Has EastEnders' Johnny Carter hidden the murder weapon in secret scheme?

We previously suggested that evil Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo) may be responsible for taking the missing item, given that he was inside The Vic on Christmas Day and was never seen leaving before Linda stabbed Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters) to death.

But as the week went on, it was Johnny who most gave us pause for thought. He confronted Kathy Cotton (Gillian Taylforth), Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal), Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) and Denise Fox (Diane Parish) over the worrying development, accusing one of them of moving the weapon.

But let's remember: we never actually saw Johnny discover that it was missing. And he failed to mention that it was, until the last second of his meeting with The Six – not even telling his mum beforehand!

So, did Johnny, at the last minute, come up with the idea of telling an almighty fib – hoping to place the weapon in the possession of one of the women?

He keeps repeating that he won't let Linda go to prison, and has suggested that the fragile Denise may have stolen the meat thermometer so she could hand it in to the police and gain a lesser sentence by confessing to her role in the murder cover up.

As Denise's friends and loved ones launched a search party when her mental health took a distressing turn, Johnny failed to show any empathy in a cold exchange with her worried daughter Chelsea Fox (Zaraah Abrahams).

Linda was taken aback by Johnny's behaviour, but he maintained that Denise could have taken the weapon!

While this could indeed be true, Denise was also seen searching for it while having paranoid delusions, and we fully expect the character who stole the weapon to be someone working on a scheme of sorts.

With Denise hallucinating that Johnny is after her, what if this is actually a sign that he is up to no good?

It seems we're not the only ones who are playing detective over Johnny. EastEnders fans on 'X', formerly known as Twitter, don't trust him either.

If Johnny has orchestrated this latest drama, he's putting his mum through an extra layer of hell – and Johnny certainly seems capable of such deceit with his current attitude!

When Denise continued to tell husband Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) that Johnny was the devil, he insisted that Johnny was "a nice kid".

We can't help but wonder if this is also foreshadowing for the returnee to emerge as a villain.

EastEnders has had us searching for clues all year, and now we just can't stop!

But as he tried to keep Linda away from the other women in the latest edition, we'll be shocked if Johnny Carter isn't holding something back; whether it's the murder weapon or not.

Anyone affected by Denise's story can visit Mind UK, where you can find support for psychosis, or call the helpline on 0300 123 3393.

Read more:

• Did Dean Wicks steal the missing murder weapon in EastEnders?
• EastEnders' Denise Fox makes shock move in early BBC iPlayer release
• EastEnders airs twist for Johnny Carter and The Six in anniversary episode early release
• EastEnders airs horrific revelation in George Knight special episode early release
• 6 EastEnders spoilers: Denise Fox’s mental health reaches crisis point

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

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