Caray, Caray!

Diego thinks Grumps planted the drugs and happily announces that since Natalia quit yesterday, the drugs can't be hers.  Unfortunately, she didn't sign any paperwork, so Grumps isn't buying it.  Diego is furious that Grumps won't back off.

Karina gives Diana a non-update, since she's too scared to listen at the door.

Tadeo is back in his lair, pondering how when he looks at Irene, it's like no time has passed.  He's right.  Marisol del Olmo is babesome and barely aging.

Diego, in his car, is trying to get hold of Natalia, but she's ignoring his calls as she tries to find another job.  He gives up and tries the fonda, asking to speak to one of her brothers, but before Abdul can talk to him, Diego's cell battery dies.

Natalia gets arrested on the way to the job interview she JUST set up, damnit!  Diego arrives and tries to tell the cops she didn't do it, but they say they have to take her in because a report has been made.  Diego rushes back to his car to follow the cops.

At Caprico, the guy collecting the evidence hears from Grumps that he found the drugs.  Grumps needs to go down to the station to give a statement and he tells Karina to have a couple of reports ready for him when he gets back.  NOW can she please get herself fired?  She calls Diana to tell her that Natalia got arrested.

At the station, Eleazar explains to Alberto how slippery Car-Louse has been.  Alberto grouses about these innocent girls who get sucked into the sex trade, some sleazy guy buying them plane ticket and sending them off to who knows where with their bags packed….  This makes Eleazar think that maybe Carmen's bags could be a clue.  They were new, and a gift from The Louse, so maybe if they can find who sold them and prove they were a gift, that can help get Carmen off the hook.

In solitary, Carmen finds a note on her tray of food.  It's from her buds, saying they know it's BS that she's in there, but chin up.

A triumphant Diana shows up at the office to invite Karina for a drink.  She's sure Karina has plenty of time and bribes her with the promise of a present.  So far, Karina holds firm.

Alberto and Eleazar, on the way to see Carmen, run into a verbally abusive Vicente in the lobby and a tearful Natalia being dragged in by a couple of cops.  Alberto goes into lawyer mode, telling Natalia to calm down.  The guy who collected the baggie says it looks like Natalia's guilty, and Diego runs in and says the drugs are his.  Eleazar says ok, then…an admission of guilt makes the evidence unnecessary.  Vicente insists they keep investigating, so Eleazar tells the investigator to take the stuff to the lab, he has his guys take Natalia and Diego to interrogation rooms.

Since Karina wasn't seduced into a mid-day drink, she's at her desk when Vicente calls to tell her to get to the station to serve as a witness.  Diana drives Karina to the police station, advising her to talk as much smack about Natalia as she possibly can, but Karina is too nervous to listen.

Irene is sketching and drinking green smoothies.  Lala's happy she's not drinking.

Natalia explains to Eleazar that she had quit yesterday and went to the office late because he called and she wanted to make sure he was ok.  Eleazar realizes Natalia is the girl Drunken!Diego was talking about.  She hedges about her reason for quitting, saying she just wasn't comfortable.  She's sure the drugs aren't Diego's, but she doesn't know who would have planted them.  Eleazar uncuffs her, but tells her to stay in his office while he keeps working on sorting this out.

The guy who collected the evidence tells Eleazar that things seem suspicious.  There was an anonymous note and a copy of the article from when Carmen was arrested.  Eleazar tells him to fingerprint everything and then collect prints from Vicente, since they know he touched the baggies.

Diego and Alberto are both sure that someone planted the drugs in Natalia's desk.  Diego tells Alberto about the late-night visit to the office and Natalia showing up, to smooch him and then tell him to go to hell.  He's determined to go to jail for her if he has to.  Diego tells Alberto about the anonymous letter and the article about Carmen.  Alberto wonders if maybe the guys who set Carmen up did it to get revenge.  He doesn't think Vicente would have done it, but maybe…does Diana know about Natalia?  Diego doesn't think so.  Alberto asks if Natalia had any problems with anyone else at work, but as far as he knows, Natalia barely ever talked to Karina because they were never in the office at the same time.  Eleazar asks Diego about what he did and didn't touch and says it's a good thing Natalia didn't touch the baggies.  He's going on the assumption that anyone whose prints are on both the baggies AND the notes is the person responsible.  And if Grumps is the only one who fits that description, he's going to be in a world of hurt.

Tad takes a call from a member of the foundation that he interned with in Paris.  They want him to be on the jury for the selection of this year's interns.

