Jake returns to Walford and informs Johnny that he will not be starting trouble, as he is there for personal reasons; Johnny allows him to stay. Jake soon repairs his relationship with Chrissie - whom he recently had a fling with - and is later shocked when she admits to have killed her husband and Johnny's close friend, Den (Leslie Grantham) - whose body had been uncovered from the cellar of The Queen Victoria pub, several weeks before; Jake is further surprised to learn that Chrissie killed Den on the same night that Johnny murdered Andy - as well as framing her nemesis Sam Mitchell (Kim Medcalf) for the crime. By the time Johnny and several other residents are doubting Chrissie's innocence, Jake joins her quest to leave Walford and quickly creates a partnership between Chrissie and Johnny with the intent of helping her sell The Queen Vic to tie up her loose ends - as well as his own in the terms of making amends with his ex-crime boss; however, they are both unaware that the confession was caught on CCTV at Johnny's club Scarlet. Chrissie ends up getting arrested as she and Jake are at the airport, ready to flee abroad. Chrissie is remanded in prison pending her trial, but Jake promises never to ditch Chrissie and he proposes marriage to her. Chrissie tells Jake that she does not want Jake to put his life on hold for all the years that she will be in prison. She tells him she is going to plead guilty to the murder and let Jake go. She makes him promise that he will never visit her again.