There is a new shock awaiting Emmerdale village – Ray Walters (Joe Absolom) is found dead.
His body is discovered in the back of one of the Depot’s vans, and while the police want to know who did it, the real question is – who wouldn’t want him dead?
In the last few months, he and his rotten mother Celia Daniels (Jaye Griffiths) have terrorised the village, having started a drugs and human trafficking ring right under everyone’s noses. Marlon Dingle’s (Mark Charnock) family have felt the brunt of it, with Dylan Penders (Fred Kettle) having been the first to be pulled into their modern slavery machine, with April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan) following suit not long after.
April was forced to deal drugs for the pair to protect Dylan, which was only the entry level. Eventually, the unscrupulous two tried to force her to sleep with men for money.
When she refused and the client got angry, she hit him over the head with a bottle and seemingly killed him. This played perfectly into Ray and Celia’s hands as they used this as leverage to keep her under their control, though it was a lie.
But there has also been other collateral damage in this dreadful underworld – Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy). She fell for Ray, and he fell for her with the ideal that she gave him of being able to escape his dark life with abusive adoptive mum Celia and settle down with her and her kids in the sleepy village. Though their relationship had its ups and downs, it was perhaps the first time she’d felt real love since her beloved Ashley.
But then Laurel learned of Ray’s true nature and his dream unravelled.
Despite Laurel learning the horrific truth, she is still left utterly rocked when news hits her that Ray has been found dead – murdered and dumped in one of the Depot’s vans.
She struggles deeply with this news, with added turmoil over a dark secret she is keeping. In a daze over hearing of his death, Laurel heads straight to the church to pray, but what for? What is she hiding?
When she bumps into Marlon, she gives him a short shrift for not telling her about Ray’s secret life sooner and for leaving her in harm’s way. Marlon is left troubled by their exchange, because, quite frankly, she’s not wrong, though it seems she might be projecting some of her own guilt.
Jai, Caleb, and Billy are there when Ray’s dead body is found and initially, they aren’t suspects. But after some words from Caleb about Jai’s sketchy nature, and with Laurel hinting he had issue with her and Ray, the police turn their attention to the Depot’s Operational Manager. While Laurel asserts that Jai couldn’t have killed Ray, she’s said enough to the Boys in Blue to raise suspicion.
Laurel heads to Nicola King’s (Nicola Wheeler) for a shoulder to cry on, but before long Nicola is speculating about Jai being Ray’s killer. Laurel is left visibly uncomfortable with the conversation – what does she know that she’s not willing to share?
Don't miss a Soaps scoop! Add us as a Preferred Source
As a loyal Metro Soaps reader, we want to make sure you never miss our articles when searching for stories. We have all the latest soaps news, spoilers, videos, and interviews, with a vibrant community of highly engaged readers.
Click here and tick Metro.co.uk to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.
Jai returns from the police station with the entire village beginning to believe he might be the culprit and in a desperate bid to defend himself, he blames April and Dylan.
But as the question rumbles on over who killed Ray, it starts to become clear that Laurel isn’t the only one hiding a secret. Who would be bold enough to off Ray?
