The last year and half this storyline is still going on will there ever be an conclusion to this storyline because we still don't know the whole story the night Lucy was Murdered. I think the flashback episode did not help us that much like for example did someone help Jane move the body. There is a lot to this storyline in months ahead.

I think we do know as much as we're ever going to or need to about the night she died. In my opinion, the flashback episode did it's job well in tying up all the loose ends about who saw her when and did what to her and why they acted suspiciously in the following months.

Re, when it will end, I suspect it never fully will, at least not whilst a Beale remains in the show. We will continue to see how her loss and knowing it was one of their own that did it, and they covered it up affects them.

Max will obviously be cleared but probably not until sometime next year. What happens after that re it being an open case, who knows. It's possible he stands trial. Is found not guilty but the Police effectively close the case as they believe he was the right man, there justwasn't enough evidence so they now have to let it go.

Out of interest, what questions are there still about her last night which weren't answered in the flash back episode or Jane's explanation of her finding and disposing of the body?

The only things that sprng to mind is how and when she and Ben reconnected and why they were going to Miami and what Emma meant by 'you know' about 'it' not being there.

Billy's weird crush on Lucy has never been revealed. What the bloody point was that about if it's never going to be mentioned again? Or used against Billy to be a suspect. Did the police even find those pictures of Lucy in his flat? I can't remember.

How did Jane manage to move Lucy's body in to the car in a busy square (with a party going on) without anyone seeing or it being caught on cctv?

how on earth did bobby kill Lucy with that hollow box when she saw him walking towards her?

the billy pictures thing i guess has been answered by some suggestion he was perving on her but i didnt buy that and still dont. it seemed at the time of the live episode to be a really cheap way to provide a red herring but it tarnished a long serving member of the square and was totally out of character

the stacey key STILL hasnt been explained

The Beales are a joke now, it's like they will never be able to go back to just normal storylines, this will be lingering forever this plot. Seeing as DTC was axing Lola it would have been better to make her the killer.

Christmas 2025 it will end.

I think Ian and Jane are going to have to reveal it was Bobby at some point.

Like others have said once maybe when Ian leaves, which could be another 40 years, as I can see Adam Woodyatt being simular to William Roache, and staying for as long as his health allows, and he is unaxable.

If it was to come out before, the Beales would be seem as scum to the residents

It was just one of many red herrings for the viewers in the whodunit. The presence of the photographs led us viewers to suspect that he could be the killer. We discovered the truth in the flashback episode, that he fancied her and believed she liked him too. She rejected him and that was that.

It doesn't need to be revealed to the other characters.

Bobby being the killer will continue to rear its ugly head in the months/years to come. At some point Kathy is undoubtedly going to find out, and one day the secret will come out into the open. As kitkat1971 said, the story will never really 'end' as long as there are Beales in the show.

Don't think it will move on a significant degree till Lauren returns which we still don't know when that will be

Your title made me laugh! That's how I felt about the Mick/Dean story!

I'm becoming more and more of a fan of the theory that Jane takes the rap for Bobby and goes inside. I think they'll want to get a lot of mileage out of Killer Bobby (he'll be killed off himself at some point) but if Jane is convicted of the murder, that in a way does end the Lucy story from the Square's residents point of view as the killer has been revealed and served justice.

Bravo to the show for making it such a long running storyline. Love it or hate it, the last couple of weeks has been the best the show has been since the anniversary week.

I completely agree. It's been the most successful storyline EastEnders has done in years.

I love that there's no end in sight and there's something really compelling about watching the car crash that is Jane & Ian's deluded, head in the sand parenting attempts with the little psychopath which will no doubt result in Jane taking the blame to protect someone who will probably go on to kill again and their guilt when that happens.

It is frustrating to see Max get arrested but in general, I really enjoy how it's playing out. It's messy and it's changing people and that makes it fascinating. I hope they don't give into the demands to wrap it up quickly...people want immediecy whereas I think this plot, the Bobby aspect of it anyway, can go in for years.

I reckon Christmas but realistically they could run it for as long as they want.

I think the Beales are going to be away for a while once it all comes out. The fallout will be quite something.

That, or Bobby kills again and it all comes out.

I assume Jane wrapped the body in something. Yes there was a party going on but eually most people at it would be inside the house on the other side of the road not milling around and drunk. It's not the first time this has happened, Matthew and steve managed to move Saskia from the club to the Car years ago.

