EastEnders airs horrific realisation for Reiss in early BBC iPlayer release

Having brutally smothered wife Debbie (Jenny Meier) to death with her own pillow, Reiss placed the pillow back beneath her head, left unnoticed and returned home.

After a confrontation with Martin Fowler (James Bye) and Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) which saw Reiss misunderstand the root of their anger, he arrived home to pregnant partner Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy).

Sonia had taken a call meant for Reiss, informing him that Debbie had passed away. Reiss covered his guilt, and was comforted by Sonia as he broke down.

The pair headed to the care home, where a nurse explained that the assumption was that Debbie had died from complications due to her recent bout of pneumonia.

The nurse added that they couldn't see Debbie yet, as standard procedure meant her room had been closed off as a crime scene. She also apologised for her earlier reprimanding of Sonia for not signing in during her visit – spooking Reiss, as he had been unaware of Sonia's presence before his deadly deed.

When police officers quizzed Reiss on Debbie's health and revealed there would be a post-mortem, Reiss pleaded for his wife to be left alone – masking the much darker motive for wanting them to leave Debbie's body be.

Back at home, Reiss discovered that Sonia had been planning on selling her house – and he laughed in despair as the penny dropped: if Reiss had known that Sonia was putting the house on the market, he may not have felt the need to kill Debbie!

Sonia comforted Reiss as he descended into sobs, but will the truth come out?

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EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer.

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