Robert Sugden

[Telly Watcher]

I suppose Chas just being over-tired lately could explain why she didn't notice anyone quietly sneaking upstairs into her bedroom and rifling through her things in her wardrobe without waking her? I today rewatched the downstairs pub glass and bottle-breaking incident and open pub door on the morning of the Friday October 16th episode and this does suggest an intruder came in from outside but maybe Chas is suffering from blackouts about things she's done but doesn't remember? We haven't really been shown anything concrete about whether Chas has started drinking heavily since Aaron got jailed (Marlon got her three large spirits drinks from the bar on Thursday 15th though) but alcoholic blackout problems could be one reason why Chas is experiencing her present problems? Maybe there is a real stalker who is looking for something in particular which he/she thinks Chas still has (like the gun that Robert dropped in a possible gangster/Robert-related storyline where Robert got shot by a gangster outside the back of the Woolpack on September 25th?). Danny Miller's suggestions to TV viewers/recent magazine article readers suggest that Robert dropped a gun Robert was carrying when he fell into Chas's arms. Maybe Robert was going to meet a suspected armed gangster for some dodgy Robert deal or something on September 25th or maybe this is even the start of a return to Emmerdale for someone with previous history there, like Dodgy Declan? Of course, Aaron could have been lying to Emmerdale and us TV viewers about how he 'found a gun near Chas's feet'. We all know from very painful past experience about how Mike Parr pretended in August 2015 to everyone about how Ross had been killed by Pete (but, of course, we as Emmerdale fans found out that Ross was still alive before Emmerdale showed us this on TV because we found out through other media/personal contacts from Leeds that Mike Parr (as Ross) was still acting on the Leeds Emmerdale set after Ross had supposedly been killed!).

The person who has lately this week struck me as being a terrific would-be storyline character for shooting Robert is Adam. If I was a storyliner for Emmerdale then Adam is definitely the guy I would choose to shoot Robert. Just imagine how terrific Adam would be as Robert's shooter? First off, Adam is married to Victoria, half-sister of Robert and daughter of Diane. Second off, Aaron is Adam's so-called 'best mate', close business partner and maybe even Aaron's deep-down love-interest(?), but if Adam shot at Robert on September 25th then Adam by his own actions would have put Aaron in jail, if only for breach of Aaron's suspended sentence conditions. Third off, Adam would probably have been set up to shoot Robert by someone like Cain or Andy who probably even would have provided Adam with the gun to 'do the deed', so Cain or Andy (or both!) would get roped into the explosive storyline too! Fourth off, Adam plays the 'village dullard' so often now that I for one at least has to come to believe that Adam could be capable of just about anything even half-daft! We know that Cain approaches Adam to help him kill Robert in hospital during the October 20th episode but on this occasion Adam turns Cain's request down and tells Zak so Zak can try to intervene before Cain goes through with trying to kill Robert by oxygen deprivation at the hospital (but don't forget the ding-a-ling oxygen monitors and alarms on that 'staying alive' machine, Cain!). We know that Robert survives Cain's intended attack on Wednesday October 21st because Robert is sitting up in his hospital bed by Friday October 23rd!

The person who really ought to be Robert's shooter and expected assassin should be step-brother-with-a-massive-shoulder-chip Andy, of course, but Andy seems to have an alibi for being an in-patient at a mental health unit away from Emmerdale on the night of September 25th.

If I was going to place bets on 'Who shot Robert' then my choices right now would be:

1st: Lachlan, now 14/1
2nd: Andy, now 22/1
3rd: Adam, now 11/1

(odds provided by oddschecker.com)

Latest betting odds for 'Who shot Robert' now available at:
http://bettingzone.oddschecker.com/t...-robert-sugden

[lizann]

did aaron say he was going to see andy at he garage but why was andy at the garage the night robert was shot?

ross emerging as a strong contender for shooter

[lizann]

did aaron say he was going to see andy at he garage but why was andy at the garage the night robert was shot?

ross emerging as a strong contender for shooter

[uberfan]

Just a thought, could it have been Emma, trying to shoot Chaz? Not knowing how to use a pistol, she missed and shot Robert. Emma is now terrorising Chaz.

