Yesterday, Belle’s heart was broken when she discovered her beloved dog Piper had died.

Last Friday, Tom drove into Piper after Belle defiantly told him to leave her well alone.

He then wrapped the dog up in a blanket, drove back to the village, and told Belle that he would do his upmost to try and save her.

Tom and Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry) had been up all night trying to save Piper, with Rhona of course unaware.

That her colleague was the reason that the dog was badly injured in the first place. When it became clear nothing could be done, Tom broke the news to Belle.

She was, of course, devastated and said her goodbyes to her little friend, before leaving Tom to put the dog to sleep.

In the aftermath, Tom was now in a position to comfort Belle and try to re-establish his place in her life.

But as he laid it on a bit too thick she had a sudden realisation that he was the one who’d killed Piper.

In tonight’s episode, Belle made her way to the vets hoping to collect Piper’s body. When she arrived though, Tom confirmed that Piper wasn’t in the vets due to the small amount of space.

Belle assumed this was Tom’s way of saying he had disposed of Piper’s body already and she was horrified. Later on, at the Dingle household, Tom managed to change the situation so once again, he looked like the innocent party.

After growing frustrated over Sam (James Hooton) and Lydia Dingle (Karen Blick) not listening to her, Belle was taken aback when Tom arrived with a basket that had Piper’s name on the top.

Tom explained Piper wasn’t at the vets because she was in his car, ready for their small funeral.

Outside though, as much as Belle tried to reflect on Piper’s life, she couldn’t not focus on the audacity of Tom spouting lies about how much he loved the little pooch.

When Tom found Belle on a country road, he more or less confirmed he was driving the car that hit Piper. Seemingly pleased with how his day panned out and the fact Belle’s family still weren’t listening to her, Tom made his way to the pub for a drink.

There, Tom got chatting to Gabby Thomas (Rosie Bentham), who had arrived to meet Vinny Dingle (Bradley Johnson). Tom grew curious about their new relationship and wondered if Gabby was actually serious about seeing Vinny.

Somewhat creeped out, Gabby was able to stand her ground and ignore Tom’s comments, who went on to say he’d ‘put [his] hat in the ring’ if he hadn’t just split up with Belle.

Speaking of, prior to the episode ending, we saw Belle in a police interview room.

She opened up about Tom and revealed to the officer she had been researching Clare’s Law.

Sometimes called the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, Clare’s Law allows the police to disclose information to a victim or potential victim of domestic abuse about their partner’s or ex-partner’s past abusive or violent offending.

Belle told the office she would like to see if Tom has ever hurt anyone else in the past – but what will happen next if she learns Tom has previously abused his partner?