovative treatment, which could lead to new hopes. Robert, meanwhile, is officially engaged to Leslie and the two begin to think seriously about marriage: on the other hand, although not official, the law would allow Robert to divorce at any time. Angela at this point opposes the relationship between Robert and Leslie, she would like to step aside, despite Robert says it's time to move on with her life. But just when the two start planning their wedding date, the doctors inform Robert and a very happy Angela that Claire seems to be finally on the path to recovery. Leslie agrees to suspend their relationship to give Robert room to be with Claire, who quickly recovers and can finally embrace her daughter again. When the three of them decide to try to reunite their family, Leslie realizes it's time to leave Genoa City behind and go on a European concert tour with Maestro Fautsch.

1982 (#13) - The investigation into the mafia racket, Carl's suspension from the police

While Carl and Mary are busy with apprehension following the events involving their daughter Patty and the forthcoming possible marriage to Jack, no one suspects the imminent tragic events that await Genoa City and first and foremost the members of the Williams family. It all begins when Carl is supported in his work by Alex Morgan, a long time corrupt police officer with connections to the mafia. Carl soon begins to suspect Alex's shady behaviour and in great secrecy begins to write a report to be read, once complete, to their boss Frank Lewis. Carl, thus, begins to investigate his own teammate, who evidently knows very well the mafia boss Pete Walker, who is supposed to run a lucrative and dangerous drug and prostitution ring. Alex and Pete soon realize that Carl could be a problem for them and they decide to get rid of him by framing him with false accusations; and so, when Carl manages to contact Pam Warren, a waitress in Lucas' club who is suspected to be a prostitute, she drugs him with pills. Having regained consciousness after the stun, the man is accused of rape. Carl admits he doesn't remember anything, but he doesn't think it's possible he did something like that. Mary, initially angry at Carl for what she thought was a fling, begins to realize that there is something strange going on and swears to Carl to believe him. Robert Laurence, meanwhile, offers to defend the man for the symbolic sum of $50, knowing the financial difficulties the Williams family faces. He is deeply grateful to him, but he cannot avoid being suspended from police duty, which destroys the man. Carl's accusations against Pete, who denies ever having known or seen Pam or Carl, fall on deaf ears. The same Carl's boss, Frank Lewis, does not believe a single word of the accusations of Pam, but is forced to sign the suspension of the man's service, accomplice also the testimony of Alex, who swears to have witnessed the advances of Carl against Pam.

1982 (#9) - Lance's anger and Victor's ascent to Prentiss majority

Released from prison, Lorie hopes to finally clear the situation with Lance and pick up where they left off, which leads Robert to understand how his flirt with Lorie would not continue. But Lorie's fantasies about her possible marriage to Lance, encouraged by the fact that it was Lance himself who found the proof queen to prove her innocence, are soon denied. Although Lance has reconsidered Lorie's guilt, in fact, the man shows that he is still completely furious with the woman for the lie kept hidden for years. Even after processing the news, Lance is still unable to forgive the woman and understand her excuses and justifications, which leaves Lorie heartbroken. An angry Lance then confronts Leslie, who admits that she knew everything from the beginning and that she kept the truth hidden, not wanting to interfere with Lance's happiness and his marriage to Lorie. These motivations were not accepted by Lance, despite Leslie makes it clear that this was a real sacrifice since she gave up, and still does, to the man she loves. Lance, not moved by Leslie's confession of love, decides to take some time to think about what to do and to start all over again. Meanwhile, the fate of Prentiss Industries is at the center of discussions. Victor, who already owns half of the company's shares after purchasing half of the entire shareholding from Leslie, is looking for the majority of the shares to acquire the entire company and control over it. As Lucas and Leslie renounced their shares, the remaining shares of Vanessa are inherited by Lance and Lorie, who are entitled as they had worked there while married. Both have thus received 25% of the shares. In this situation, it is easy for Victor to get close to Lorie and, taking advantage of their friendship and of a proxy for ordinary administration already obtained during the trial, to buy her shares. In fact, Lorie lets herself be fooled by Victor, who makes her believe that Lance is back with Leslie and promises to go back into the deal if Lorie wanted to.

1982 (#5) - Robert's defence, Leslie's testimony and Lorie's release

After the revelation of the letter revealing the truth about Brooks' paternity, Lorie's position in the process becomes much more critical. Lorie, at the suggestion of Stuart, decides to hire a new lawyer. Robert Laurence, Stuart's friend and acquaintance, is a young but successful lawyer who gladly accepts the difficult case of Vanessa Prentiss' death. Robert asks Leslie's cooperation to testify in Lorie's defense, but it doesn't help because they lack proofs. As promised, Leslie testifies in favour of her sister, telling everything about their difficult and often critical relationship; despite this, Leslie knows Lorie and is convinced that she is totally innocent, as she had to deal with a manipulator like Vanessa. The great work of Robert and the defense are reopening the trial. But Lorie's happiness is now compromised by the fact that Lance hasn't visited her since the day the truth about Brooks came out. However, Lorie's desperation is alleviated by Robert's behaviour, both during the trial sessions, with always very convincing arguments, and in private with the woman, where he assures her that he would not defend her if he did not believe her and did not trust her 100%. Robert's assurance triggers the passion between the two of them, who kiss furtively in prison without anyone seeing them. Lorie, meanwhile, begs Leslie to take little Brooks away from the trial and the woman reassures her sister that they are going to Switzerland for a short time. Before leaving, Lorie thanks her sister again, as she asks Lucas to look after Jona's, which was left empty after the boy told the woman he wanted to leave the city; giving Lucas a purpose, Leslie hopes the man can overcome his difficult time of depression after his mother's death. The trial, meanwhile, continues relentlessly and sees Lorie's position worsen when she finds herself forced to explain the money she received from Vanessa herself. At this point Lorie, also accused of threats and blackmail against the woman, seems to have no hope of being absolved. But as often happens, fate turns everything upside down in a short time. And, paradoxically, it is the man who is most disappointed by Lorie who exonerates her. The long-awaited and fateful evidence able to prove the defense's thesis, in fact, materializes thanks to Lance, who in fact finds in his mother's house some painkillers that specifically suggest that Vanessa had been affected by the disease and that she was now in a terminal phase, something confirmed by her doctor during a sworn testimony. Returning immediately from Switzerland for the verdict, Leslie goes to trial for a final hearing shortly before the judge withdraws for trial. It's little Brooks, in fact, Robert's last desperate card to play; after the agreement of the court to question the child, he reveals that he saw Lorie's typewriter used with Vanessa's gloves. It was at this point clear that Vanessa had planned the whole thing and to the great joy of Leslie, Lucas, Robert, Stuart and Lorie herself, the woman is declared innocent and released from prison.