‘True Detective’ Season 1 Spoilers: Is The Yellow King Alive? Episode 5 Reveals Why Cohle Is A Suspect In Ritualistic Murders [RECAP]

“True Detective” aired its fifth episode, “The Secret Fate of All Life,” Sunday night, and we have to admit we were sitting on the edge of our seats during the entire hour. From learning what really happened at Reggie LaDue’s hidden home in the woods to finding out that the Yellow King might still be alive, we can’t wait to see next week’s episode of the Nic Pizzolatto HBO series.

Here’s what happened during Sunday night’s show, according to the official synopsis:

“The spoils of a solved case are shared by Hart (Woody Harrelson) and Cohle (Matthew McConaughey),” while “troubling new intelligence is revealed by Papania and Gilbough.”

To elaborate, Papania and Gilbough are still trying to solve a 17-year-old case that revolves around the murders of several women in Louisiana. But now, clues are revealing a troubling side to the story. According to episode 5, Papania and Gilbough believe Cohle may have had some part in the ritualistic murders—or has been an aid in the cover-up.

Why? Well, the detectives explained to Hart that none of Cohle’s records, reports or stories from the past 17 years seem to match up. In fact, didn’t Cohle conveniently give his partner incredible tips that always seemed to lead them down the path of finding Dora’s killer? The detectives believe that Cohle may be trying to hide something. And maybe he is. What they failed to figure out was that Cohle knows the yellow killer is still lurking around Louisiana, thanks to a chatty jailbird. And though he isn't on the force any longer, Cohle has made it his life’s mission to solve the case.

Papania and Gilbough have photographic proof that Cohle has been slithering around their crime scenes since the murders started picking up again. Cohle’s iconic mustache and red pickup have been confirmed by multiple sources. But what does Cohle know that we don’t? We were given a tidbit of that information during the last scene of “True Detective” when Cohle snuck into the abandoned school and came across a slew of twig latticework, symbolically raising them up to the light streaming into the spooky building.

Do you think the detectives are onto something? We doubt Cohle had any part in the killings, but we do agree that he’s been keeping some secrets through the years. Let us know your prediction for next week’s episode in the comments section below!