Who Killed Lucy? I’m still on the case.

A couple of weeks ago, I reviewed all the clues in the Lucy Beale case and worked out that Peter Beale lashed out at Lucy causing a fatal injury that he hitherto is unaware of. Jane Beale witnessed it and covered it up. You can read that here

But now we’ve had another clue…

Tonight at the National Television Awards the last thing Lucy heard – it was her own music box.

And suddenly things are very sinister. The music box was put under the tree for Beth at Christmas – but who by? And why? Either somebody knows who it is and is taunting them, or it was an innocent present.

Who reacted? And how did they react? Most of them spooked, including Jane.

But she said nothing until she had a heart to heart with Lauren, giving herself an alibi at the same time.

Forget it being unwrapped, though. Think about Lucy hearing it. Who would possibly have access to the music box, for it to have been the last thing she heard? And why?

And how did it get back in the house? Remember Ian took it to the charity shop after she died. Either someone took it from the house, killed her, and then took it back again… or she died at home.

That means it’s Ian, Peter, Bobby, Cindy or Denise. At a stretch Jane would also have access to the house. We know that Lauren was also close to the house.

Jane didn’t see Lauren from the Masood’s house – it isn’t possible because of the location of the houses. Jane’s car also wasn’t outside where it was previously parked.

So, none of them really have an alibi. Cindy did go and look for Ian at the restaurant but didn’t find him. Ian was with Rainie but we don’t know what time he got back. Denise was with Libby, but again we don’t know what time she got back, and we don’t know what time Lucy died.

Jane, Bobby, Lauren and Peter don’t have alibis at all.

The Reveal

I still think part of the key to figuring out whodunit is working out how it will be revealed and who to.

Either someone finds out, or someone confesses.

Lauren seems to be the only one (apart from me) on the case at the moment. This both lends and removes support to it being a Branning. If we’re seeing it through the eyes of Lauren, then it makes perfect sense to be a Branning, but if it doesn’t involve the Beale’s then the reveal will feel a little lackluster.

So if someone finds out who did it, then I think they have to reveal it to the Beales and I don’t think Lauren would dob Max or Abi in it, without first demanding an explanation.

So if someone confesses instead… who would that be? Surely, it can only be Jane at the altar? It makes perfect dramatic sense, surely?

Or maybe. Lauren does find out who it is… and she finds out it’s Jane?

Jane is definitely involved. I don’t want her to have done it, but I can’t for a second believe she’s not involved.

I’m still putting money on Peter with Jane covering it up.

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(Not) Looking for Love Part 1

Towards the end of 2014, I decided I was going to find me one of those boyfriend things.

I’ve never really had the most successful of love lives – though it’s not been completely inactive – and part of that has been of my own choosing, never really wanting anything permanent.

I’m happy in my own company and I work long hours. Sharing the precious few hours I get to myself with someone else has never really been a priority.

Occasionally, I get a bit lonely and want to spend some time with people, but that’s what friends and family are for. So again, that boyfriend thing never really appealed.

Of course, there are SOME things that friends and family can’t provide, but I’ve always found sex a little overrated, time consuming, and frankly, a bit dull at times. I don’t know, maybe I’m doing it wrong.

But something changed, and I don’t really know what. Maybe it was that three of my friends got into serious relationships – one of them someone who up until that point had a similar attitude to relationships as me.

Maybe it was because it was cold and I needed to find a new way of keeping warm. Maybe I just wanted more presents for Christmas.

The point is… I asked somebody out. Confidence has never been a problem for me, except when it comes to men – so for me to directly ask someone was big news. (Even though it was via a Direct Message on Twitter – it still counts. #BabySteps)

The answer was “thanks, but no thanks” – and I moved on, got over it. Which was a new experience for me. Normally, if I ever do like a guy, before I even talk to him, I’ve idealised him in my mind and planned our lives together. This usually leads to disappointment, but it’s a by-product of the endless chat that has come with meeting people on social media.

