Darby Wechsler

**Darby Wechsler** (Sarah Ramos) is the hidden main antagonist of "True/False," episode 7.04 of *Without a Trace* (airdate October 21, 2008). She is a Chapman-Hall Academy student who is the daughter of Paula Wechsler and was the best friend of Will Duncan—the missing 17-year-old son of U.S. Secret Service Agent Mark Duncan and his wife Tracie.

## Introduction

Darby and Paula made their first appearances in the episode while they were helping out at a school event, with Vivian Johnson and Elena Delgado informing them of Will's disappearance. Paula reacted with shock, mentioning that Tracie called her and her daughter last night. Darby said she never saw Will with a man who was suspected of assaulting him shortly after he left the apartment building he lived in, along with asking about the male latter's identity. Elena answered that they no idea who he was yet before asking her about why her best friend missed several of his classes in the week before he vanished. At Paula's urging to tell them if he was up to something should that have been the case, Darby mentioned her belief that his motive for ditching was "junioritis," after which she claimed he idolized Mark—referring to him as the "only guy [she knew] who [spent] time with his father" in spite of not knowing they fought.

Additionally, she explained that months before the episode's events, she got two floor tickets ($120 each) for a sold-out concert that was to take place on the Tuesday night before their midterm exams and tried to give one to Will. However, he turned her offer down, citing that Mark never gave him money unless it was for "going to college or staying healthy." Darby retorted that his father was "such a tight ass," only for Will to state that "in his own screwed-up way...he's actually pretty chill." The two then joked about who she would end up going to the concert with.

A few weeks later, he showed up with hundred-dollar bills while wondering if she still had the tickets, but when she asked if Mark changed his mind, he "got all aggro about it" (in her words). Vivian inquired about where he got the money from, but Darby mentioned his refusal to tell her about that information. Elena then asked both whether she knew of Mark's job, which she did, and about if her best friend stole counterfeit cash from his father; Darby admitted that she didn't know whether or not he did that.

The suspect in the aforementioned assault, Gene Fuller, was innocent; the true identity of the attacker was Terrance Pritchard, the older brother of Will's girlfriend Lilah, who he impregnated during one of their sexual trysts. The couple first met each other at the Junction Box Café, an Internet café and the Pritchard siblings' workplace. They began dating six weeks before the episode's events, and Terrance's motive for going after his younger sister's boyfriend was because he saw her crying in the aftermath of a fight they had about her pregnancy. Mark also admitted that he had been cheating on his wife with a blonde woman, going as far as to lease a room on the second floor of an apartment building in order to carry on his affair with her. As for his son, he had been using his time at his girlfriend's workplace to hack into his school's server for test answers before giving them away to other students.

## Reveal/Arrest

Darby's villainous reveal began when Vivian found pictures from a security camera proving that she followed Will into said building, where his blood was found on a staircase connecting its first and second floors. In the episode's climax, Paula was present when Jack Malone and Clark Medina showed the incriminating photos to her daughter, with the female former insisting it was a mistake since the images "were dark," thus meaning it "could [have been] anyone." Clark reacted by saying that they were "pretty sure" Darby was the person caught on the camera, and when Jack outright asked if she did something to Will, her mother combatively stated that she did nothing since she was never there; Darby was supposedly at home with her on that night.

Jack proceeded to ask her to verify her story, but Paula inquired about why she would lie to him, and he countered by questioning why she wouldn't do that. Clark tried to ask Darby again about what happened, only for her mother to declare they had the "wrong girl," and Jack's query about whether she killed him was immediately followed by Paula instructing her not to answer him; the male latter reminded her that she wasn't the one being talked to. It was after Darby was asked for a sample of her DNA that the truth began to come out: she wanted some sort of assistance from him and followed him after seeing him at the Junction Box Café. Paula could do nothing but let out a sigh of exasperation as her daughter's confession was set in motion.

It came to light that Will tried to confront Mark at his second apartment before noticing Darby climbing the stairs and approaching him. She asked for the answers to an upcoming English Literature test from him, but he reminded her that he was done with his cheating scheme, calling it "stupid" since he only did it to "piss off [his] dad." Will also asked if she had followed him there, with Darby's request to know exactly where they were came right before being surprised to learn details about Mark's affair. He then said she had to go, and the latter agreed to do so if he acquiesced to her demand.

Will quickly became frustrated and asked if she was deaf, repeating his assertion to not help her cheat, only for Darby to begin panicking and raging about her desire to get into Cornell University. She vented about "how hard [she] worked," vowing that it was either she achieved her dream or she committed suicide. Will tried to assure her that he would help her study for the test, but Darby's fury reached its pinnacle while she was saying he had promised to give her the answers. After she accidentally gave him a light push, he lost his footing and fatally fell backwards down the stairs, with Darby watching in horror and shock.

As she ruefully proclaimed that she never intended to hurt Will, Paula began crying as well. Clark asked Darby about what she did with his corpse, while Jack inquired about the identity of the person who helped her cover up his death. It transpired that Paula arrived at the scene of the crime in her car a few minutes after the unintentional crime took place. Before she could try to wake him up, Darby announced his death. Wondering what they were going to do, she began to weep as Paula told her to stop shedding tears and professed that they would "fix" things by covering up the accidental murder. Darby reluctantly agreed, with her mother stating it would be okay before ordering her to grab a nearby rug and help her wrap Will's body up in it—which was followed by Paula indicating that her car was parked at the back of the building.

On the verge of tears herself, she reminded Paula of her assurance, with the latter being in tears as she asked her daughter why she was admitting to everything they had done. Darby tearfully responded by stating that her best friend was dead "all because of a stupid grade." Feeling remorse about how she caused Darby to feel anguish, Paula cried as she told her she was "so sorry" for everything. Offscreen, the two villainesses informed Clark and Jack that they moved Will's corpse to a dumpster before being arrested and imprisoned.