EastEnders airs tense cliffhanger as Karen Taylor returns in early iPlayer release

As a new week began, tormented killer Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) reeled after kissing close pal Alfie Moon (Shane Richie), just as Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) was sneaking out of secret lover Stacey Slater's (Lacey Turner) house.

Stacey later urged Kathy Cotton (Gillian Taylforth) to meet her in the café for the relaunch by way of carrying on as normal.

But new owner Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry) discovered a leak and declared that the café floor would need replacing!

With Keanu's body buried under the same building after he was fatally stabbed by Linda, Kathy and Stacey were thrown into a panic as they arranged a group meeting.

Linda condemned the women for worrying more about themselves than Keanu's loved ones, but Stacey urged Linda to stick around instead of doing a runner, and a drunk Linda later bumped into Alfie.

After an awkward start, Alfie asked Linda to join him on a boating holiday to mark the end of his cancer treatment, and she agreed, relieved to get away from the Square.

Meanwhile, Denise Fox's (Diane Parish) already fragile mental health spiralled further when she heard the news, and she paid a visit to Pastor Clayton (Howard Saddler).

When he advised Denise that offloading her troubles was the only way to regain control, she decided to hand herself in to the police, and wrote Jack a letter to that effect.

Luckily for The Six, Keanu's sister Bernie Taylor (Clair Norris) unwittingly came to their rescue.

She enlisted a plumber friend of Mitch Baker's (Roger Griffiths), who revealed that the leak wasn't as catastrophic as they thought, so the café could open as planned.

Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal) relayed the news to Denise, who disposed of the letter. But she had another hallucination as Keanu appeared in a mirror reflection.

Nish rewarded a thrilled Bernie with the manager's job, but the opening ceremony was derailed when Bernie accidentally played an old voice note from Keanu.

At that moment, Karen approached, insisting that her son was missing as she shouted through tears: "Where is my son?"

Linda watched on, shaken - but will she be able to hold her nerve?

Read more:

• EastEnders spoilers as Johnny Carter returns to help mum Linda and fight evil Dean Wicks
• EastEnders first look as Karen Taylor makes controversial return to Walford
• EastEnders cast: Who is joining, leaving and returning to the soap?
• EastEnders star Kim Medcalf on Sam Mitchell’s exit and how she can “repair things”
• Why EastEnders should bring back Kim Medcalf’s Sam Mitchell as soon as possible
• EastEnders announces surprise Patsy Palmer return as icon Bianca Jackson

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Visit our dedicated EastEnders page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.

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