1989 (#3) - Bill's reaction and Caroline and Storm's investigation in Stud Magazine

Still reeling from the publication of his nude photos, Bill is mocked not only by his business partners Gayle Mahoney, Jack Connors and Frank Rustin, but also by his own personal assistant, Miss Sabrina Crochet. Enraged and determined to do anything to find out who was responsible for the incident, which made him look ridiculous in the eyes of all public opinion, Bill confronts the three managers of Stud Magazine, Walter Talbert, Stan Bentworth and Bernie Stack. And when all three deny tampering with the printing of the magazine's latest issue, Bill fires them all on the spot. Seeing Donna genuinely sorry for what happened, Nick begins to wonder if she's starting to have feelings for the man, which she flatly denies, albeit with some embarrassment. But what worries Nick even more is losing his job if he is found out, feeling that Bill has every intention of finding out who is really responsible. And sensing that the man is now on their trail, Nick decides along with Donna to stage a discussion between them about the difficult situation. But when one of Bill's models, Ramone Bower, notices some strange attitudes on Nick's part and confides it to Bill, the latter begins to realize that Nick might not be the faithful ally he thinks he is; and convinced to find out the truth, he asks a nervous Jamie to spy and keep an eye on Nick. When he discovers that his father is even receiving defamatory letters because of his photos in which they accuse him of immorality and lack of ethics and sense of decency, an impatient Caroline scolds Bill for not suing the editors of Stud Magazine, unaware that the editor is Bill himself. And despite the man's opposition, who tries in every way to make his daughter desist from putting her nose in this matter, Caroline decides to take matters into her own hands and find out who is trying to defame them. A determined Caroline thus confronts Wayne Garfield, the editor-in-chief of Stud Magazine, threatening to sue him for publishing photos of Bill without his explicit permission. But when Wayne Garfield releases himself from his responsibilities, saying that he doesn't know anything about who materially sent the photos to print, as he doesn't have the power to do so, Caroline consults Storm to study other possibilities to find the real people responsible. Storm then explains to Caroline that the only way to find out the truth is to consult the archives of the Washington government office to which every year the actual publishers of each publication must send a statement and find out who the actual owner of Stud Magazine is. With great shock and surprise, Storm thus discovers that Stud Magazine is owned by Bill himself. A shocked Caroline accuses her father of his lack of ethics, but Bill, while admitting that he is not a saint, clears himself of the incident, making his daughter understand that she is under attack by a friendly fire and by one of his close collaborators; a person whom she obviously trusts a lot and who, she promises, she will find out at all costs.