Coronation Street Lauren’s murder investigation update as familiar face returns

Coronation Street fans will be gripped to their seats this week as further developments in Lauren Bolton’s (played by Cait Fitton) disappearance sees one familiar face return to the ITV cobbles.

Over the past few weeks, viewers have glued to their screens after the café worker went missing last month. Since then, all eyes have been on her employer Roy Cropper (Daniel Nielson) and her former tutor Daniel Osbourne (Rob Mallard).

But it’s fair to say DS Swain (Victoria Myers) is set on seeing Roy behind bars, a fate that even his solicitor Dee-Dee Bailey (Channique Sterline-Brown) may not be able to help him avoid. Next week, fans will see the pair go to court where the CPS (crown prosecution service) paints him out to be a murderer with a violent past.

The court will hear about his previous crimes including the assault on Gary Windass (Mikey North) in 2014 and the abduction of Wayne Hayes (Adam Barlow) back in 2001. As Nina Lucas (Mollie Gallagher), Evelyn Plummer (Dame Maureen Lipman) and Carla Connor (Alison King) await the results of Roy’s bail hearing, Dee-Dee hurries over and hands Nina a letter from Roy.

Fighting back tears, the trio realise that Roy’s convinced he will be put behind bars for Lauren’s disappearance. Unable to face the hearing, Evelyn returns to the café to check on Freddie.

Dee-Dee puts forward her case and urges the Judge to grant Roy bail to buy them some time. But the judge refuses the application and orders that the café owner be held in custody until his trial.

But not all hope is lost for Roy, as Bobby Crawford (Jack Carroll) returns to the café and mulls over Roy’s predicament with Bernie Winter (Jane Hazlegrove). Later on in the week, Bobby’s face pales when he receives a call summoning him to the station for further questioning.

In prison, Roy refuses his breakfast and decides to remain in his cell for the entire day. Back at the station, DS Swain grills a shaken Bobby and reminds him that perverting the course of justice is a serious offence which carries a custodial sentence.

Bobby retunes home and tells Carla how under pressure he felt with DS Swain after learning that the intruder in Lauren’s flat was wearing a balaclava and a dark coat with a fur-trimmed hood. It was at this point that Bobby revealed that he changed his statement after he suddenly remembered seeing a man running out of Lauren’s flat as Cassie Plumer (Claire Sweeney), Evelyn and Nina listen in with interest.

Cassie tells Evelyn and Nina that not long after Lauren’s disappearance, she remembers seeing a coat in the charity shop fitting the description Bobby gave. The mother and daughter duo immediately return to the charity shop and tell Nina that the coat has gone.

But it wasn’t entirely a wasted journey after they learned that there were some other clothes that came in with it including a jumper that has a name tag in it. Roy isn’t the only suspect on DS Swain’s radar, when she calls at the builder’s yard flat and tells Daniel that she’d like him to come down to the station following a further development in the Lauren Bolton case.

At the end of the week, Bethany Platt does her best to persuade Daniel to put thoughts of Lauren to the back of his mind. As the pair step out for a walk, Daniel has a go at Max Turner (Paddy Bever) outside of the café for reporting him to the police and wasting their time.

But as Daniel and Bethany head off, Max tells Abi that he has no idea what he’s talking about. When Abi reveals who reported Daniel to the police, Max is shell-shocked.

Max calls at the factory and rails at Bobby for failing to tell him about Daniel’s involvement in Lauren’s disappearance. Bethany reads an article online suggesting that Lauren was working as an escort which soon gives Daniel and idea to call Nicky Wheatley (Kimberley Hart-Simpson).

Bethany finds Max in the café and orders him to lay off Daniel because he’s a lovely, kind person who is being wrongfully accused. Meanwhile, as Daniel heads off to meet Nicky, Max decides to follow him.

In the precinct, Daniel meets up with Nicky and her friend Deena. Max watches on with excitement and takes pictures of the trio on his phone. He later explains to Bobby that he recognises Nicky as a sex worker and Daniel is clearly hiding something.

Will Max turn in his evidence to the police or will he continue to do more sleuthing on the famous cobbles. Fans will have to stay tuned to find out.