Contains spoilers for “Only Murders in the Building” Season 5, Episodes 9 and 10
The fifth season of “Only Murders in the Building” sees Mabel (Selena Gomez), Charles (Steve Martin), and Oliver (Martin Short) solving not just the murder of the Arconia’s doorman Lester (Teddy Coluca), but of Nicky Caccimelio (Bobby Cannavale), the Mafia man running the underground lounge and poker games in the building. Their murders are intertwined, so solving one should help them with the other. The trio’s detective work reveals that Lester himself is responsible for Nicky’s death, striking him in the head with the elevator crank before unintentionally impaling him with a meat cleaver in a fall.
The second episode of the season shows just how much the Arconia means to Lester and how he got tangled up in Nicky and his schemes. Was the money good when he and Lorraine were building their lives? Sure, but it all took a toll on him, and he wanted out. Nicky wouldn’t let Lester out of the deal, so the longtime doorman does what he has to do when the opportunity presents itself, even if it results in both their deaths.
The billionaires knew what happened to Nicky the entire time
It turns out that Nicky learns his wife is cheating on him with the mayor of New York City, Beau Tillman (Keegan-Michael Key). He’s upset and under the influence of drugs, so he cuts the mayor’s finger off in a fit of rage with a cleaver. That starts a chain of events that results in Lester hitting him with the elevator crank, with Nicky then falling onto Lester, who has the cleaver in hand and impales Nicky in the chest. When Lester runs off with the finger, Mayor Tillman goes after him, pushing him into a fountain and killing him.
Meanwhile, Camila (Renee Zellweger), Sebastian (Christoph Waltz), and Jay (Logan Lerman) are trying to figure out what to do. The billionaires didn’t want the two deaths connected, thinking people could look into Nicky’s role hosting their games with the mayor. They eventually decide to put Nicky’s body in Sebastian’s cryogenic chamber before leaving him in the dry cleaning store a week later.
They go to such lengths because they don’t want anyone knowing about their deals with Mayor Tillman, which are widely corrupt, since one of them still wants to win the casino bid. Lester didn’t intend to kill Nicky, but Nicky’s actions that night create a domino effect that leaves them both dead — even as another murder victim turns up just in time for Season 6.