Tracy (Amy Walsh) being caught thieving from Eric (Chris Chittell) has set a chain of events in motion that will likely lead to the discovery that John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth) is a silent assassin in Emmerdale.
When Tracy was caught with her hand in the till it came to light that she hasn’t been receiving any maintenance from Nate (Jurell Carter) since he left to work on a wind farm Shetland. She’s received text messages from him, but no calls and no money.
What Tracy doesn’t know is that before Nate could even leave the village, he was, albeit accidentally, killed by John – who has a hero complex and likes to create life-threatening situations where he can then swoop in and save the day. Sometimes they go wrong, poor Nate.
In this case, he created the drama with Nate by administering an injection, but he couldn’t undo it, and Nate sadly passed away.
Elsewhere, John also spiked Jacob (Joe-Warren Plant) and caused a severe allergic reaction to give him the chance to ride in with the EpiPen and heroically save Jacob’s life.
He also spiked Chas (Lucy Pargeter) and then took the praise for saving her when she collapsed.
But as the villagers are now realising that loving dad Nate has completely abandoned his doting-father post, eyebrows are being raised.
As Tracy fills Cain (Jeff Hordley) in on what’s been going on – or rather what hasn’t – since Nate left, Cain is prompted to immediately call his son. His call isn’t answered, but he leaves Nate a voicemail.
Nates killer John has the phone and while listening to the voicemail, he panics when Cain calls again. This time, he accidentally answers the call. He lets it sit there for a moment before he decides to end the call and is left overwhelmed by the magnitude of his own lies.
Having now made contact, Cain won’t give up, and he calls again. He tells Moira (Natalie J Robb) about the weird call, and she’s crushed for him, spurring him on to keep trying his son.
Cain later learns that Tracy doesn’t have Nate’s new number and is heartbroken to realise how his son has abandoned Tracy and his own child.
Cain makes a decision that will put the fear of God in John – he resolves to go to Shetland and drag Nate back by his ears. John will be forced to do something awful to protect his secret. Is Cain now on his hitlist?