Exactly that happened shortly after Christmas, when just randomly chatting with someone on twitter we started sending each other direct messages. He was cute, been following each other on twitter for a few months, not ever really considered anything before. Partly because he lived SO far away.

We spent a whole night chatting, first on Direct Message, then via text. We found we had so much in common, and we were laughing about how fate seemed to be throwing us together. We both talked about the future, about running off to live away from all of society in some forest somewhere – he even jokingly asked me to marry him.

Then, after a week and a half of non-stop chat, he ended it. Said it was nothing personal, but he’d realised that he didn’t want to be with anyone, he wanted to remain single.

I wasn’t devastated, partly because I was expecting it (one doesn’t get rejected by as many men as I have without starting to be able to read the signs), but partly because it was something I’d said to guys before. One specifically comes to mind, where there was nothing wrong with him, a perfectly lovely, attractive guy – I just didn’t want to be in a relationship with him.

But I was a bit upset – because again, I thought I’d made a connection, and again, it came to nothing.

But, I surprised myself, the following day, by being completely over it. And that’s nothing against the guy, but what we had – like most virtual relationships – wasn’t real. Whatever it was, I enjoyed it massively at the time, but found afterwards I didn’t miss it.

And then I realised I didn’t miss it because, he wasn’t the right guy for me. The stuff I enjoyed was all the bits that come with a relationship, someone to chat to (even if it was only over the phone), to tell stuff to, to make me smile when he compliments.

I miss that, but I don’t miss him.

So I’ve learned something. I’m NOT going to find me one of those boyfriend things. I’m not gonna look, because I’ll just try and force it again.

But I AM going to start saying yes to things, going out and doing more stuff, where I might meet some new people, and if one of them new people happens to be the right guy for me, well that’s wonderful, but I’m going to let him find me.

This new attitude has already started to reap rewards, when, last weekend I made the trip up to London for a two hour pre-launch party for Helen Lederer’s new book (review to come soon).

Old me, wouldn’t have wasted money on such a short trip, especially one on my own. He would have just stayed home, watched TV, shuffled stuff around the flat and maybe have ventured out to McDonalds for a burger.

New me, travelled up, had a lovely time, met some new people, made some new contacts, and even made a handsome guy give me his number. It was happening before I even thought about it – didn’t ask him for it, didn’t offer mine, just told him to give me his number.

I might never see him again, I might run into him next time I’m in London – who knows. But I’m not gonna over think it. It’s possible and, indeed probable, that he didn’t want to give me his number, but it was his real one, because I did send him a little text and he text back. We left it with maybe a drink, maybe sometime.

A chance encounter, that came out of me not looking for love, that has led to a ‘maybe’.

I’ll update you sporadically on my non-quest, whether you want to be updated or not – I’m still not looking for love, but I think I’m finally ready for it if turns up.

Who Killed Lucy?

“I know you killed Lucy.”

And so ended another year in Walford. One episode later and poor Emma Summerhayes – having confronted her suspect in the park over a nice cup of tea – was fighting for her life. One more episode later and she’s shuffled off to Plot Device heaven.

Not because of some nefarious (Miranda-style turn to camera “nefarious”) meddling from the culprit but because of a runaway Mitchell sister careening through the market.

And what an episode it was. Marriage, death, birth, resurrection… and that was just Ronnie.

More importantly, the show whittled the suspects down to just 14 characters when the dazed detective fired off a text saying she couldn’t keep the secret any longer. And somewhere among the crowd of on-lookers a phone beeped.

J’accuse! But who?

Cindy? Jane? Ian? Peter? Denise? Max? Abi? Lauren? Whitney? Lee? Ben? Jay? The Cokers?

I’m going to use my powers of observation and my own flair for the dramatic to use everything we’ve already been told, plus where the show is heading to work out who did it.

In just one simple blog post.

Let’s start with the assumption that it definitely is one of those fourteen presented to us in that scene – although it is possible that someone else, someone off screen received the text from Emma and that Denise or one of the others was simply getting a text from O2 telling them to pay their bill.

First – is there anyone we can rule out?

