Strike: Troubled Blood returned for its fifth season, and saw the return of Cormoran Strike and his detective partner Robin Ellacot as they attempted to solve their first-ever cold case involving a young doctor and mother named Margot who disappeared in the 70s. So what really happened to Margot? Here’s the show’s ending explained - major spoilers ahead!
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In Troubled Blood, Cormoran and Robin grapple with several suspects who could have been involved in Margot’s disappearance, including a psychopathic serial killer who had murdered several women around the same time, a former patient of Margot’s whose future girlfriend was also found dead, a friend’s abusive husband who Margot protected her from. However, it turned out to be one of the characters you would least expect.
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It turns out that the culprit all of those years ago was Janice Beattie, a nurse at Margot’s practice who would regularly poison her friends and family if they bothered her over the years - and subsequently murdered several others for the fun of it. She had a crush on Margot’s patient, Steve Douthwaite, and killed his subsequent partner following Margot’s death.
© Photo: BBCJanice Beattie (left) is the culprit - did you guess it right?
After Margot examines Janice’s son without her permission, warns Steve not to eat anything that Janice prepared for him, and was spotted rescuing a box of poisoned chocolates from Janice out of the bin after she’d been spotted throwing them away - presumably to check for poison as evidence - Janice realised that Margot was catching onto her misdeeds.
© Photo: BBCIs love in the air for Cormoran and Robin?
After drugging her, Janice killed Margot and hid her in a cement concrete container hidden in a house, which is subsequently found by Robin - who can finally tell Margot’s husband and daughter what happened to her.
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Meanwhile, the season concludes with more hints that Robin and Strike are set to become a couple - and we can’t wait! In the final moments of the episode, Strike buys Robin a balloon and new perfume, making up for forgetting her birthday earlier in the series. Aw!
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