Who Killed Frank's Associate On 'True Detective'?

The body count is slowly but surely rising on True Detective, and while it may not seem like it yet, it's possible they're all connected. Frank's associate Stan was killed during True Detective 's third episode "Maybe Tomorrow," and Frank's first thought upon hearing the news was that someone is trying to come after him. Someone was trying to ruin his business dealings and taking down his empire. And whether that is true or not, it's entirely possible that Stan's murder was committed by the same person who killed and brutally mutilated Ben Caspere. So who would want to see both Stan and Caspere dead, and who would also want to see Frank's business tank? Frank seemed to think for a time that Osaf might be behind the Caspere murder and that's not a terrible assumption. But when he heard Stan had been killed as well, he looked to be searching within his organization for the killer/saboteur .

My money is on Frank's right hand man Blake Churchman. Not only does Blake take on the brunt of Frank's anger, he's also constantly insulted by the guy and does so much of his dirty work for him (aside from beating up Daniel the club owner. That was Frank at his most vicious). Blake was mysteriously uncommunicative when Frank called him over his failing business and financial troubles. And when he finally did show up by Frank's side, he was the one who broke the news to Frank about Stan. It's probably an obvious way to go in the progression of the episode, and it doesn't totally explain why Blake would want to kill and torture Caspere in that terrible way. But time can let us in on Blake's thought process and all the wrongdoings he's had to incur from Frank. This could end up being a great ending to a terrible crime.

Image: Lacey Terrell/HBO