There can't be any CCTV in that area - if there was the Police would have looked at it and discovered Lucy returned home months ago.

The jewellery box didn't look that hollow. It was metal or wood covered with leather and a fairly light object van kill if it strikes in the right place of the skull and with another force. Plus she might well already have been weakened.

Billy's photos have been explained. He fancied / was in love with her. It might have cheapened the character but it has been explained.

Stacey's key is nothing to do with Lucy's death.

When they storyline a murder enquiry to last 11 months and involve every character there will be bynecessity red herrings. Whitney deleting social media stuff was one. As was Lauren being where she wasn't supposed to be and Max and Abi cleaning the car lot and providing each other with alibis. Jay burying the phone and purse. They've all explained, to the audience even if other characters and or the Police don't know about it.

This.

Despite the radio silence post-reveal, the storyline as a whole is a very natural one. It's not really gonna 'end' as clean-cut and nicely as any other storyline. The ripple effects of this will be seen for years to come [see Ben and his killing of Heather, but on a bigger scale].

I still think Mas helped Jane move the body and that's another duff duff moment to be revealed.

As to how it's all going to end, either bobby will get into an argument with someone and will threaten to sort them out like he did Lucy and then it will all come out that he knew exactly what he was doing and intended to hurt her. He's definitely not the little innocent that Jane keeps claiming he is. And I though sharon was blind when it came to denny! Where is denny anyway? Maybe he'll come back downstairs soon with a new head.

Yes, I'm inclined to agree. Either somebody does end up being convicted (Jane being the obvious choice after confessing) or there is a not Guilty verdict on an Innocent so they are released but everybody thinks they did it but got away with it like Nick Cotton with Eddie Royle.

Why would Max believe Abi did it which he clearly does if he helped Jane to move the body? Granted he could believe it was as a result of Abi 'battering her' but wouldn't he have asked why Jane was doing such a thing rather than just calling the Police?

Yes i agree. I think some plots should go on for years or even longer. Things don't tied into neat little packages within months with all questions answered in life do they so why should everything in Soap?

If it was the only thing happening then fair enough, it would be really, really boring but it isn't. Even within the Beales they have had other plots than Bobby being Lucy's killer in the past few months such as Cindy not coping with motherhood and them wanting to adopt Beth and her feeling excluded. Now of course lucy's death was an undercurrent to that with beth being a 'replacement' or final chance to 'get it right' plus Cindy seeing the difference in how they love and protect her compared to Bobby but that all makes it more interesting.

Also, it's not as though Lucy's killer not having been found is at the forefront of the rest of the residents minds. We haven't had 18 months of parents telling their teenage girls not to go out on their own because 'the killer' is still out there. It has, for most, become yesterday's news with them probably subconsciously assuming it must have been somebody Lucy had come into contact with through her work or drugs so not in their community, not a danger to them and therefore not to be worried about.

That's why i don't think they'll actually need a 'resolution' in catching the killer for the main community for years if ever. Murders do go unsolved sometimes and people have to move on.

This is probably the most imaginative soap storyline I have ever seen. I'm glad that it hasn't just been wrapped up after the anniversary. DTC promised it would be a truly explosive plot that would change Walford forever - and it has! The Beales, Mitchells and Brannings - three of the most important families in EE history - have all been destroyed or damaged by betrayal. Phil shopped Ben and Jay to the police - which resulted in Lola and Lexi leaving, Abi and Max have turned on one another with Abi shopping Max to the police, and well the Beales need no explanation since they have caused all of this. It's been a monster of a storyline!

I can't wait to see the detectives' and the residents' reactions when the truth finally comes out but the longer the storyline goes on, the bigger the climax will be. They can take this storyline down various paths:

- the Beales live with the secret until Bobby kills someone else, then he's arrested
- Lauren returns and forces the Beales to tell the truth in order to free Max
- Regardless of Max's fate, Lauren tries to build a case against the Beales
- Jane takes the blame for Bobby's actions, Bobby grows up being a soap villain and being in the dark that he actually killed Lucy and hates Jane as a result
- The secret isn't found out for a very very very long time.

The last one shouldn't be an option though. The characters who were on the square when Lucy was alive need to be there when the truth comes out otherwise there'll be no impact.