Emmerdale spoilers follow.

The residents of Emmerdale are reeling next week, as the terrible truth about Celia Daniels and Ray Walters’ criminal empire is exposed. With April Windsor finally free of their clutches, Marlon Dingle and Rhona Goskirk pray this is the end of their nightmare – but another one is about to begin as a dead body is waiting to be found at the depot. Is this somehow connected to the cruel crime network?

As next week’s episodes begin, Marlon and Rhona reel from a dramatic festive period. Marlon is wracked with guilt as he sneakily sends a text, while Rhona makes a phone call in secret – but who are the couple contacting, and why all the clandestine behaviour?

Following the Christmas chaos, April is missing and the perplexed parents have been frantically searching, but with no luck.

Outside, Ross Barton drives into the village with a very special passenger – it’s April. The teen looks distressed as she heads home to an emotional reunion with her relieved parents.

Marlon and Rhona are thrilled to have her back, but it’s clear April is hiding some deep trauma. When asked if there will be any further repercussions from Ray or Celia, who by now are gone, April is evasive. Where have she and Ross been, and what exactly has happened to Celia and Ray?

Despite her family’s fears of reprisals from their tormentors, April insists it’s time to tell the police everything, hoping they can help the authorities finally bring the poisonous pair to justice.

Up to now, Marlon and Rhona have been terrified of the repercussions of blowing the whistle, particularly as April believed she killed someone in self-defence when forced into sex work, and could face a murder charge. Will they agree this time?

“Rhona is about keeping everyone safe now,” admits Zoe Henry, who plays the village vet. “They’ve managed to get April and Dylan away from those absolute monsters, she doesn’t want to complicate her daughter’s life any more so she thinks, ‘Let’s just be quiet and it will all go away and wrap itself up’ – or at least that’s what Marlon and Rhona think.””

More details then emerge about Celia’s evil empire, and how she and Ray enslaved vulnerable people as enforced workers on the farm – including someone very close to home.

Marlon and Rhona are stunned to learn that Bear Wolf, who has been missing for months, was one of the poor souls being held captive in squalid conditions and treated like animals by their captors.

This pricks at the couple’s consciences even more about telling the police what they know, especially as Bear remains unaccounted for in the aftermath of the slavery operation being uncovered. Firstly, they must break the news to Paddy about where his dad has been all this time…

With the rumour mill already churning about the secret slavery, Rhona wants Paddy to hear about this horror from people who care about him. Spotting him in the street, she tentatively invites her close friend inside.

As she and Marlon explain where his missing father ended up after walking out in the summer, Paddy struggles to comprehend Bear’s ordeal.

Paddy is horrified, but reassures mortified April and Dylan they’re not to blame for this and understands why they didn’t speak out earlier.

“There’s an element of guilt from Rhona and Marlon’s perspective,” adds Zoe. “If they’d managed to get a handle on April’s involvement and got the police involved sooner, maybe Bear would’ve been spared?”

A desperate search ensues to find Bear, whose fate remains a mystery for now.

Meanwhile, at the haulage depot, Jai Sharma is about to drive to Manchester on a job. Caleb Miligan tells his colleague it can wait until tomorrow – but there is a corpse lying in the back of the van Jai was about to get into.

Who is the mysterious fatality? Could this be linked to Ray and Celia’s actions, or to Ross and April’s suspicious absence? Or is another villager hiding their own huge secret?

“Something is about to happen off the back of this week,” teases Zoe. “It is probably going to annihilate Rhona’s family…”