Caleb Dingle covered up for his son Nicky as police tried to uncover the truth about his mysterious attack.
On Thursday night, the pair had a furious showdown after a bloodied and bruised Caleb (Will Ash) discharged himself from hospital.
Nicky (Lewis Cope) said he pushed his father off the cliff and left him for dead because he was ‘sick of the lies and the games’.
He told his dad he was going to confess his crime to the police and was prepared to go to prison.
However, when two officers came knocking at the door, Caleb shut down the investigation by blaming his fall on a deer.
‘It was a deer!’: Caleb Dingle covered up for his son Nicky as police tried to uncover the truth about his mysterious attack
He told officers: ‘It wasn’t Mackenzie. I looked around it must have been a deer or something. I think I just lost my footing.’
Nicky, who attacked Caleb after confessing his sexuality to his fiancée Gabby, had told him during the fierce row: ‘You’ve destroyed me. I’veruined Gabby’s life and I’ve lost Ally.
‘I will happily tell the truth, part of me wishes you never woken up. The blackmail, the games, I’m done dad, we’re done.’
Nicky was engaged to Gabby Thomas as part of his father’s plot to take over Home Farm in a bid to stop facing financial ruin – but was secretly having a relationship with a man called Ally.
Afterwards, police told suspect Mackenzie he was off the hook, but added: ‘We’re not daft either, we know there’s more to it’.
Fans watching the show took to Twitter in disbelief by the cover up.
One wrote: ‘Emmerdale is going downhill fast. Caleb’s pushed by a damn DEER and Belle’s listening to her music with earphones. Riveting storylines.’
Another added: ‘So after all of that, Caleb says that it was a deer that pushed him or he slipped!? How gullible are these police officers’.
A third viewer typed: ‘How did caleb get moved in so quickly if he’s been in hospital ? Is that a new sofa ? Thought he had no money.’
“It was a deer” #Emmerdale Cue Swirling and the Hotten flying squad rushing out to arrest Bambi’, wrote another.
Attacked: Caleb was in hospital in a coma after Nicky pushed him off a cliff and left for dead
Surprised: Fans watching the show took to Twitter in disbelief by the cover up
Tough: Caleb raged at his son Nicky after he was revealed as his attacker as he woke up in hospital and remembered everything on Wednesday night’s Emmerdale
Ouch: Caleb was left in a coma after he was pushed off a cliff and left for dead as the village tried to uncover the villain – but Nicky admitted to it on Tuesday
Caleb was left in a coma after he was pushed off a cliff and left for dead as the village tried to uncover the villain – but Nicky admitted to it on Tuesday while he was bedside with his unconscious father.
Recent episodes have seen the entire village turn against Caleb, as he called out his family in a Western-style scene in the Woolpack.
In a big whodunnit, Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley), Mackenzie Boyd (Lawrence Robb), Leyla Harding (Roxy Shahidi) and Will Taylor (Dean Andrews) were all potential suspects, with police working hard to uncover the villain.
But as soon as Caleb came off the ventilator he was keen to let Nicky know he knew it was him after remembering the incident.
After waking up he said: ‘It’s a shock someone hated me enough to kill me!’
Nicky (Lewis Cope) then tried to leave the hospital after staying there all night when Caleb firmly said: ‘No, sit down, there’s stuff that we need to talk about.
‘You can stop pretending that you care. I remember exactly what happened and it was you that pushed me. You could be facing an attempted murder charge.’
‘I suppose you thought you could get away with it! You left me there to die!’
He retorted: ‘I am guilty but you’re not exactly aren’t you. You wouldn’t actually tell the police on me would you dad?’
A flashback of the wood scene then played as Caleb fell as Nicky watched his body fall to the ground.
Nicky had tried to blame it on Mackenzie Boyd (Lawrence Robb), but Caleb saw right through him.
