Line of Duty viewers have been speculating about H’s identity since the BBC series introduced the villain, with many fans believing Superintendent Ted Hastings (played by Adrian Dunbar) could be the criminal mastermind.
Undercover officer John Corbett (Stephen Graham) has led DS Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) to think he knows who the top man may be after becoming leader of the notorious criminal gang, the balaclava men.
However, in Sunday night’s instalment, John seemed to be in too deep as he told Arnott he was going to continue with his mission although he killed one of the officers he believed was H.
Though, another plot from the episode which led the AC-12 team to think they were hot on H’s heels saw Arnott and his colleague DI Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure) investigate a block of flats where young women were being kept to have sex with men.
The balaclava men were in charge of the operation, using the evidence they’d visited as blackmail to ensure the men arriving at the flats followed through with their demands.
Believing this could be the place where they could apprehend corrupt police officers, Arnott and Fleming raided the flats, only for their mission to expose H to fall flat.
However, as Arnott explained their findings to the rest of the AC-12 team, including Hastings, he presented birds-eye view images of the flats on screens for the officers to see.
Though viewers noticed a startling companions between the code name for criminal adversary H and the shape of the flats from the birds-eye view.
With the aerial shot on the screen, the properties are displayed as two H’s, making viewers of the police serial believe there could possibly be two corrupt officer’s leading the criminal operation.
Taking to Twitter, one fan wrote: “So the flats they raided make the shape of two H’s. I’m losing my mind #LineofDuty.”
Another posted: “That’s too much of a coincidence. I think that means Hastings is in on it – but he’s being helped by someone else.”
Whilst a third exclaimed: “OMG does that mean there’s TWO H’s out there?!”
Does the image suggest H isn’t working alone, or could it be a red-herring to deter viewers from the real mystery of the corrupt officers identity?
There’s still three more episodes of the hit BBC serial drama for viewers to enjoy before this series concluded however.
The fifth season will conclude on May 5 in a feature length special, which the announcement made via the BBC press office Twitter page, with the post reading: “In a nail-biting 90-minute finale, closely guarded secrets are revealed.”
With a sixth season commissioned, it seems viewers may be left guessing over H’s true identity for some time yet.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Hastings star Adrian Dunbar, 60, said of his character being the criminal mastermind: “Well, that’s the question a lot of people are asking. It’s difficult, you know… we might find out at some point.”
Could this be a hint Hastings isn’t the villain AC-12 are after, meaning another one of their ranks is operating the operation?
Desperate to find the answers, will Arnott, Fleming and indeed Hastings find themselves in terrifying peril?
Line of Duty continues Sunday at 9pm on BBC One.
