Since Emmerdale’s Anthony Fox (Nicholas Day) disappeared, Steph Miligan (Georgia Jay) has been on the case to find out what happened to her granddad.
This has caused untold anguish to her mum Ruby Fox-Miligan (Beth Cordingly), who murdered Anthony by strangling him – although not before Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) had beaten him half to death. Ruby has since been struggling after learning he was buried in the woods.
Steph’s crusade is also causing Caleb Miligan (William Ash) John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth) sleepless nights who were both involved in the clean up and cover up.
Chas (Lucy Pargeter) is also in the frame, as she’s in the know but was talked down from taking this knowledge to the police.
Steph’s relentlessness piqued when she learned that Ruby had cheated on her dad, but that her dad had chosen to turn a blind eye. She is certain Ruby is involved in Anthony’s disappearance, now all she needs is proof.
With everything coming to a head, Caleb suggested to Ruby that they ‘can’t go on like this’ and that perhaps Steph needs to know a bit more about the truth.
This may be their only option when Steph’s investigation ramps up a notch with evidence from one of Anthony’s friends suggesting something fishy is going on.
Steph learns Anthony had been meant to see this pal but he never arrived, and as Ruby’s behaviour becomes ever more erratic, Steph knows her mum is hiding something and she goes on the hunt for clues.
She is determined to bring Ruby down.
Caleb finds her desperately rifling through the draws in his office, so he enlists Ross (Mike Parr) to put a stop to it.
It’s too little too late though, as Steph finds a gun and is certain it has something to do with Anthony’s disappearance.
‘She finds it in the Mill Cottage safe – I didn’t know there was one but Steph clearly did!’, Georgia Jay explained.
‘What we see in Steph here is that she’s turning detective. It’s like figuring out a crime. She’s really clever and she’s putting it all together slowly. She gets this insight in the Hide with Ross, figuring out that something’s not right with Ross as well. She gets a sudden insight to look in the safe, and when she does she finds the revolver in there.
‘She doesn’t hang around and goes to confront Caleb. I think Caleb and Ruby come up with plans to go on holiday, something like that, and Steph comes straight out with it and confronts Caleb with the revolver.’
The star added: ‘He is straight away very defensive and comes up with some story that it was used as a threat for Cain after he found out about Ruby and Cain together. He’s quite quick on it and comes up with quite an elaborate story which has a bit of truth, so he’s quick on his feet to think of that.
‘That’s what draws Steph to go and check on the facts with Cain. Caleb has come up with this story but there are still flaws in it and things that she doesn’t believe Caleb would have done.
‘She goes to Cain to have a down to earth conversation with him, to ask him straight out for him to confirm the story, so she can discover whether Caleb is lying or not.’
Ruby is already on the verge of spilling her guts. Will she finally confess and see herself carted off to prison? Or will Steph get to the truth first and call the cops on her