NEW YORK - Mary Alice Young's secrets - "secrets I had died to protect," she told viewers - were divulged on the season finale of "Desperate Housewives."

Turns out it was Mary Alice, the series' suicide-narrator, who killed the woman buried in the Young yard - and not her husband, Paul, who nearly paid for the crime with his own execution.

"Desperate Housewives" made good on its pledge to solve the posthumous mystery of Mary Alice as its smash first season concluded on Wisteria Lane, the ABC show's mythical but all-too-recognizable slice of suburbia.

A cultural phenomenon like few TV series in years, this saucy blend of melodrama, whodunit and dark comedy had viewers hooked from its first night last October.

But, as expected, it left questions hanging at Sunday's final fade-out:

Was Mike, the boyfriend of Susan (Teri Hatcher), just moments from being shot by Mary Alice's unhinged son, Zach?

Did Rex, husband of Bree (Marcia Cross), really die from heart disease on the eve of his surgery, as his doctor reported to Bree - or was this some sort of ruse by the doctor, who figures her to be the culprit behind Rex's illness?

Would John, the hunky yard boy, survive the jealous rage of Carlos after confessing to his affair with Carlos' wife, Gabrielle (Eva Longoria)?

How would stay-at-home mom Lynette (Felicity Huffman) survive back in the working world after her angry husband Tom quit his job and demanded to be a stay-at-home dad? (Lynette had sabotaged Tom's big promotion, jealous that he was getting too cozy with a sexy co-worker.)

It was a jam-packed hour for the series, which all season has kept viewers riveted with its arch exploration of blackmail, murder, adultery and sexy sisterhood in the 'burbs.

But the finale's big revelation was courtesy of Mary Alice (Brenda Strong), who had shot herself to death in the first episode and has since served as its from-the-grave narrator.

Fifteen years ago, the wife and husband who would become Mary Alice and Paul were a childless couple when a junkie, Dierdre, sold them her infant son (born Dana). But three years later, after they had fled to a new life on Wisteria Lane and assumed new identities, Dierdre tracked them down meaning to reclaim the child, whom they had renamed Zach.

The big surprise: After riled-up Dierdre went on the attack, it was Mary Alice, not the creepy, long-suspected Paul, who stabbed her to death.

This brought full circle the mystery that had simmered since the premiere, when Paul was spied recovering the body after his wife's suicide.

Now fans are a bit desperate themselves, waiting for the show's return this fall with new episodes and new answers.