From the beginning, Poppy was always the part of Cinda’s team that stood out, even when she was just part of a triple visual sight gag of Cinda hiring staffers who looked like her. After all, the other assistant’s name was “Cindy,” while “Poppy” stood out. Also, even in Season 1, Poppy had lines that showed she had a knack for clever turns of phrase, even if Cinda sneered at them. By the end of Season 1, Cinda was outright stealing Poppy’s ideas, like the podcast title Only Murderers In The Building. Clearly, she has “criminal mastermind” written all over her.

Speaking of Poppy coming up with the title in the Season 1 finale, why were she and Cinda at the Arconia in the first place? No one questioned that, other than it being a funny “they’re there when crime strikes!” type of thing. But fans know Cinda is too lazy to get out of bed to be somewhere unless she’s called, which means Poppy likely summoned her. And that means Poppy was there and knew what went down before anyone else did.

In the Season 2 premiere, Mabel had suppressed her memories of the night in question. However, she had visions of Cinda and her crew in the apartment, and it’s Poppy who stood out in the yellow and orange sweater with the bloody red knitting needles in her hands.

This is a small detail, but in Episode 3, “The Last Days of Bunny Folger,” the actor who plays Poppy, Adina Verson, is listed among the cast credits. It’s a small detail, but consider this: Verson only ever gets listed in an episode’s credits when she’s appeared in the episode, and Poppy isn’t actually in the ep — at least, not by name. But it turns out, she is in the episode — as the person Lucy encountered in the Arcatacombs — and no one noticed.

Have you ever had that *moment* when you realize something has been shown to you the whole time, and you missed it? This shot was right here, at the top of Episode 6.

When Poppy reveals herself as Becky Butler in Episode 9, Mabel immediately says, “Does Cinda know who you are?” She (and the audience) assume she does, but Poppy never confirms it. Moreover, as the details emerge, it becomes clear that Cinda hasn’t once had an original idea for a podcast. Poppy hasn’t just been feeding her useful titles and clever turns of phrases; she came up with the entire concept of All Is Not OK.

Does that sound like Cinda would be smart enough to see that the lowly assistant under her nose is the very girl she was supposed to be looking for? Cinda can’t even see Poppy is the idea machine, let alone that she’s a gift horse with her mouth wide open.

The Episode 9 fakeout making it look like Kreps and Cinda were an item was wild, but the show had seeded enough details to make it feel like it could have made sense. But honestly, Cinda is far too snooty to accept a boxing cop as her partner. On the other hand, Becky, a girl from Oklahoma whose entire life had been miserable, would think him the perfect protector. And he would see her manipulation of Cinda to take down the mayor who harassed her (with his help) as proof she’s the most brilliant women he’s ever met.

The cincher comes in the final episode, when Poppy suggests the Rose Cooper disappearance for Cinda’s next podcast, and Cinda rejects it. That means Cinda wasn’t the one chasing down the painting or bothering people in the building like the podcast trio believed; Poppy was. Moreover, she looked into the Arconia and its secrets before Only Murders launched in the first place. Poppy already had the Charles connection to inspire taking out Bunny over the painting to rid Cinda of these pesky podcasters. Put her boyfriend on the case, manipulate Cinda into solving it, and everyone is rewarded. But that didn’t work out so well, now did it?