One Emmerdale character appeared to drop a huge hint that they’re fully in-the-know about Ray Walters’ demise in tonight’s episode. With a whodunnit storyline in full swing, could they be the one to have killed the villain off?

Ray was revealed to have met a sinister end in Monday (5 January) night’s episode, which opened with an unseen assailant dragging his body away.

The scene came after he was publicly abandoned by love interest Laurel Thomas, who was furious when his human trafficking exploits with Celia Daniels (whom Ray himself had killed just last week) finally came to light.

His showdown with Laurel was witnessed by Marlon Dingle, and it was Marlon tonight who made a particularly suspicious comment. He told Mary Goskirk that Ray “won’t be going after anyone. Not anymore.”

With Mary left clearly struck by the remark, do we have a clear indication that Marlon knows something about how Ray met his maker? Did Marlon himself do it?

He’d certainly have clear motive after his daughter April Windsor was groomed and exploited by Ray and Celia in a harrowing long-running storyline.

Tonight, April persuaded her family to let her go to the police about her ordeal even though they believed there was a risk she could get into trouble after Ray led her to believe she’d killed a dangerous predator with a bottle of vodka.

April had reasoned that the mystery over Bear’s whereabouts compelled her to be forthright with the police about everything that happened, and made Marlon promise to stay with her when she made a formal statement.

When Mary suggested that they tell Laurel about their plans, given the risk that Ray could return and cause trouble for her, Marlon made the eyebrow-raising comment about him never coming back.

The mystery over Ray’s death will continue to take centre stage next week, as Jai Sharma falls under suspicion when the body is found in a haulage van.

Jai is interrogated about his use of the vehicle and a source told Digital Spy that “it’s not looking good” for the popular character.

They said: “There’s no hiding that he’s been behind the wheel of the van that Ray’s corpse was found in. What could be more damning than that?

“Caleb [Milligan] is convinced that there’s a killer in the midst of his employees, so he asks Jai if he has any intel he needs to come clean about. Jai suggests that Celia is responsible for killing her son, but Caleb reckons it was someone else…”

With pressure mounting, it’s not long before Jai points the finger at April and Dylan Penders. That clearly won’t go down too well with Marlon and the rest of the family…