Number 28
Nell calls round to accompany Melanie (for moral support) to her interview but she doesn't think that was a wise decision from her and isn't amused either when Nell adds in that she asked her dad (and Terese) for character references too. "I was just trying to help," Nell says defending her actions but Melanie is now trying to figure out how to apologise to him as well as trying to cope with all that today brings! "You shouldn't have got involved," an angry Melanie tells Nell which causes her to run out of the house and thus Melanie now feels guilty over saying that.

Number 22
After a restless night's sleep, Toadie is beginning to regret the character reference he gave Melanie.

Just as he is finished talking to Terese about that, an upset Nell arrives home and bolts upstairs to her bedroom.

Lassiters hotel (Krista's room)
David is checking the character references Krista has collated but she feels some have been more "bought with either money or influence" and so to earn her "fresh start" she throws those references in the bin! David is impressed with her "integrity" but doesn't want Krista to "punish herself" either in her quest to make things right.

KRISTA: I get the chance to build myself a future and start a family of my own but Melanie had all of that taken away from her because of what I did.
DAVID: I'm sure Melanie's wanting to put the past behind her and you can too.

Number 24
Nicolette is still puzzled about the key she found in Jane's shoes but neither she nor Jane can shed any light on its origin.

Suddenly she spots an envelope lying on the floor by the door and it seems to unnerve her, but it's nothing sinister, just a Christmas card from the Varga- Murphy's.

Australian Commonwealth Police
Melanie and her lawyer arrive for their interview and Lorraine is impressed at the number of references gathered in the limited time she had.

LORRAINE: You really are well- loved by the community.

Melanie is curious to know if there was one from Toadie and reluctantly Lorraine confirms she has one from him but refuses to let Melanie see it to ensure she's in the "right headspace" for her interview. That isn't working for Melanie, she's already imagining the worst and so the lawyer hesitantly hands it over.

TOADIE VOICEOVER: I've known and worked with Melanie Pearson for a number of years. During that time, Melanie has demonstrated a lack of honesty and transparency both personally and professionally. It's a disturbing pattern of behaviour that just keeps continuing.

It is no wonder that Melanie has started to cry on reading what Toadie has submitted.

Number 22
Nell is explaining to Toadie (and Terese) why she got upset talking to Melanie. Having realised that it was Nell and not Melanie who was behind the character reference request, he immediately gets on his phone to call Melanie's lawyer but just gets her voicemail. Terese is sure the lawyer wouldn't present a bad reference and Nell demands to know what her dad wrote! When she doesn't get a reply (and ignores Terese trying to run interference) she rushes out of the garden room.

TERESE: Write another one and take it down there yourself. We'll get out of your way so you can concentrate.
TOADIE: She's gonna think I'm a monster!
TERESE: Don't worry about it! I'll look after her… just write!

Number 30
The key is proving to be a mystery to Nicolette, but it wasn't accidently dropped by the V- M's when they dropped off the card the night before.

Australian Commonwealth Police
Krista (along with David and her lawyers) arrive for her interview but are given the cold shoulder by Melanie and her lawyer when they sit down in the same area. David puts the non- acknowledgement down to nerves and the final pre- talk Lorraine is dishing out to Melanie isn't probably helping those nerves either!

When the prosecutor (Matthew) calls Melanie's name, she surprises her lawyer by wanting to go into the interview alone. Terese was right, Lorraine isn't submitting Toadie's reference but that doesn't sway Melanie, she wants the facts to "speak for themselves" rather than be spun differently by her lawyer.

LORRAINE: Is this come kind of self- sabotage?
MELANIE: My mind is made up.
LORRAINE: As your legal counsel, I can't let you go in alone.

Melanie has a solution for that - she fires her lawyer before heading in to be interviewed.

Harold's café
Terese is trying to explain to Nell why her dad wrote the negative reference for Melanie.

TERESE: Your dad, the guy that looks out for you, he's also a human being with big feelings. And he makes mistakes like we all do.

