Cross ending explained: Who was behind Maria’s murder?

The Fanboy mutilated his victims to make them look like famous serial killers before murdering them, and Alex was in a race against time to save his latest victim, Shannon.

But how did that storyline play out, and, separately, what did Alex learn about his wife Maria's killer?

With the series having already been renewed for a second season, read on for everything you need to know about how the ending of Cross season 1 leaves Alex and the rest of the characters.

What happened to Ed Ramsey?

In episode 7 of Cross, it seemed as though Ed Ramsey had tricked Alex and the rest of the team, making them believe he had killed himself rather than be captured.

However, as he awoke and approached Shannon in hospital, intent on killing her, Alex appeared behind him, gun pointed at his head, telling him "It's over Ramsey". He had worked out that someone like Ramsey would never have given up on his obsession the way he had appeared to.

Ramsey was arrested, and Alex and the team had plenty of evidence to convict him, including his scrapbook. However, they realised this is exactly what Ramsey wanted – he wanted the information to become public, and for his name to become infamous.

Understanding this, they set Ramsey up with a video link, so he could watch them burn the scrapbook, meaning his name would become meaningless, and he would leave no legacy. He screamed in horror in the police cell.

The police still had enough to tie him to the murder of Black Lives Matter activist Emir Goodspeed, meaning he would still go down for a long time – possibly forever.

Who was Maria's real killer and how did Alex defeat them?

In the final episode of Cross, Alex found out that his wife's killer was really a man named Peter, acting on the instructions of someone he and his family had unwittingly grown close to – Damon Cross's new piano teacher, Miss Nancy.

Miss Nancy had been the "street mother" to both Peter and a woman named Dierdre, who had been put behind bars years before. On Miss Nancy's instructions, Dierdre had taken the blame for a murder that Peter had committed, because Nancy believed Dierdre, as a white woman, would get a more lenient sentence than Peter, a black man, would have.

However, Alex had testified that Dierdre had a "psychopathic personality", meaning she was sentenced to life in prison. She took her life soon after this.

A mix of guilt and rage set in in both Nancy and Peter, with Nancy channelling it into a hatred and blame of Alex. She had ordered Peter to kill Alex's wife Maria, which he had done while posing as a Union Market employee with a criminal record – one who Alex had blamed, and gone on to mercilessly beat.

Miss Nancy had then got close to the Cross family and taken them to a secluded cabin, where she intended to make Alex choose which of his children she would kill.

Alex and John Sampson managed to stop them both – Peter was arrested, while Miss Nancy died by setting herself on fire.

Where did we leave Alex, Kayla and the rest of the characters?

Towards the end of Cross, after realising who Maria's real killer was, Alex apologised to the employee he believed was behind her murder, who he had beaten up. The employee forgave him and dropped the charges he had brought against him.

Meanwhile, in trying to rap up the so-called "Fanboy" case and bring closure to the grieving families, without giving Ramsey the notoriety he wanted, Kayla visited his lackey Bobby Trey, and tried to convince him to confess to the crimes.

She told him Alex would find evidence to convict him for the murders he did commit eventually, and told Bobby that if he gave them enough information to tie him to Ramsey's crimes, they would frame his as the mastermind and killer.

In return, he was offered a 24-month sentence and full immunity.

Finally, after he accepted, she told him that were he to provide her with the dirt Ramsey had on the powerful people in his orbit, she would pay him handsomely upon his release, an offer he seemed to accept.

Cross is available to watch on Prime Video.

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