With Elsie due back, Alan panics to get the house tidy before she returns. Billy and Mike Ritchie offer limited help as Deirdre sleeps on, upstairs and undiscovered. Norma makes fun of Maggie and Mike's attraction for her. Jerry thinks of taking up pipe smoking. The Bishops worry as business is very bad. Maggie rings the Rovers and finds that Mike didn't spend the night there. Alan finds Deirdre's jacket in the hall and tells Billy to get rid of it. Elsie returns and shows off her new shoes in the corner shop before she calls home. Norma is depressed about her dull life and think she needs romance. Len, Ray and Jerry start decorating the Rovers but proceed at a slow pace, with Bet keeping an eye on them. Back in her house, Elsie meets Mike and thinks he and Alan have been playing cards late at night or something as they look tired. They hear Deirdre on the stairs and Elsie finds her stood there in her underclothes. Julie Quinn rings Billy to see if he knows where Deirdre is.