Nell admits that "it felt horrible" when Melanie got angry at her (the first time ever) and puts what happened down to the stress ahead of her interview. "Well, there's a lot riding on it," Terese says but is quick to add in that she's got a great lawyer and today is only an interview, not a one- way deportation ticket to prison in the UK.

NELL: You don't have to protect me. I can handle it.
TERESE: Okay. Look, if they wanna send her all the way back, it won't be good.

Australian Commonwealth Police
In the interview room, Melanie is up against a hard- nosed prosecutor and is adamant she doesn't want legal representation even though she is struggling to remember the correct information much to Matthew's frustration! She confirms she was a housekeeper for the Sinclair's and looked out (unpaid) for Krista on top of her other duties. The prosecutor wants to know why and Melanie's explanation is that Krista was "vulnerable" and "needed someone" like "a mother figure."

PROSECUTOR: That's the role you played.
MELANIE: I tried to.

Out in the waiting area, Toadie's sudden arrival startles both Krista and David. When he spots Lorraine sitting on a sofa, he assumes Melanie hasn't been in for her interview yet and hand over his new reference, apologising for sending her "the wrong thing." Finally he asks where Melanie is and Lorraine explains she's inside being interviewed.

TOADIE: Without you?!
LORRAINE: I think she decide to live up to your negative assessment of her.
TOADIE: Are you insane?! She needs you in there!

Lorraine doesn't disagree with Toadie, then reveals that Melanie fired her so asks what he expects her to do?

TOADIE: …

Ramsay Street
Nicolette approaches Terese (and Nell) when they arrive home to see if either recognise the key but they haven't. In turn, Terese asks if she's heard from David about the interviews and hears Nicolette explain that Melanie fired her lawyer and went in herself.

NICOLETTE: Why would she do that?!

Australian Commonwealth Police
In the interview room, Melanie admits that when she heard Krista was alive, the charges was the last thing she was thinking about, she was simply "relieved" that Krista was indeed alive.

The interview is then suddenly interrupted, when Toadie and Lorraine enter the room wanting to confer with Melanie. Matthew reminds the pair that Melanie is "representing herself" however Toadie replies "some new information has come to light that may change that." Melanie looks confused as to what that might be and asks if she can talk to them. Matthew looks like he doesn't know which way to respond but Toadie's helpful input of ensuring he "wouldn't want there to be any grounds of appeal" sways him, so he leads his team out of the room to allow Melanie to talk to Lorraine and Toadie.

Toadie begins with a heartfelt apology for the original reference he wrote, acknowledging that he shouldn't have sent it in.

TOADIE: I thought you were being underhanded and I was trying to protect Nell. And I wanted to give you this.

Toadie goes to hand over his new reference and Melanie remarks that he "must really hate" her if he thinks she'd manipulate Nell.

TOADIE: I don't hate you. I mean, if I did, would I be here trying to fix this? Come on… don't quit because of my dumb mistake. You're not a quitter. You're this…

"That's what I should have said," he adds as Melanie now accepts Toadie's new reference and reads it. She's in tears while reading it and asks "do you mean all of this?"

TOADIE: Melanie, you are a good person who made a mistake.
MELANIE: Several mistakes.
TOADIE: Yeah, several mistakes. But you're a good person, nonetheless.

Melanie apologises for her behaviour earlier, describing herself as "a basket case" before quickly changing it to "was a basket case" having got a new found determination and is "ready to fight" and asks Lorraine if she will represent her again. "Absolutely," Lorraine immediately replies with.

Harold's café
Nicolette continues the tour of the neighbours and Andrew confirms the key doesn't belong to them either.

Australian Commonwealth Police
It is now Krista's turn to face her interview and she explains how Melanie became involved - she tracked her down when buying some drugs and asked the guys to stay away. Matthew doesn't think that is the role of a housekeeper, so Krista explains she was only "16 and out of control" and Melanie "was the only one who knew about it or cared." As to why she didn't call the police, Krista feared it would be "all over the papers the next morning." He asks why Melanie then involved her after the arrest and Krista explains that Melanie wanted her "to tell the truth about what had happened" but instead was told to "say that the drugs were hers" because "I didn't want my dad to know that I was using."

