An upcoming week of special Emmerdale episodes rewind in time to the moment of Ray Walters (Joe Absolom)’s murder, on each day spotlighting a different suspect, each one of whom has a very strong reason for wanting the drug-dealer and people-trafficker dead.
One of those is Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry), who has been front and centre of the drama. As soon as April (Amelia Flanagan) revealed to her parents that she’d been coerced into drug dealing and worse by Ray and Celia (Jaye Griffiths), Marlon (Mark Charnock) and Rhona have tried everything they could think of to get April out of the horrific situation.
The result of this was that the whole family became targets for Ray and Celia, with Ray extorting money from them and personally terrorising them, while Celia made them watch Dylan (Fred Kettle) being run over by Ray in case they were in any doubts about what they were up against.
‘Having witnessed what Ray did to Dylan on the phone when we were in the room with Celia, they’re just like rabbits in the headlights,’ Zoe Henry explained. ‘There’s not a noise in the night, the door opening, where they’re not straight back there. They think they’re at constant risk and therefore are in absolute fear and panic constantly.’
So Rhona has a strong motive to want Ray dead, and we’ve seen her behaving in a very guilty fashion ever since his body was discovered. But could she be the killer?
Zoe told us that Rhona definitely has it in her, under these specific circumstances.
‘I think it’s that moment of desperation that there is no way out. And so, if I die or I sacrifice myself in the process of freeing my family, particularly my children, then maybe I’ll do it,’ she speculated. ‘And I think that’s what’s in Rhona’s mind. Ray is ruthless and relentless, and he will stop at nothing. And Rhona knows that. So she’s all in. She’s got to be, otherwise where will they be left?’
Another potential suspect for Ray’s killing has to be Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy), the woman who trusted him and had fallen in love with him and started to see a future together. She, too, has been acting in a guilty way recently.
Zoe told us that Marlon and Rhona deeply regretted that they couldn’t warn Laurel earlier about what Ray was really like.
‘Laurel’s their friend, and they love her, and so they obviously care about that, but this fear is so deep, it’s purely about how do we save ourselves? She knows Laurel’s got kids, and there’s that fear.
‘The guilt involved in what if Ray does something to Laurel’s kids, how are we ever going to forgive ourselves? But the fear is so great. All they can stretch your imaginations to is their own immediate hell, and that’s Marlon and Rhona, and their three children.’
Going forward, Zoe said she thought it would be difficult for Laurel to forgive Rhona and Marlon for not warning her about Ray.
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‘I think it’s going to be tough. It’s kind of the ultimate betrayal. But they’ve got a long history. I mean, Marlon was married to Laurel, so she’s an ex-wife. But yeah, I very much feel and hope that they can come back from it. But it’s a big ask.’
