Lt. Ed Hall wasn't convinced of Steve's innocence.

Lieutenant Ed Hall of the Llanview Police Department launched an investigation into Marcy�s death. Though Steve proclaimed his innocence, Lt. Hall developed his own theory that Steve and Marcy were having an affair behind Viki�s back, and when she planned to blow the whistle on him, Steve killed her. Viki watched in horror as her fianc�e was charged with first degree murder. Only Marcy�s purse, containing an incriminating note saying that Niki Smith planned to kill Vince Wolek, could save him.

On the waterfront, a mysterious, unshaven man who had read accounts of Steve�s plight, located the missing purse in the belongings of his vagrant friend, Charley. This stranger held the evidence that could exonerate Steve Burke and that man was none other than the not-so-dead Joe Riley! Suffering from a potentially fatal brain aneurysm, Joe stumbled into a Llanview diner and passed out, where Wanda Webb, a tough-talking waitress with a huge heart, nursed Joe back to health�and fell in love with the handsome stranger in the process!