Penny has fallen in with a dangerous crowd (Picture: BBC)
This article contains spoilers for Tuesday’s (January 2) episode of EastEnders, which has not yet aired on TV but is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
Penny Branning (Kitty Castledine) has officially returned to Walford with Louie in tow, and Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) was thrilled to see them both.
However, he was quick to note the absence of niece Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa), and soon Penny had explained their eventful arrival into the UK.
Viewers will know that Lauren was caught smuggling drugs into the country, but appeared to have known nothing about the illegal substances that were pulled out of her bag.
As Penny confided the information in Jack, he rushed off to the station to get more information, assuring Penny that Lauren was likely innocent as he had heard of numerous cases where fellow passengers had planted drugs with the aim of retrieving them on the other side of customs.
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However, while Jack was away, Penny received a call from associate Juliette, and as they spoke it became clear what had really happened.
Penny was quick to reveal that she had ‘done this sort of switch dozens of times’ and that Lauren was just unlucky to have been caught.
She went on to blame Juliette for giving her such a large amount of stuff to smuggle in, before being interrupted by Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy).
Later, after telling Sonia and Peter Beale (Thomas Law) that Lauren’s solicitor hadn’t given him a lot of information other than the fact that she would be unlikely to be released on bail if she was charged, he revealed the truth to Penny.
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He explained that the solicitor had revealed that it was rare for a stranger to try and plant drugs on another passenger, and that it was usually the person they were travelling with that was responsible.
As furious Jack waited for Penny to say something, she remained quiet.
Will she come clean, or will she let cousin Lauren go to prison?
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She could be in serious trouble.