Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) has been left fearing for her life in EastEnders after a disturbing message from her attacker, warning her that her days are numbered.

The much-loved Walford legend, as viewers know, was attacked on Christmas Day, with an unknown assailant having sought revenge with a snow shovel.

With the incident taking place just hours after her scandalous affair with Junior Knight (Micah Balfour) was exposed, there is no shortage of suspects in the frame, with all members of the Beale and Knight clans having a clear motive.

Despite it being touch and go for a bit, Cindy managed to survive the attack and she’s hellbent on finding out who it was that left her for dead.

The legendary schemer pointed the finger at Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa), recalling that she saw her daughter-in-law just moments after the attack was carried out.

But this theory was seemingly debunked on Thursday (January 16) when a brick came flying through the window of No. 25 – while she was in Lauren’s company.

If that wasn’t scary enough, an accompanying note read: ‘You should have stayed dead! Now I’m coming for you’.

The discovery left Cindy reeling as she came to realising that the ordeal isn’t over yet, with one vengeful adversary hellbent on making sure she ends up dead.

With Lauren seemingly ruled out, just who is to blame? That is the question and while there is a plethora of suspects, I can’t help but wonder if perhaps the police are looking in the wrong area.

Yes, Cindy antagonised everyone in the below picture, but was an affair with Junior really enough to set one of her loved ones on a dark path of revenge and murder?

I’m not so sure.

What’s more, when it comes to soap whodunits, the culprit is rarely among the suspect list, which means we could be looking at someone else entirely – someone with a very different motive.

‘You should have stayed dead’, reads the note. While this could be a reference to Cindy’s evading death at Christmas time, it’s also possible that it’s actually referring to her having previously faking her own death.

Cindy, as fans know, was killed off in prison in 1998. 25 years later, she staged a historic return from the dead, with show bosses re-writing history as new information confirmed that she was in witness protection for 25 years after informing on cellmate Jackie Ford, who was of interest to the police.

With Jackie and all her known associates dead, Cindy was subsequently allowed to return to her former life, finally doing so in 2023.

But despite previous claims that Cindy is free to live her life without looking over her shoulder, could the police have perhaps got it wrong?

Could someone associated with Jackie – perhaps a long-lost relative or a secret accomplice who remained unknown to the police – have got wind of the fact that Cindy faked her own death and thus decided to seek revenge?

With Cindy being the sole reason that Jackie spent her life behind bars, such a person would have more than enough motive and likely wouldn’t hesitate in trying to claim her life.

Or could Jackie, much like Cindy, have faked her own death to throw the police off the scent? If this does, in fact, prove to be the case then it’s not only Cindy that’s in danger but pretty much everyone she loves.

Be afraid, be very afraid!