Here is MY take. Hope is a trained cop. And thank heavens for them, as they note things that don't jibe well, in comparison to the rest of us who don't. She sees the box when the trash container is knocked over, knows it was shoved down to the bottom, figured there had to be a good reason. So, she put it into her purse, so no one else would see, and if she was mistaken...no harm done. But..if there is a reason Abby put it where it would not be seen, then she was just trying to be of some help. And she was right. Abby has a problem. She was grateful to Hope, especially that Hope told no one. Now Hope doesn't know the entire situation......yet......but she knew something was amiss.
We have complained about Hope being just background filler for months and months. So to have her interacting with family & friends..A good thing in my opinion.
Yes, to have her visit Daniel in order to get an o.k. on the statement he made was far fetched. And that entire scene was "filler", so the news that Nicole was moving in would be told to the public in Salem, and also.....that Daniel was intending to propose. This is the counterpoint to Eric's persistence/insistence in rehashing the things the two said when about to die. Him and his "what we almost did" is ridiculous, as we all realize, but not the writers. LOL
After all, they are the ones who penned "oh, our son is probably dead, let's have sex". Oh, I don't want you with my daughter, well I love her, "let's have sex"; Oh, you have cocaine, & alcohol.....let's have sex. Oh, I broke up with my significant other, let's have sex. Oh, am drowning my sorrows in alcohol, let's have sex. So.....oh, we are dying, let's have sex is a natural thought process for these dodos. Trouble is, Eric keeps acting as if they did. He definitely needs a shrink.