Paula Wechsler

**Paula Wechsler** (Daphne Ashbrook) is the hidden secondary villainess of "True/False," episode 7.04 of *Without a Trace* (airdate October 21, 2008). She is the mother of Chapman-Hall Academy student Darby Wechsler, who was the best friend of Will Duncan before he went missing.

Paula and Darby's first appearances in the episode saw them helping out at a school event, with Vivian Johnson and Elena Delgado informing them of Will's disappearance. The former reacted with shock, mentioning that she and the latter had been called last night by Will's mother Tracie. When Elena asked Darby about why Will missed several of his classes, Paula urged her daughter to tell her and Vivian if he had been up to something should that have been the case.

The episode's climax had Paula being present when Jack Malone and Clark Medina showed Darby security camera pictures which proved that she followed Will into an apartment building where his father, U.S. Secret Service Agent Mark Duncan, carried on his illicit affair with a blonde woman. It was also where his blood was found on a staircase connecting its first and second floors. At that moment, the evil Paula began her reveal as a villainess by insisting that a mistake was made 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 seen in the photos, and Jack outright asked if she did something to Will, prompting her mother to combatively state that she did nothing to him since she was at home with her on that night.

Jack asked Paula to verify her story, but she replied with an inquiry about why she would lie to him, and he countered her words by questioning why she wouldn't do that. Clark moved on trying to ask Darby again about what happened, only for her mother to declare that they had the "wrong girl." Additionally, Jack's query about whether she killed him was immediately followed by Paula instructing her daughter not to answer and him reminding the female former that he wasn't talking to her. Regardless of her efforts, she could do nothing but exasperatedly sigh when Darby's confession was set in motion.

As it turned out, during Will's final minutes alive, he was on the receiving end of Darby's repeated demand for him to give her the answers to an upcoming English Literature test. Earlier in the episode, it was established that he had been using his time at an Internet café called the Junction Box Café to hack into Chapman-Hall's server for test answers before giving them away to other students, with his motive for his cheating scheme being to "piss off [his] dad." His persistent refusal to acquiesce to Darby's request culminated in her fury reaching its pinnacle as she disclosed that either she achieved her dream of getting into Cornell University or she committed suicide. Darby then accidentally killed him by giving him a light push that caused him to lose his footing and fall backwards down the aforementioned staircase.

In addition, the teenager ruefully recalled how her mother arrived in her car and parked it at the back of the building a few minutes after Will's death. Upon seeing his corpse, Paula tried to wake him up, only for her daughter to announce his death and wonder what they were going to do as she began to weep. However, she told her to stop shedding tears and professed that they would "fix" things by covering up the accidental murder, with Darby reluctantly agreeing to help her. Paula stated it would be okay before ordering her daughter to grab a nearby rug and help her wrap Will's body up in said rug—which was followed by her divulging the location of her car.

With her role in the cover-up exposed, she was in tears as Darby reminded her of her assurance, answering her by asking her why she decided to admit to everything they had done. Her daughter gave a tearful response during which she stated that Will was dead "all because of a stupid grade." Feeling remorseful about the anguish Darby was feeling, Paula cried as she told her she was "so sorry." Offscreen, the two villainous conspirators informed Clark and Jack that they moved Will's corpse to a dumpster before being arrested and imprisoned.