I am sure it was typical soapy stuff eh?
Let's say the "capping event" was supposed to be Laura's death "under mysterious circumstances," with Vicki accused and put on trial (with Frank Garner defending her). And they probably could have done something similar even after turning the story supernatural because the authorities could have believed that Vicki was responsible for the fire in the fishing shack (we know she wasn't - but we also know how the authorities on soaps operate, particularly the authorities on DS
). (Though who knows how in heaven's name Vicki would have gotten off?) But instead after Laura's fiery demise they decided to do the Liz blackmail storyline, which in the Shadows on the Wall chronology was actually supposed to take place before Laura's return. Though I absolutely love how they used the blackmail storyline as a counterbalance to the introduction of Barnabas. But that's an entirely different subject for an entirely different topic...