Sonny Literally Pulls Chad Off the Bar When He Goes On a Bender — and Xander and Sarah Start Their Own Investigation

Abe finds Paulina drinking a martini in the Square. She orders one for him and they engage in flirty banter. Paulina then brings up him running for governor. Nicole hobbles up on crutches, giving Abe the opportunity to get out of the conversation. However, Paulina thinks Nicole can help her talk some sense into him.

Abe suggests they talk about Nicole’s ordeal with the gunman first. Nicole admits she thought he was going to shoot her until Eric talked him down. Paulina swoons over the romance of it all and asks when they’re getting back together. As she gushes over their chemistry, Abe interrupts to tell his wife Nicole is married to Rafe. Deflated, Paulina says Nicole should have talked to her first. When Paulina gets pulled away on a call, Abe apologizes, but Nicole assures him she’s very happy with Rafe.

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A drunk Chad slumps over the bar at Brady’s Pub. He ignores a call from Sarah and yells for another drink. Eric emerges and cuts him off. Chad won’t leave until he gets the drink he ordered.

At the Kiriakis mansion, Sarah leaves a message for Chad, as Sonny walks into the living room. She tells him she remembered that she didn’t kill Abigail. Relieved, Sonny thinks Rex will testify, and she can put it all behind her. Sarah points out the police won’t necessarily believe her and leaves when Sonny gets a call from Eric about Chad.

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Xander bursts into the Salem PD and tells Jada and Rafe about Rex being Sarah’s alibi. He orders them to cross Sarah off the suspect list in Abigail’s murder. Jada can’t do that and details all the evidence they have so far. When Xander pushes back, Rafe agrees to talk to Rex, but Jada warns Sarah’s not off the hook. Xander calls them idiots and leaves. Rafe admonishes Jada for revealing too much about the case.

Later, Eric comes to the station so Jada can question him about the gunman. He asks how she’s doing. She admits killing a man stays with you, even if it was a clean shoot. He offers to listen if she needs to talk about it. She spills a water bottle while looking for the file and yells expletives. Eric assumes her bad mood has something to do with Xander, who he passed on the way in. She asks if they’re friends. He says definitely not, because Xander slept with his wife. After Eric fills her in, Jada assumes he’s still in love with Nicole.

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Eric admits that during the mugging, he realized he wouldn’t want to live on this earth without Nicole in it. He blames himself though for not calling the cops when he found the mugger trying to steal tips. If he had, Nicole wouldn’t have had a gun pointed at her and Jake would still be alive.

After Eric signs off on his official statement, Eric tells Jada to come by the Pub to see the rooms. She agrees and then asks him to lunch after. And not as a thank you. Eric smirks, wondering if she’s asking him on a date. She apologizes, assuming he was single. He says he’d love to go to lunch. Nicole hobbles in as Jada grins and says, “It’s a date.”

Sonny arrives at the Pub as Chad literally crawls over the bar to get himself a drink. Sonny pulls him off, and Chad tries to punch him. He misses and falls to the ground.

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A giggling Chad clings to Sonny, who drags him into the Kiriakis mansion. Sonny pushes him off, and Chad pours himself a drink. Sonny tells him Sarah has an alibi. Chad dissolves into fits of laughter. First Clyde, now Sarah. What? Did Abigail kill herself? It doesn’t matter though. Even if they find out who did it, Chad says, it won’t bring Abigail back. Nothing will.

Chad admits to Sonny he started drinking because he snapped at Thomas for wanting his mother. He doesn’t want to be around his own kids because he doesn’t want to cause them any more pain. He’s supposed to suck it up and make his kids feel better. His face contorts as he says he’s just causing them more pain. A tear rolls down Sonny’s face as he embraces his sobbing friend. Later, Sonny helps him get upstairs to sleep it off.

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Back at their hotel room, Xander recounts to Sarah his disastrous meeting with the cops. As they mull over Lucas insisting he saw her, Xander says she couldn’t be two places at once. Sarah’s eyes widen as she says, “Except I was before.” They speculate that Gwen killed Abigail while wearing the mask of her face. Xander can’t believe he was about to marry someone so sick. They realize they have to prove their suspicion, so Xander suggests they search her room for the mask.

Making decisions for the paper on his phone, Jack declares he’s not leaving Salem until he finds his daughter’s killer. Jack opens the Horton door to Gwen. He stoically wonders why she’s there. She explains Kristen helped her get the pardon and she understands she needs to pay for what she’s done. Jack is happy to hear her say that.

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Rafe stops by to tell Jack that Sarah has an alibi for the time of Abigail’s murder. Jack is relieved, but Gwen brings up Lucas’s statement. Rafe says they need to confirm with Rex first and then look harder at Lucas’s assertions. After all, Sarah can’t be in two places at the same time. Gwen flashes back to pulling the mask out of her suitcase. Jack is happy for Maggie because it must be awful thinking your daughter is capable of murder.

Next on Days of Our Lives: Xander and Sarah investigate, and Johnny turns to Paulina for help.

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As Sarah and Xander put their sleuthing caps on, relive their past hijinx and drama in the photo gallery below.