Translation of 終わらせる


I'm having trouble with the translation of 終わらせている in the following sentence,
and as far as I understand it likely translates here as "die". But I never
found this meaning for 終わる in vocabulary, and why is it in させる form ?

> 「ええ・・・・・・摩夜さんこそ、犯人が狙う本命だと思うんです」 「いったい・・・・・・誰がそんなことを・・・・・・？」 「それは・・・・・・」
> ついさっきまで、詩音さんがやっていると思っていた。 でも彼女は死んでしまった。 だとしたら摩夜さんはもう安全だと思うのだけど・・・・・・
> それともーー既に **終わらせている** のだろうか・・・・・・？

Some sort of translation: "Until a moment ago, I though it was Shion-san. But
she is dead. In this case I think that Maya-san is safe now... or - already
**dead**."




It's hard to say without understanding the whole twisted plot, and I can't
really come up with a plausble interpretation.

The reason "dead" is unlikely in this sentence is that 終わる as dead would
normally mean committing a suicide as 終える. The subject of this sentence is
Maya-san, so this becomes "or Maya might have committed a suicice, and I don't
think it flows very well.

Another possibility is "[the killer had achieved his/her objectives and] the
killing has ended", which I would say more natural use of 終わらせる, except that
this won't explain それとも.

I think it's fair to say this text isn't particularly well written. I think
more sentenes that follow might help disambiguate.




It's hard to say without understanding the whole twisted plot, and I can't
really come up with a plausble interpretation.

The reason "dead" is unlikely in this sentence is that 終わる as dead would
normally mean committing a suicide as 終える. The subject of this sentence is
Maya-san, so this becomes "or Maya might have committed a suicice, and I don't
think it flows very well.

Another possibility is "[the killer had achieved his/her objectives and] the
killing has ended", which I would say more natural use of 終わらせる, except that
this won't explain それとも.

I think it's fair to say this text isn't particularly well written. I think
more sentenes that follow might help disambiguate.

