The Little Things Theory: Deacon Is The Real Killer

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The ending of The Little Things is ambiguous about Sparma's guilt, leading some viewers to theorize that the real killer is actually the corrupt police officer, Deacon. By the end of The Little Things, Joe Deacon (Denzel Washington) and Jim Baxter (Rami Malek) have no answers to the murder mystery with which they are obsessed on a borderline unhealthy level, leading to events that culminate in a rather sinister manner. Instead of solving his case, Baxter ends up murdering the prime suspect Albert Sparma (played by Jared Leto). Instead of turning Baxter in, Deacon is there conveniently to help him cover it up, just as Deacon's colleagues helped him cover up an accidental murder of his own years ago. By the time the movie is over, it is clear that Deacon is willing to bend and even break the rules to save his own skin and that of his friends. This willingness to walk on the dark side has led to some speculation that Deacon is the real killer that Baxter was in search of all along.

As a member of law enforcement, Deacon undoubtedly shares personality traits with his suspects, as the skills to be a successful homicide detective are acutely similar to those needed to be a serial killer. This similarity between the pursuer and the pursued in murder mysteries is a common highlight of the most famous detective stories, from Thomas Harris' Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter to DC Comics' Batman and the Joker. As the saying goes, "it takes a thief to catch a thief." Deacon may be the real killer in the unsolved cases in The Little Things, but his connection to the murders are more likely due to his being a highly-skilled, albeit washed-up, detective. As such, for every clue that Deacon is the real killer, there is a plausible reason