In a classic twist straight from a horror film, last week Emmerdale fans saw evil Tom King (James Chase) finally getting what he deserved – an axe in his back – only for his apparently dead body to vanish.
Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper) plunged the axe into Tom after he terrorised her at Wishing Well. In tense scenes viewers saw Belle grabbing Sam (James Hooton)’s gun from its cupboard and pointing it at Tom after he savagely beat her up, before fleeing from the house.
Tom pursued her, using an axe to smash his way into the place where she was hiding. As he grabbed the gun, he turned his back on her for a moment and she swung the axe at him and drove it into his back.
It looked like there was no way that Tom could have escaped from the blow, but he did. He managed to stagger out to the road, where the first person who encountered him was GP Liam Cavanagh (Jonny McPherson). Tom was soon on his way to hospital, and Belle realised that she could potentially be in a whole lot of trouble.
In Monday (September 30)’s episode the Dingles were in damage limitation mode. Charity (Emma Atkins) instantly stepped up to provide an alibi for Belle, with a story that they’d been out walking in the woods during the time Tom was attacked. Charity told the investigating police officer, DS Foy (Robert Cavanah) that she likes to get her step count in.
Sam, meanwhile, had disposed of the axe by burying it next to the dog that everyone thinks is Belle’s dog, Piper. Viewers know that Piper is alive and well, but Tom enacted a sick scenario where he pretended the dog had died after being run over.
Meanwhile Amelia (Daisy Campbell) was going around the village telling everyone, including the police, that Belle must have attacked Tom. Amelia has fully accepted Tom’s story that he’s been the victim of Belle’s erratic and violent mood swings and mental health problems.
Back at the hospital, Tom eventually regained consciousness, much to the relief of his uncle Jimmy (Nick Miles), who’d been keeping a bedside vigil over him. The police questioned him and Tom said he couldn’t remember anything – where he’d been going, who he was going to see or what happened. He said he was in too much pain to think straight.
But as soon as the police and Jimmy had gone, all signs of pain vanished from Tom’s face as he reached for his phone. And of course the number he called was Belle’s.
She was alone at Wishing Well and was terrified when she saw who was calling. Tom’s message was short, but incredibly threatening. He ordered her to come to the hospital at 1PM the next day and warned her not to tell anyone – otherwise he would ‘tell the police everything.’
Will Belle do as he asks?
