Emmerdale‘s Bear Wolf is dealt further misery next week, when new evidence uncovered in Ray Walters and Celia Daniels’s storage container leads DS Walsh to believe he was their accomplice.

The damning information shows that Ray was making payments into an account in Bear’s name, suggesting that he profited from the criminal enterprise as well.

Bear can’t believe it as DS Walsh presents the supposed “evidence”, then reveals her theory that he and Ray were in it together…

“Ray and Celia are dead and buried, yet they are still destroying Bear’s life from beyond the grave,” explains our Emmerdale source. “Anybody who saw him when he emerged from the hell of their farm knows that Bear experienced nothing but absolute turmoil during his time there.

“However, DS Walsh is hell-bent on proving that Bear wasn’t a victim, but instead one of the evil operatives.”

What makes things worse is that Bear’s own words can be used against him as the detectives build their case. During his interviews about Ray, Bear admitted that his former captor told him that he’d be taken care of.

What DS Walsh and her colleagues don’t realise is that Ray emotionally manipulated Bear as part of his efforts to control him – and that’s why it was so hard for Bear to break free.

“There was some level of Stockholm Syndrome in Bear and Ray’s relationship,” shares our insider. “Ray did have a genuine fondness for Bear, which sometimes made him act out of character and be kind to him.

“Bear held onto that bond, and it meant something to him, but now it could be the very thing that condemns him to prison.”

It seems inconceivable to Paddy Dingle and the rest of Bear’s loved ones that anyone could believe he was a criminal mastermind at Ray and Celia’s level.

Sadly, the efforts that Paddy and Dylan Penders made to cover up Ray’s murder have contributed to building a narrative that Bear is an untrustworthy man who is capable of many terrible things.

Now they believe Bear may have murdered Ray because he wanted to take over the operation and keep all the money for himself.

After everything they’ve been through already, Paddy can barely believe that his dad could wind up carrying the can for all the evil deeds committed by Ray and Celia. Is there any way out now DS Walsh truly believes Bear is a perpetrator, not a victim?