Harlan Coben’s Caught Ending Explained: Who Killed Martina? Is Leo Really Dead?

Harlan Coben’s Caught Ending Explained: The final episode of the show reveals the intricate scheme behind Leo’s downfall and the one who planned it all. Meanwhile, the abuser is caught by the police while a particular picture takes Ema to the real killer of Martina. But as everything begins to settle down, the question remains: Where is Leo?

The plot of the show follows Ema Garay, a talented journalist whose latest case involved unveiling the culprit who grooming young teens and abusing them. She begins to look into this case by placing herself as a target for these men as a method to find the culprit but ends up stunned when she unveils the face of the man. But the question is- does the case end here, or is there more to discover?

Harlan Coben’s Caught Ending Explained

Ema Garay is looking for the culprit who lure young teens on online gaming sites in order to find the person who raped a young girl. However, when she thinks she is about to catch the person, she is shocked to see Leo enter he venue which leads her into assuming that he is the culprit. Leo runs away from the scene when he sees this chaos, but unexpectedly, Ema posts the video online, and now everyone assumes he is guilty of sexually abusing minors.

However, she soon realises that there are loopholes in the story when Leo asks to meet her and tells her that he had been called there by Martina Schulz. Ema begins to look into the case from another perspective, but before she can ask him anything more, one of the victim’s father shoots him, which results in Leo falling into a river. Soon after, Ema begins to find something more in the case and upon connecting it with Martina, she finds another name attached to it all- the Briguel family. This leads to connections beginning to form between Leo, the Briguel family and Marcos Brown.

A scene from the past shows Leo and Marcos breaking into the Briguel family home, where the latter is caught and punished by being sent away to Buenos Aires. Upon finding out that Marcos was in touch with Martina when she went to Buenos Aires, she confronts him, but he tells her that it was all a coincidence and nothing more. As things continue to get more and more complicated, a finding in Leo’s foundation’s bylaws leaves them shocked.

Was Leo Innocent? Who Trapped Leo?

Ema meets Marcos with more questions when she gets a call from her teammates, who tell her that Marcos Brown has been lying to them this whole time. Turns out, according to the bylaws of the Foundation’s land, if the place is shut down then the land will be given to the original owners- the Browns. With Marcos being the only heir of the family, it would go to him without any problems.

Ema is shocked by this information and confronts Marcos right then, only to be attacked by the man in the head. While she is dragged to the lake, Marcos reveals how he had tried to persuade Leo to let him sell the land for a big project and earn money, but Leo was against it. Leo wanted this place to belong to the children of the Foundation and refused despite everything Marcos did to get him on board. Left with no other choice, Marcos then devised a plan to trap Leo as an online child predator.

He tricks Martina into joining him in the plan, and she sends Leo the message, which brings him to the place where Ema is waiting for the culprit. Meanwhile, he tricks Ema by pretending to be an online child predator and brings her to the location. While the chaos was unfolding at the scene, he planted evidence against Leo in his house that nails the blame on him. This way, the Foundation’s reputation was ruined, and it came to an end, giving Marcos the land to do as he wished.

What Happens to Marcos and Ema?

After revealing how he trapped Leo, Marcos drags Ema into the lake to kill her, but she fights back and attacks his head with a stone that finally gets her free. Marcos once again tries to get her in his clutches but Ema turns on her Live and reveals his truth to everyone watching her live stream. Marcos is unable to fight Ema at the moment and decides to leave. He calls his wife and tells her not to trust anything that is being said about him and to wait for him at home. However, right after the call ends, he accelerates his car into a truck carrying wood and dies on the spot.

Who Killed Martina?

While Leo’s name is cleared, Ema still wonders how Martina was found dead in the woods because Marcos did not reveal anything about it, nor did he have any intentions of killing her. However, during the memorial for Martina in the school, she looks at a picture of Martina and realises that it was clicked in Armando’s house because of his drawings that are seen in the background. She finally concludes that Martina was in his house on the day of the party and confronts Armando and his mother about the same.

A flashback shows that Martina indeed came back to Armando’s house (which is right next to her house) with him. However, she saw the video of Leo being accused as a child predator and is shocked by this. Right then, Armando comes to her and finds out that she was the one who called Leo there and is furious at her for trapping Leo. The two get into a fight, and Armando accidentally pushes Martina down the stairs, claiming her life on the spot. Later, Armando’s mother arrives and finds out what has happened, but to save her son, she doesn’t hesitate to hide Martina’s corpse in the woods.

With this revelation out in the open, Ema takes the two to the police and has Armando surrender. Thus, sending him to prison and ending this case as well.

Is Leo Dead?

As everything begins to settle down, Ema meets the parent who killed (or attempted to kill) Leo. After getting updates on his case, she asks him whether Leo is still alive, as his corpse was never found. He tells Ema that the area was one that Leo knew like the back of his hand, which means that there is a high probability that he is still alive. However, unless he wishes to come out in the open, Leo cannot be found by anyone else.

The scene then shifts to Leo, alive and well, as he rides his horse past a sunset with his beloved children from the Foundation.

What do you think about the show? Let us know in the comments below!

Also Read: Harlan Coben’s Caught Review: Confusing Plot That Has Its Better Moments