The Cokers were in the frame very early on after a supposed ‘leak’ from the BBC script department claiming it was creepy Les wanting a boost for business. As motives go, it’s a touch daft, akin to Tesco breaking into your house and smashing your eggs on the off chance that you’ll choose one of their stores to get some replacements.

I think they’ve been tossed into the frame to muddy the waters a little, but more on them later.

Emma seemed to know the person she spoke to on the phone well, introducing herself simply as Emma. She also didn’t go straight to the police either, suggesting she wanted to give the person a chance to explain/deny/defend.

So, that rules out Whitney, Lee, Les, Ben and Jay. Ben and Jay particularly have had barely anything to do with Emma, she owes them nothing, and it would be quite arrogant of her to expect them to know who she is just from ‘It’s Emma.’ (Ignoring the fact that in real life she likely wouldn’t have their mobile numbers because in Walford everyone has everyone’s number).

She did have a small bonding session with Pam a few short weeks ago, so there IS a personal connection there, but I think investigating Pam will lead us to the how and why, not the who. Again, more later.

What about Jane and Cindy? Well, they both disappeared shortly after Emma arrived in Walford with Jane only recently arriving back. There is a connection there, but not as big a one as with the others. Let’s put them on pause for a moment.

So, we’re left with Ian, Denise, Peter, Max, Abi and Lauren. Poetically, from the point of view of someone plotting a long running story, it makes sense for the killer to be one of these six.

I’m crossing Lauren off the list straight away. The actress has gone on maternity leave and recorded her final scenes prior to Christmas and the big reveal week has several live elements. Her final scenes will likely air in that week, but being due in or around February, it is unlikely she will come back for it. You certainly couldn’t count on it from a production point of view.

But the Lauren situation gives us another clue. Why does she leave Walford? Does she elope with Peter after a nice tidy resolution to her best friend’s murder? Or does she run away after being betrayed by someone close to her?

I think it’s likely they leave together, see later for more, but what if they don’t?

What breaks Lauren and Peter up if she leaves Walford without him? Suspicion? Betrayal? If the person responsible is Ian or Denise, it wouldn’t really come between Lauren and Peter – but if it was Peter himself, Max or Abi, it would cause a great deal of tension.

But what about Pam?

There was recently a catch-up video – the story so far on the EastEnders website.

Previously on EastEnders…

It shows lots of bits and pieces from April onwards, but the clip that stands out the most is Pam and Les in the market.

“What have you done? Everyone will find out. Everyone will know.”

The reason this stands out is because it doesn’t actually pertain to the Lucy storyline at all. It is instead a reference to Pam having euthanised her own child.

Is it’s inclusion a mistake, or is it a clue to how Lucy died. Did a loving parent stop their child from suffering?

I’m ruling out Ian. The man definitely would have had a breakdown by now if he’d killed his own daughter. Lucy’s mum is dead, but there are three representations of the mother figure in her life: Cindy, Jane and Denise.

Cindy bears her birth mother’s name.

Jane is the woman who bought her up during her early teenage years, the closest thing Lucy had to a mum.

Denise was the mother figure in the family at the time of Lucy’s death.

At this stage, for the first time since April, I’m ruling Denise out for the simple reason that she appears first in the ‘There’s a Killer Amongst Them’ trailer. One of the clues to Archie’s murderer was that Stacey appeared first in the trailer when he died.

The current man in charge was part of that production team, and I think he’d play with us, not by doing the same thing, but by giving us a bit of misdirection and a big clue at the same time. So let’s look at the trailer:

In the lands of Gods and Monsters…

Denise pulling up the floorboard

Max throwing out some bin bags

Lauren washing a bloodied top

Peter digging in the allotment

Jane cleaning broken glass out of the back of her car

Ian pouring sugar into tea

6 of the 14 suspects. The first one to appear is one of the mother figures – a subtle clue that it’s one of them?

All of the elements have been seen or represent something already seen in the show:

Jane hid Lucy’s phone to protect Ben under the floorboard

Denise dug up the allotment and found Lucy’s phone

Abi helped Max clean up blood from the Car Lot

David and Max burnt/threw out Max’s computer

The sugar in the tea represents Lucy’s cocaine habit.

