Finally, someone has figured out that Coronation Street icon Carla Connor (Alison King) never made it to Spain, and DI Costello (Daon Broni) has been hinting at her location this whole time.
Unfortunately, DC Kit Green (Jacob Roberts) took too long putting the pieces together, leaving Carla facing a grisly fate.
While her friends and neighbours spent the festive season spreading warmth and cheer across the cobbles, there was nothing warm nor cheerful about how Carla spent her Christmas.
Bound and gagged in a cupboard and at the mercy of unhinged love-rival Becky Swain (Amy Cudden), things have looked pretty bleak for Carla for quite a while now.
However, there was a small glimmer of hope when she managed to get in contact with Betsy Swain (Sydney Martin) and subtly drop in some hints to her location. A brave move, with Becky’s knife at her throat.
Things looked even more promising when Carla was able to break free from her restraints and make a run for it, knocking Becky out in the process.
Unfortunately, over a week crammed into an airing cupboard and several days without her anti-rejection medication had left her weak, and she couldn’t move fast enough to get the door open before Becky grabbed her and hauled her back inside.
The last time we saw Carla, it was a chilling sight. With Becky locking the closet doors for seemingly the last time, having told Carla that she planned to simply leave her there without her life-saving meds and let nature take its course, things looked completely hopeless for our favourite factory boss.
If that was the latest drop on this seemingly endless rollercoaster ride, then tonight’s episode saw our little car hook onto the chain that would drag us up potentially the biggest hill yet – only to drop us down faster than ever before.
After researching the bizarre hotel name that Carla had given Betsy and finding a website and working phone number, Kit was still feeling uneasy about the whole situation.
Pointing out to Sarah Platt (Tina O’Brien) that when he tried to book a room at the hotel, the website refused to take him any further, he decided that further investigation was necessary.
Roping in Asha Alahan (Tanisha Gorey) to question her friends on the ambulance crew that had transferred Costello, Kit was given a third word to add to his already ridiculous collection.
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Fortunately, it wasn’t long before he realised that Costello had been trying to point them to a location all along, using a three-word marker.
With the end of his investigation in sight, Kit headed straight to Becky’s flat to rescue Carla, arrest Becky and live happily ever after, right? Right?!
Of course not.
When Kit arrived at the flat, the whole place was eerily empty – with only the remnants of Carla’s captivity suggesting that something had been afoot.
As Kit examined the unlocked chains hanging from the closet door, we held our breath, hoping that Carla had made another, more successful attempt at an escape.
Instead, our stomachs dropped as Becky appeared on our screens, staring down at the boot of her car at the rope, cleaning products and bloodied fabric inside.
Besides that, there was nothing. No sign of Carla.
Back at the flat, Kit had little luck in finding any other leads, besides an empty pill packet. But is that enough to prove that Carla was once there?
And, more importantly, what has happened to her?
We know that she is set to appear in the upcoming Corriedale episode, so we’re pretty convinced she’s not dead – unless she appears as a hallucination.
But where is she? And what condition will she be in if she is found or manages to escape?
