The following article contains spoilers from an episode of Emmerdale that hasn’t aired on ITV yet, but can be viewed on ITVX.

Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) and Tracy Shankley (Amy Walsh) were taken aback in Emmerdale tonight as they realised a birthday present for young Frankie was from her dad Nate Robinson (Jurell Carter).

Nate disappeared from the village last Autumn. He had told Tracy about a new job in Shetland and hoped she’d go with him so they could start a new life together.

Unfortunately, Nate’s offer came at the same time a rumour started to spread about him sleeping with Moira Dingle (Natalie J Robb). It meant Nate was thrown out of the family.

Nate never had an on-screen exit, he simply disappeared. It meant some audience members assumed he just upped and left on his own, while others believed there was another reason he was suddenly no longer around.

Last week, during the limo crash disaster, Amy Wyatt (Natalie Ann Jamieson) fell through the ice and spotted a floating corpse.

It’s pretty much been confirmed that the person in the lake was Nate, meaning someone in the village had placed his dead body in the water.

In tonight’s episode, Cain found Tracy and Frankie heading into their house. He handed a present over and explained it was from his family to Frankie on her birthday.

At the same time, Frankie and Tracy had both spotted a bag on the doorstep.

To Tracy’s surprise, the gift was from Nate.

She confirmed to Cain that she’s not heard from Nate at all since he left the village, and reckoned visiting his daughter would’ve been far better than sending her a present.

Whoever sent the gift to Frankie is clearly trying to throw Tracy off the scent following her voicemail to Nate a few days ago.

But who was it?

And what really happened before Nate disappeared?