Tom's murderer may be revealed on the Secrets and Lies season finale, but it doesn't mean that person will actually serve time for their crime--and Ben Crawford (Ryan Phillippe) could still be the one finding himself behind bars.

Fans Are Mostly Believing That [SPOILER] Killed Tom

Detective Cornell (Juliette Lewis) has determined that Tom's killer was female, ruling out her initial prime suspect in the boy's unexpected biological father--but a preview clip for the shocking May 3 season finale could be hinting that Ben is still somehow being dragged into the police station for the crime--and Cornell needing to insist he is innocent to a co-worker could be the proof that he is now covering up for someone and refuses to not be taken to prison for the crime.

"He did not kill Tom," Cornell says in the clip.

Ben Is Thrown A Huge Curveball

Another image also shows Cornell crying in her car--a rare emotion for the no-nonsense detective.

If Ben insists on covering for whoever the actual murderer is and Cornell can't protect him in time, it could mean that all of her hard work was for nothing, and unlike some of her other cases, where her tactics paid off in order to get criminals off the street, this time, she actually will be responsible for an innocent man heading to jail. And despite her initial belief he was guilty, she could be devastated by the fact that she now ruined his life.

If Ben does insist on saying he was Tom's murderer, it would narrow down the list of remaining suspects considerably. The hint has been that Tom's murderer would either be revealed to be his own mother, Jess, (Natalie Martinez), Ben's wife, Christy (KaDee Strickland), his older daughter, Natalie (Indiana Evans), or his younger daughter, Abby (Belle Shouse). He likely wouldn't cover for his wife or Jess, meaning one of his daughters could be the one responsible--or they may have known the truth all along and covered it up--leading to Ben making the difficult choice to now continue that trend and keep them all out of jail instead.

Whatever happens, Phillippe has warned fans of the show that the final episode would rip them apart at their cores.

"The finale is pretty devastating, that's what I would say," he said while appearing on The View. "If you've watched the show up until this point, and you're invested, you'll be affected for sure. So take from that whatever you will."

The Secrets and Lies season finale airs tonight at 9 p.m. on ABC.

Tags: secrets and lies ABC television