But what about Jane and the car? A mother figure clearing up some mess?

Does the car have any significance?

The Previously on video focuses on Jane’s car. Denise watches her drive away, but looks where she drives away from – it’s parked just outside the Beale’s, next to Ian’s car.

The video Lee gave Emma of Fat Boy in the Square shows Lauren approaching the Beale’s. Ian’s car can be seen, but you should be able to see Jane’s as well. But it’s not there.

If Jane took the car somewhere, how on Earth did she see Lauren walk away from the house? And how did Jane see it from the Masood’s? A house that is set further forward from the Beale’s. She wouldn’t have been able to see the front of the Beale’s from Masood’s house.

Assuming then that Jane didn’t see Lauren walk away from the house… In the absence of Tanya, heavily mentioned in the scene, Jane was very quick to step in as a mother figure and protect Lauren from suspicion. Not only does it demonstrate her maternal side, but it also protects Jane, because it places her at the Masood’s that evening. A fact which Emma has sussed isn’t true.

So was Jane protecting someone else? Is there anyone else Jane would protect? Peter and Bobby, definitely.

Could one of them have killed her by accident, and then Jane helped them cover it up by placing her on the Common?

If it was Peter, and Jane is covering for him it makes for a very odd scene with the two of them the day after Lucy’s death in which they talk about the burger restaurant and making lots of money, no hint of tension between them.

So do we rule out Jane? Or do we rule out Peter?

Peter makes a tempting choice as the murderer – there’s something quite tragic about a twin accidentally killing his sister, and his behavior the following day can be seen as denial, rather than ignorance.

It would also have a massive impact on the future of the Beale’s, the show’s original family – but would it tear them apart beyond hope?

Let’s think for a moment about Max, and flip the mother figure theory on it’s head. What if it’s a father protecting his daughter?

Max had a line to Abi that whatever happened on Good Friday stays between them. Both of them were acting shifty the following day, with Max getting defensive when Lauren asked if he’d heard from Lucy. He also hid from Ian when Beale came a-calling (moments before he found out his daughter)

Still, it was a few weeks later before Max found out it was Abi that was blackmailing him over his affair, and they had quite the argument about Ian and Lucy with Max proclaiming ‘the man’s daughter has just been murdered’. If it WAS Abi, would Max be so blunt? And would they really stage an argument like that just for Jay’s benefit, the only witness?

I think it’s a red herring.

I can’t help but go back to Jane and Peter. It ties in with the promise that the resolution to this would be so sad.

So why were they acting so normal around each other the following day? My theory is that Jane witnessed Peter and Lucy arguing, it got physical and Lucy fell down, hitting her head, or he hit her with something.

Importantly, though, she got up again. She and Peter argued some more and then Peter walks away. Jane rushes up to Lucy and Lucy collapses and dies in Jane’s arms. Close to the common, Jane lays her body down there, staging it as a murder or a mugging to protect Peter.

In the meantime, Ben and Jay find Lucy’s bag on the ground where she collapsed. They take the phone and purse and leave the bag. Jane goes back for the bag and plants it with the body, before heading back to Walford.

She sticks around long enough for the body to be found, but trying to comfort Ian, she ends up sleeping with him. Unable to bear the guilt, she flees.

She comes back to Walford months later, and wanting to help fix the family, she asks Ian to marry her. Not through love, but a desire to go back to how things used to be.

Then, on the day of the wedding, perhaps under pressure from Carol or Max, assuming they’re now gonna pick up the investigation where Emma left off, Jane stops the wedding and confesses everything to Ian.

Ian agrees that he’ll never tell the truth, but he and Jane don’t marry. Peter and Lauren leave Walford together, neither of them ever knowing that Peter was responsible for his twin sister’s death.

At least, that is, until years later, when Peter comes back, with a new head and the past comes back to haunt him. Because in Walford, secrets don’t stay secret forever…