Hollyoaks spoilers follow.
Hollyoaks has confirmed Fergus Collins is dead after being attacked by Maxine Minniver.
The soap previously left off with a shocking cliffhanger, as Maxine clobbered Fergus with a bottle at the same time as the crook's goons had jumped Warren in the prison yard.
Tuesday's (November 23) first-look episode opened with Maxine wanting to call the police, but Trish insisted it'd do no good because they couldn't "bring a dead man back to life".
"No-one is gonna miss that sick pervert," Trish insisted. "We get rid. We clean up and make it look like he's done one."
When a tearful Maxine admitted she couldn't go through with it, Trish insisted: "Yes you can, or Minnie is going to lose her mum to prison."
Maxine thought better and called DS Cohen, leading the detective to question both women over why they'd been tampering with a crime scene.
Trish lied to DS Cohen that she'd been the one to hit Fergus with the bottle in self-defence, then interrupted Maxine when her daughter tried to insist there was a recorded confession.
When DS Cohen went back to investigate, Trish demanded to take the blame using the self-defence excuse because the recording would make it sound like Max had deliberately killed Fergus.
"Maxine, I never say this but I love you and I need to protect you," Trish told her.
Maxine received a text letting her know Warren was on life support because of the prison attack, so Trish was able to make up an excuse for her to get away to see him.
Yet, when DS Cohen warned Trish over whether she was just covering for Maxine, the recording device fell out of her purse right in front of the investigator.
Before DS Cohen listened to the recording with Trish, PC Franks surprisingly intervened to wipe down the fingerprints from the bottle used to attack Fergus.
Flashback footage also showed that PC Franks had edited the recording to end right after Fergus threatened to murder Trish.
This tampering of the evidence allowed Trish to essentially prove her version of events to DS Cohen and get off the hook for killing Fergus.
"Fergus Collins was a violent, psychopathic abuser of women for gain," DS Cohen told her. "You attempted to protect yourself. I'm taking no further action against you."
At the hospital, Warren managed to come out of his coma when Maxine tearfully explained to him that Fergus was finally gone from their lives for good.
"You bumped off Fergus? Oh Max, I couldn't love you any more if I tried," Warren chuckled.
In the village, Trish approached PC Franks to ask whether she'd put her job on the line to protect her and her daughter Maxine.
"For everyone's daughters," PC Franks corrected her.
Hollyoaks airs new episodes from Mondays to Fridays at 6.30pm on Channel 4, with first-look screenings at 7pm on E4. Selected omnibus episodes are available via Amazon Prime Video.
Read more Hollyoaks spoilers on our dedicated homepage
If you've been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, organisations including Refuge (www.refuge.org.uk) and Women's Aid (www.womensaid.org.uk) can provide further support and information. The 24-hour, freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline is 0808 2000 247. The US National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or text LOVEIS to 22522.
Night News Editor
Justin has been with Digital Spy since 2010, and in that time, has covered countless major news events for DS from the US.
He has worked previously as both a reporter and sub editor for the brand, prior to taking on the position of Night News Editor in 2016.
Over more than a decade, he has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. As a US contributor to Digital Spy, Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo.
