Only one person in Emmerdale currently knows where Nate Robinson (Jurell Carter) is, and that’s his k.i.l.l.e.r, John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth).
Nate vanished from the village last year. As far as his family are aware, he went to Shetland to work on a wind farm. What was strange, however, was that he made no contact with anybody after he went.
His wife Tracy (Amy Walsh) has been left struggling financially, and can’t understand why previously loving father Nate would totally abandon his daughter, Frankie.
Viewers know the reason why Nate hasn’t been in touch. It’s because he’s d.e.a.d and his body is currently in the lake. This is the same lake that a limo crashed into when it was covered in ice.
This incident led to the d.e.a.t.h.s of three people. One of them was Amy Barton (Natalie Ann Jamieson), who fell through the ice and, as she did so, spotted Nate’s body eerily suspended in the water.
Tragically Amy d.i.e.d before she was able to tell anyone what she saw, so Nate’s d.e.a.t.h has remained a secret.
Viewers also know that his k.i.l.l.e.r was John Sugden, the paramedic who loves rescuing people so much he sometimes hurts them just so he can rescue them. In Nate’s case John was genuinely trying to save his life but accidentally k.i.l.l.e.d him, and dumped his body in the lake.
The worst case scenario for John is for the lake to be dredged, but that’s exactly what happens in upcoming episodes.
This follows John’s own attempt to get back at Mackenzie (Lawrence Robb) by staging an ‘accident’ with a slurry pump on Butlers farm. The slurry enters the water supply, and the lake has to be dredged as a result.
‘He feels terrible about that, but when there’s the revelation that the whole things has got to be drained and dredged, it’s the worst thing that could happen – when he’s meant to be getting married!’ Oliver Farnworth said.
As John nervously contemplates whether to flee from the village or stay put for Aaron (Danny Miller)’s sake, it seems inevitable that the people dredging the lake are going to make the very grim discovery that there’s a dead body in the water.
And when Nate’s body is found there’ll be a lot of people – perhaps most notably Nate’s dad Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) – who’ll stop at nothing to find out who k.i.l.l.e.d him.
