HOLLYWOOD—Since Valentine’s Day audiences have been dying to know who the elusive killer lurking in the shadows in Genoa City is. Last week, audiences finally got to put a face to the assailant who has been stalking the teens on the CBS soap “The Young and the Restless.”

That person was none other than Detective Harding! While some might be surprised by the revelation, this is a surprise that I saw from miles away. I pegged Harding as a guilty party in the crimes months ago; there was just something about his involvement in the case and the vibe he gave off on the soap that gave me the hunch that he was involved in the murder.

What the audience soon discovered was that Harding was not working alone; he was working with Fake Jack aka Marco. Yep, Marco is the notorious drug lord who has been masquerading Genoa City as Jack Abbott for months thanks to Victor Newman who is once again sliding under the radar. Marco chose to pay Harding wisely if he assisted with keeping up the ruse of his identity.

It’s apparent from the writers that another resident in GC could bite the dust before the truth about the killer is revealed to all. I mean heck, we have Summer who vividly remembered hearing Harding’s ringtone at the cabin the night Austin was murdered. To add onto that, Kevin is hot on his heels, and Paul suspects that Harding might have an involvement in the melee. That revelation alone has prompted Paul to ask Dylan to assist on the case to capture the killer before he strikes again.

How Marco is still able to masquerade around town with no one aware of his true identity still baffles me. The authorities need to let the cat out of the bag already before more mayhem is unleashed. I mean the whole doppelganger storyline has been done to death in the soap arena. Unless you’re bringing some creative twist to the mix, don’t waste your time.

The other big storyline shaping its head is the nuptials of Devon and Hilary. Once again Devon is keeping secrets from his true love, and the fact that he slept with another woman on the night of his bachelor party only makes things worse. If the guilt wasn’t eating him alive, his nemesis Colin apparently saw the entire deed and is ONCE AGAIN blackmailing his wife’s very close relative. I mean Colin, how many times in the world are you going to blackmail the same damn person? This character is becoming so annoying and underutilized, it’s beyond pathetic. At this point, I’m hoping this cheating scandal will erupt into a murder mystery where Colin Atkinson is dispatched of once and for all.

The nuptials were off to a good start until a mystery party (um, Neil) decided to crash the party after giving his ex-wife his blessing. Neil has been off the rails for weeks, so audiences can only imagine the chaos he unleashed on the unexpecting party guests. Of course, he was working in cahoots with Colin, but decided to have a change of heart for the moment and asked Colin to delete the video of Devon and the hooker. Neil is indeed putting on a great show, but my guy tells me his plans to unleash that truth on Hilary and Devon when they least expect it.

As Harding did his best to cover his and Marco’s tracks, he learned a valuable lesson about working with people; when the walls are closing in, desperation will surface and Marco decided to protect his identity by firing a shot into Harding. That shot helped as it became apparent that the suspicions on Harding were immediately curbed as everyone suspected him of being a hero; well, everyone except for Dylan who found it too convenient that Harding allowed his assailant to escape without a chase.

I’m dying to see Phyllis and Jack finally spill the beans that a doppelganger Jack has been running amock in Genoa City. That’s all the police need to nail Victor Newman for once and for all. “The Young and the Restless” airs weekdays on CBS at 12:30 p.m.