As Young & Restless’ Murder Mystery Explodes, Eyebrow-Raising New Questions Arise About Cane

Ever since the news broke that Billy Flynn was leaving Days of Our Lives for The Young and the Restless, we’ve had a lot of fun speculating — about whom he’d be playing, about with whom he’d be paired, about his potential impact on Genoa City, etc. and so forth. Now we know that the actor is Aristotle Dumas Cane Ashby, the character has his heart set on reuniting with former wife Lily Winters, and his goal is to basically own Genoa City.

But we’re still mystified — and not by the identity of Damian Kane’s killer. (We’re betting we already know whodunit.) The more Cane “explains,” the less we understand about the version of him that has returned to the canvas six years after the role was vacated by Daniel Goddard (who now plays Professor Henry Dalton on General Hospital). Foremost among our questions are these…

Where Did Cane Get All His Money?

Cane swore that, off screen, he reconciled with estranged father Colin Atkinson, and they set about amassing a vast fortune in what we’ve been told are legitimate ways. But, um, really? In six years, Cane managed to put together an empire to rival the great and powerful Victor Newman’s? And without resorting to the kind of underhanded dealings that were Colin’s stock in trade? Color us skeptical.

Also, if there was no shadiness to the manner in which Cane went from rags to riches, who would want to kill him? And why? If he’s Mr. Nice Guy businessman about town, he doesn’t exactly have a target on his back. Unless, that is, former “associates” of Colin’s still have old scores to settle and are out to murder Cane as payback. But even if Colin owed them money, wouldn’t his cronies want the cold, hard cash, not Cane’s cold, dead body?

How Did Cane Hide His True Identity All These Years?

We live in the digital age. There’s virtually no one whose picture is not on the internet. And wouldn’t at least some of the bigwigs with whom Cane did business have insisted on an in-person meeting, recognized him from his days as a bartender-turned-CEO in Genoa City and blabbed to Victor or Jack Abbott or somebody that “Aristotle Dumas” wasn’t the mystery man that he pretended to be.

Furthermore, Cane told ill-fated Damian Kane that, now that the mask had been dropped, he had to go back and pull down all of the walls that he’d built to hide his true identity. So, what? Did he legally change his name to Aristotle Dumas? Are we supposed to believe that his kids never noticed that suddenly their old man’s credit card had a different guy’s name on it?

Where Did Cane’s Accent Go?

Originally, Cane was Australian like Goddard and had an accent to match. Since the character’s comeback, there’s been no mention of the fact that he seems altogether unlikely to start a conversation with “G’day, mate!” anymore. On the plus side, we suppose that explains why Billy Abbott didn’t recognize Cane’s voice.

How Was Cane Ever Passed Off as Chance’s Father?

When Cane was introduced in 2007, he posed as Phillip Chancellor III, aka Chance Chancellor’s father. (Here’s why.) Looking at Flynn next to Conner Floyd, who now plays Chance, we’re not sure anybody in the hemisphere would believe that. (Heck, they’re so close in age, Conner Floyd is taking over Flynn’s vacated Days of Our Lives role.) Plus, whatever happened to the age difference that was once an issue for Cane and Lily?

Why Did Cane Risk His Whole Scheme to Visit Genoa City?

Cane has told all of his guests that there is simply no way to contact the outside world. What we think is that they have no way to contact the outside world, Cane of course does. So we can’t fathom why he snuck away to Genoa City for an in-person meeting with Holden Novak when it would have been so much stealthier to simply call the guy.

In a similar vein, are we right that Adam Newman climbed a mountain to reach the train cars, then climbed back down and went home? And no one thought, “The hell with this, I’m going with him!”? Wouldn’t at least Sharon and Nick have split, if only to check in on their loved ones and let them know what was going on?

What Was the Point of Moving Everyone to France?

Cane’s goal is the ownership of Genoa City and all of its many corporations (except Winters). Yet he’s only made an offer to take over Chancellor. A rejected offer, not surprisingly. Supposedly, he’s making his moves while he has all of Genoa City’s power players trapped on the mountain, but what on earth could those moves be? It’s not like he could buy Jabot or Newman or, frankly, anything without Victor & Co. being informed. Cane isn’t magic… is he?

Also, sales like that wouldn’t happen overnight… or over the course of a week… it would take weeks, months… So how long does Cane plan to keep everyone stuck in France? Does he think no one is running Genoa City’s companies in the tycoons’ absence? ’Cause we’d be willing to bet that, even if we’ve never met them, all those big bosses have medium and small bosses working underneath them.

These are but a few of our ongoing questions about Cane and his storyline. Drop yours, and any answers you might have, in the comments below.