Warning! Spoilers for The Outsider below.

HBO’s The Outsider brings a supernatural element to the gritty detective genre, so what exactly is the monster that appears to be behind the story's grisly murder?

The Outsider TV series, which is based on Stephen King’s book of the same name, follows the investigation of a local boy’s murder. When the boy’s body is eventually found by a dog walker, it has been dismembered, partially eaten, and is notably sporting human bite marks. This launches a manhunt, which is led by veteran detective Ralph Anderson. As the investigation continues, all the physical evidence points to Little League coach and teacher, Terry Maitland, who Ralph arrests in the middle of a baseball game and in front of the whole town. The problem with this is that there's evidence which also exonerates him simultaneously.

Related: The Outsider Review: Stephen King Adaptation Is A Gripping Procedural-Horror Hybrid

The case against Terry appears to be on its way to being thrown out when he is shot dead by the older brother of the murdered boy while being walked to the courthouse. This means the real killer is still on the loose. But who or what is it?

The Outsider’s Shape Shifting Monster

By the end of episode 2 of The Outsider, it’s become clear that Terry Maitland isn’t the killer, but rather,  something that looks exactly like him, down to the fingerprints, is the culprit. It’s still very early in the series, so there is much more to uncover, however, viewers already have enough information to begin solving the mystery. The first major piece of evidence is the mysterious hooded person with a disfigured face who is present for nearly every tragic event that takes place. It stays among the crowd and disappears while panic breaks out. It’s impossible to know yet whether this is the killer or a puppet master type figure, but it’s clear that it is involved in what’s going on around town somehow.

There are a few facts about a possible shape-shifting monster that’s mangled both a child and animals alike. First, it has the ability to not only take on the appearance of another person, in this case Terry, but it can replicate fingerprints and possibly DNA. That’s why, at first, it seems like an open and shut case. Multiple eyewitnesses put Terry near the scene of the crime covered in blood, and his fingerprints are everywhere. Also, something is coming to Terry’s young daughter at night and frightening her. Only she sees it, but viewers are shown a puddle of mysterious goo on the floor after it leaves. At the end of episode 2, a farmhand finds the clothes the imposter Terry was wearing during the murder covered in a similar substance. Ralph learns from one of Terry’s daughters that before the murder, while the family was on vacation, he was cut by a mysterious stranger. This suggests Terry's DNA might have been acquired at this moment in time.

It’s too early to say what, exactly, is the origin of the apparent shape-shifting monster, or if there is more than one, but it’s clear that The Outsider is no simple murder mystery, and supernatural forces will make themselves more clearly known as the series goes on.

Next: The Outsider HBO Series: Cast & Character Guide