[lizann]

Just a thought, could it have been Emma, trying to shoot Chaz? Not knowing how to use a pistol, she missed and shot Robert. Emma is now terrorising Chaz.

why would emma now, she won she got james back, she is the first suspect after taking chas passport

[maidmarian]

why would emma now, she won she got james back, she is the first suspect after taking chas passport

I dont think she is a rational thinker!!
Shes been boiling up for 15-20 years
and now its payback time.I dont think
she necessarily has done shooting but
capable of both that& stalking!

I dont think ???winning ??? James( what a
prize).!! is enough -needs to punish Chas!!

She needs to control all aspects of her familys
life and doesnt like them giving attention ,.no
matter how small, to others.

Theyve said she will get much worse and I
think.she will - thats the purpose of the
character.

Might change under new producer -but that's
a few months away and KO may have plans
for Emma -before she herself leaves??
We will see - as they say!

[lizann]

true emma is bats crazy but debbie should be her starting person for revenge

[Perdita]

I don´t think Emma thinks rationally like that .. she acts more on impulse and feeling threatened by Chas who she probably suspects is still liked very much by James would make her act in that way

[maidmarian]

true emma is bats crazy but debbie should be her starting person for revenge

perhaps SWs are keeping that storyline - in
reserve- for Debbie "leaving story" for her
exit on Maternity Leave!?

[Telly Watcher]

did aaron say he was going to see andy at he garage but why was andy at the garage the night robert was shot?

ross emerging as a strong contender for shooter

Why did Aaron say he was at the garage when he heard the gunshot?

In the Friday September 25th episode, Robert gets back late to his flat above the pub and tells Diane(?) on his phone that Andy wasn't at the quarry. Lawrence then walks into the flat to have a chat about his daughter. Inside the pub, Aaron is drinking and Doug is talking to Diane on his mobile phone when Diane tells Doug that she and Victoria haven't found Andy at the quarry.

(Chas and Aaron are talking at the bar.)

Chas: Where do you think you're going?

Aaron: To find him if I can.

Chas: Andy?

Aaron: Well who else?

(Aaron then leaves the pub.)

Moira and Pete are drinking in the bar and plan to stay a while longer for another drink before going to meet Ross at Butler's Farm as Ross had texted Pete earlier to arrange a meeting.

Ross is then shown taking Moses into the Dingle's Farm to leave for Kirin and Belle to babysit.

Belle: You're early.

Ross: Somemut's come up.

Belle: Well can't you bring him back later?

Ross: No. He's in the way.


© ITV
Ross leaves Moses with Kirin and Belle

Robert and Lawrence argue about the business and Robert tells him how Robert set up Connor to blackmail him. Robert then gets a text message and leaves Lawrence alone in the flat saying "I have somewhere to be". (This is the wedding photo of Chrissie and Robert gets broken by Lawrence, I think.) The obvious sender of the text would be Chas, as the next scene shows Robert and Chas in the car park behind the pub with someone watching them at the back of Pear Tree Cottage. But are we missing a blacked-out scene here and did Robert do something else between leaving Lawrence and meeting up with Chas?

Diane and Victoria arrive back at Robert's empty flat and Victoria finds the broken wedding photo on the floor. Diane then gets a call from Andy on her mobile phone. Andy is upset and "sorry" but won't say where he is or what he's going to do next. Andy then ends the phone call.

The scene then switches of the back of pub in the car park where Chas and Robert are still arguing.


© ITV
Robert and Chas argue in the car park at the back of the pub

About a minute later, Robert gets shot. Within what seems like 20 seconds or so, Aaron runs out from the alley behind Pear Tree Cottage and stands some distance away from Chas and Robert.

Aaron talked to Chas during her prison visit in the Friday 16th October episode. On Friday September 25th, Aaron said he'd had a row (with Robert?), then gone to the garage to find Andy but he wasn't there. That's when he heard the shot and ran to the pub car park and found Chas and Robert there.