Karina finally shows up, broken out in hives and scratching at her neck.  Eleazar comes out to the lobby to tell Vicente and Karina that so far, the evidence is pointing to a frame-up.  Neither Natalia nor Diego appears to have anything to do with it, despite Diego's flimsy confession.  Vicente is pissed and demands Eleazar's name and badge number, so he can report him to the Attorney General.  Eleazar obliges and tells Morales to put the call through to the AG for Vicente once he's taken Vicente's fingerprints.  He explains that they have to rule out all the possibilities and since Vicente has admitted to touching both the drugs and the notes, he'd better pray his fingerprints aren't the only ones found on both.  Vicente insists they fingerprint Karina, too, since she also touched the notes and Karina, panicked screams "No, no!  Don't fingerprint me!  I had nothing to do with it!" as she tries to claw her own throat out.  Eleazar gives Morales an annoyed look.

Natalia tells Alberto she won't let Diego take the fall for her, but Alberto says neither of them is going to end up in jail, so chill.

Eleazar tells Karina there's no reason for her to be arrested if she didn't do anything wrong…unless there's something she wants to confess?  Vicente insists on the investigation continuing and insists on Karina cooperating, since he pays her.  Eleazar latches on to that statement and asks if he means that he paid her to go along with this scheme, which of course he denies.  Karina begs for a trip to the bathroom and Eleazar asks Morales to escort her.

From the bathroom, Karina calls Diana and begs for help.  She tells her about Diego taking the blame for the drugs and Eleazar not believing that the drugs were Natalia's or believing Diego's confession.

Prints get collected from Vicente, Karina, and Diego.  Eleazar brings lunch in to Natalia while they wait for results.  Vicente's beady eyes are fixed on Karina as she continues abusing her neck in the lobby.  Finally, in the evening, the lab hands over the report.  95% of the "drugs" were nothing more than baking soda.  There were 7 sets of prints on the baggies….

Eleazar comes in to tell Natalia that she's cleared, as is Diego.  Alberto passes on the news to Diego, including that the drugs weren't drugs and that Karina's prints also showed up on the baggies.  Morales tells Karina and Vicente that they're free to go since everyone and their second cousin's former roommate touched the baggies and the letters and no one bothered to let the cops collect the evidence properly.  (And also there really isn't any crime here, since it was mostly baking soda.)

Eleazar arranges for Natalia and Diego to have a moment alone in an interrogation room.  Diego tells Natalia it wasn't much of a sacrifice on his part…he knew she was innocent…because he luuuuuuurves her.  Smoochies.  Natalia finally gets a grip on reality and says there can't be anything between them because he's married.  Diego promises to back off until he divorces Diana, but he wants to be a part of Natalia's life.  She's won over by what he did, but at the same time, she can't forget that he tried to hurt her....  "It wasn't my fault!  Things happened!  Can we just forget about it?"  Natalia agrees and says she forgives him and won't think about it anymore.  The way she keeps having those flashbacks, I'm not sure that's entirely in her power.

Eleazar and Alberto commiserate about Vicente's crappy attitude.  Eleazar didn't bother telling Vicente that the drugs weren't drugs.  He's sorry he didn't get a chance to toss him in a cell for the night.  Natalia and Diego emerge and Natalia asks Eleazar to take her home so they can talk.  After they leave, Diego tells Alberto that even if legally the situation is over, he's still not happy about what happened.

Karina gets out to Diana's car and gives her the news that everybody walked on this one, and no, Princess, nobody suspects you of everything, thanks for your concern!  Karina's pissed that she's in the system now and she doesn't care what Natalia may or may not have told Diego, she just wants to get the hell out of there.

Eleazar has also been won over by Diego's gesture.  Natalia thinks Eleazar for his help and he asks her to please stop getting into trouble, cause it's making him sprout grey hairs ("canas verdes" grey hairs that are green).

Vicente takes his anger out on Lala and opts for a whiskey instead of the surely nutritious soup that Lala prepared.  He's so pissed, he complains to Irene about it.  And Diego is so pissed he accuses Vicente of planting the drugs himself.  That's right, Grumps, Diego thinks you're perfectly capable of planting drugs and more, just to get whatever you want.  Grumps sticks to his guns, saying all he did was find the drugs and turn her in…which is true…and that of course Natalia must be lower than pond scum if her mother's a drug dealer…which is neither true nor makes any sense, but whatever, it's Vicente's world and we're all just living in it...and tells Irene to shut it when she tries to come to Diego's defense.  After Grumps grumps off, Diego asks Irene if she thinks maybe Diana would be capable of something like this?  Irene reminds him hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and nods solemnly.  Diego attempts to nod solemnly, but he does something funny with his eyebrows that messes up the effect.

Tomorrow: Diego asks to see the security videos; Vicente asks Karina if Diana planted the drugs; Diana accosts Natalia and pulls her into the ladies' room to threaten her.

Labels: te-quiero