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Steve (Stephen Nichols, r.) has a lot of questions for Clyde (James Read).
Playing a key role in questioning the truthfulness of his niece’s supposed return from the dead and serving as a driving force in exposing “Abigail” as a fraud was right up actor Stephen Nichols’s alley. After all, his Days of our Lives character, Steve Johnson, is one of Salem’s top private eyes.
Spotting A Con
“I was happy to participate in this story,” notes Nichols. “Steve is always eager to be able to use his PI skills for something other than a case that is potentially dangerous and takes him out of town, which always puts a strain on his and Kayla’s marriage.”
Of course, this time around, Nichols’s character is driven by more than just keeping things calm and happy on the home front. The actor contends that Steve is also motivated by a genuine sense of right and wrong, and even more so, wanting to spare his brother, Jack, and Chad — Abigail’s father and widower, respectively — the pain of being duped by an impostor. “When family is involved, Steve brings his A game,” asserts Nichols.
Steve’s suspicions were originally raised when he learned “Abigail” lied about making a phone call to Kayla to set up a treatment plan. “Kayla immediately denies this, so Steve decides to get into it. Steve is convinced that ‘Abigail’ is lying,” reports Nichols. “He tells Kayla that [‘Abigail’] got defensive when he caught her in the lie about the phone call with Kayla and he mentions the facial reconstructive surgery. Why would she need that when her injury was a knife to the abdomen?”
With his every instinct screaming “foul play,” Steve is eager to find out the truth. However, when he asked Kayla to run another secret DNA test on “Abigail,” she denied his request.
“He is not disappointed, because he understands Kayla’s reasons for refusing,” says Nichols. (Steve’s wife, the hospital’s chief of staff, cited HIPAA violations as the source of her objection.) But that doesn’t mean Steve is going to give up his efforts. Indeed, the actor nods, “Now, Steve is even more determined to get to the bottom of it.”
This week, Steve decides to pay Clyde — the man who murdered Abigail, yet now insists she’s alive — a visit at Statesville. He wants information and answers, but will the scoundrel give him anything or completely stonewall him?
“It was fun mixing it up with James Read, [who plays Clyde]. He’s a very good actor,” reflects Nichols, noting that “the scenes with Clyde played like your typical cat-and-mouse game. Steve walks away empty-handed.”
But knowing Steve, he isn’t about to give up, and Nichols notes that his character will uncover more about this cryptic ruse… eventually. “Stay tuned,” teases Nichols.