KRISTA: Melanie had already done so much for me and I took advantage of that. I ruined her life to save my own.

Krista confirms she paid Melanie's bail to "get her out of the country" even though Melanie wanted to stay "and help me get clean" along with explaining "everything to my dad."

KRISTA: I didn't want any of that. I just wanted to keep partying.

Krista confirms that she bought Melanie her flight to Australia under her maiden name before going on [for the record] to "state that Melanie was in no way responsible for any of it."

Ramsay Street
As she is walking up the street, Nicolette is alarmed to spot a stranger get into a car parked outside of #24 and demands to know what they were doing. "Delivering pizza," is the response given by the stranger but it was to #22 and not #24 so she quickly apologises to the delivery driver.

Number 24
After the confrontation, Nicolette's phone started ringing and as she enters the house, the call was bringing good news - it was her lawyer confirming charges for the protest have been dropped. Jane is thrilled at the news and hopes its "a lesson learned" for Nicolette and a hope that the good news "is catching for Krista and Melanie too" so Melanie doesn't end up back in jail again "after everything that she's been through." Jane's statement has Nicolette confused!

NICOLETTE: Whenever I get myself in trouble, everyone's all "Oh Nic, you brought this on yourself" but now Melanie's the innocent victim?!
JANE: They are very different situations.

Changing topics, Jane asks if the key has found its rightful owner and the answer is no, but Nicolette still has more folks to ask.

When Jane goes off to make a call, Nicolette gets out her phone and starts looking through the camera roll and stops at a photo of Kiri. She then goes to text someone called Sasha McLain but stops after typing in the name.

The Waterhole
Interviews over and the ladies have to wait for a decision to be made on whether to extradite them or not. Until they hear, Krista wants to "focus on moving forward and making things right." Melanie thinks she's already started that, having heard what she said to help clear her name.

KRISTA: I'm just glad that I would finally tell the truth. Own my past. I owe you that much Mel.
MELANIE: Well I am very, very grateful that you did.

When Krista, Leo and David leave to get the drinks in (water for all), Melanie take the opportunity to thank Toadie "for saving me from myself" as things could have turned out very different had he not arrived. Toadie is quick to acknowledge it was he who mucked things up in the first place and after Melanie asks after Nell, and that she owes her an apology too, Toadie confirms that the lass will be okay.

At the bar, David is proud of "the big deal" Krista did by "working through your addiction" as well as "facing up to your past." She is grateful for what he has said to her as well as "being there today."

DAVID: Of course… and feel free to call me any time instead of Leo!

Krista's justification is she "needed a friend to talk to" and also didn't want to interrupt him whist he was "having fun".

DAVID: Friendship is good, but anything more than that at this stage of your recovery is unwise.

Krista seems confused by what David has said and wonders if Leo has said something? David replies no, but twin intuition means he "sensed a vibe." "Well not from me," Krista replies back and is more than agreeable to David's request.

Number 22
It's a tale of two texts for Terese - the good news one from Toadie to say "crisis averted" and he'll be home soon and the less good one from Jane that they need to talk as the councillors are back.

With the kids upstairs and Toadie still out, curiosity gets the better of Terese and she wakens Toadie's computer to see what he wrote in the character reference for Melanie.

TOADIE VOICEOVER: Melanie Pearson was a central part of my life first as a trusted employee and latterly as a loving partner to me and an exceptional stepmother to my children. Her positivity and resourcefulness was what drew me to her, but it was her love and care for those around her that bonded us so fiercely. Even our separation came down to a misguided act of self- sacrifice on her part. Melanie person is integrity and generosity personified.

Terese doesn't look too comfortable with what her husband has written!

Coming up on Neighbours
- Aaron inviting an extra guest for dinner without telling David.
- Karl quizzing Holly about her split from Haz.
- Nell asking Melanie about the reference Toadie wrote.
- Toadie checking how Terese is doing.