(During Aaron's prison visit by Chas in the Friday 16th October episode.)


© ITV
Chas and Aaron talk during the prison visit on October 16th

Aaron:
After we'd had that row, I... I went to the garage. Just to find Andy but...he wasn't there, so, so I thought about going back round and having it out with Robert again.

But then I heard the shot. And so I started running. And that's when I saw you, with him.

Chas:
And you picked up the gun?

Aaron:
Yeah.

Chas:
Cuz you thought I'd shot him?

Aaron:
Yeah.

Chas:
I can't believe you didn't tell me all this after the police cleared me.

Aaron:
I couldn't. Mum, you acted like I was guilty even before you knew about the gun. I thought if I tell her now...

Chas:
So why say it was planted on ya?

Aaron:
It gave me a reason for not handing it in.

Chas:
So you've had to go through all this on your own? Because you were scared to tell me? Come on, you're not the only suspect. They'll probably charge somebody else tomorrow.

Aaron:
Mum, I'm on a suspended licence. I'm doing time in here regardless of what I'm getting charged with.

Chas:
Not for attempted murder. Listen to me, love. The person who shot Robert is still out there. We need to find them, and we will, so you just hang on in there.

But Aaron's claim of finding the gun near Chas's feet doesn't seem to match with the video footage we've been shown on TV for the September 25th episode.

When Robert gets shot, he falls into Chas's arms, their bodies then twist around so as to swop directions, then Robert falls onto the ground with his feet facing the picnic table. Chas kneels at his left hand side (and doesn't notice any gun). An aerial shot of the scene also doesn't show any gun within the field of view.


© ITV
Chas kneels down near Robert after he's been shot / Aerial view of the scene with Chas and Robert after he's been shot

Aaron then runs from behind Pear Tree Cottage and stands some way away from Robert and Chas. There isn't any sign that he stoops down to pick anything up. Doug arrives from the pub, so do Harriet, Bob, Kerry and Dan arrive from the cafe. Diane and Victoria also show up. These are all standing to the left of Robert, and they don't see a gun either. Dan is the first person to join Chas at Robert's body, he kneels down to the right of Robert, and he doesn't notice any gun either. Finally, Aaron approaches Robert, kneels down on to the left of Robert and puts his hands on Robert's chest to try to stop the bleeding. There is still no sign that Aaron picks up a gun and puts it in his pocket. By then, the crowd and Dan have all sides around Robert under view anyway. The ambulance arrives, Aaron steps back, and the paramedics turn Robert over onto his right side. There's still no gun in sight.


© ITV
Dan and Aaron try to save Robert / A crowd from the pub and cafe form

So, we only have Aaron's word that he found a gun near Chas's feet and he didn't mention this until he met Chas during the prison visit on Friday Oct 16th. He didn't mention it during his police interview on Thursday 15th either.

For the main part, Aaron seems to have been telling the truth. But there are some things which he's done and said which really don't add up for now, as if he's hiding something or shielding someone. Presumably the shooter was wearing black when he shot Robert from near the door recess at the back of Pear Tree Cottage. The shooter could either have stayed there whilst Aaron ran past without Aaron noticing him, or the shooter could have crossed the alley and knelt in the dark in the garden, or the shooter could have entered Pear Tree Cottage through the back door (previously broken into). Whatever happened, the shooter escaped the scene, either back down the alley or just mingled with the crowd forming at the back of the pub. Of course, the shooter could have been Aaron himself?

Minutes later, Ross enters Mulberry Cottage (second building up from the pub) to tell Debbie that "Robert's been shot" and that he's leaving Emmerdale, maybe for good, as he "nearly" did something that night (with Pete?) and is worried that if he stays in Emmerdale he'll end up in jail. He's going to the airport but doesn't know where he's heading yet. He'll send money for Moses though. Ross then leaves, but reappears in the normal 7pm episode for Thursday October 22nd, the same night as the 'rewind' episode at 8pm.


© ITV
Ross tells Debbie he may be leaving Emmerdale for good

(This post is long enough. I'll start a new post to talk about Andy for Friday night, September 25th.)