Emmerdale airs a shocking flashback next week, showing that Paddy Dingle has secretly known about the death of his father Bear Wolf for some time. But does this mean that he lashed out in response by killing Ray Walters?

Last week’s episodes saw Paddy enter grim talks with April Windsor, Dylan Penders and the police, who informed him about Ray and Celia Daniels’ human trafficking operation – and how Bear was one of their victims. But if Paddy didn’t look too surprised, that’s because he’d already found out everything the week before that…

From Monday 19 January, Emmerdale screens a special set of five episodes which take viewers back to the day of Ray’s murder – exploring the various clues and potential motives.

In sinister scenes, we see what happened after Ray killed his vicious mum Celia. After standing over Celia’s body at the farmhouse, Ray found himself drawn upstairs…

“Ray went to check on Bear – following Celia’s cruel boast that she’d killed him,” our Emmerdale source explains. “But he could barely bring himself to look at Bear’s lifeless body – overwhelmed with devastating grief.

“Although Ray manipulated Bear and often treated him badly, he’d started to see him as a father figure.”

Later, we see other flashback scenes where Paddy discovers the full horror of Bear’s captivity.

Ray brutally delivers the news to Paddy that his dad is dead, leaving him totally crushed. Sadly, Ray doesn’t show much sympathy to poor Paddy afterwards – immediately warning him to back off, otherwise Dylan will pay the price.

“The shocking scenes make Paddy a suspect for Ray’s demise,” our Dales source continues. “Viewers were initially led to believe that Paddy only knew Bear’s fate after Ray had already died himself. These flashbacks show that wasn’t the case at all.”

Upping the ante, Ray didn’t stop there. He also threatened Paddy’s young daughter Eve to secure his silence for good.

So, did Paddy respond by deciding to kill Ray? It’d certainly be out of character, but anything is possible!

Show producer Laura Shaw previously teased: “Following the discovery of Ray’s body, villagers’ secrets will come out as the mystery surrounding Ray’s death is finally solved.

“Before the end of January, a special week will flash back to the night of the murder, revealing which of the multiple suspects is responsible for Ray’s demise.”