TV Recap: A Mobster, a Ledger, and the New Mob of New York in "Only Murders" Season 5, Episode 3

Only Murders in the Building’s first episode of Season 5 left on a bit of a cliffhanger, which was unresolved in the second episode. We return to where things left off in Episode 1 in Episode 3 after learning more about Lester. Let’s recap!

Season 5, Episode 3: “Rigor" - Written by Max Searle

In the introduction to this episode, Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin) shares how buildings like The Arconia used to have horse stables, which went unused after the rise of automobiles in the 1910s. During prohibition, many of these were turned into dens of ill repute by the mob, and among the most legendary was the Velvet Room, where many of the city’s biggest decisions were made.

Charles can hardly believe that he and Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) have found the legendary Velvet Room, still in use and located below their very building! But their moment of revelry is shortened when they hear someone calling for help through an air vent, and not just anyone, but Oliver Putnam (Martin Short), who is upstairs in the Clean-Ups dry cleaners, pinned to the floor by the dead body of Nicky Caccimelio (Bobby Cannavale). “Whatever you do, don’t touch the body," Charls warns Oliver too late. “The last thing you want is your DNA all over a dead mobster’s body."

Oliver freaks out, and the next thing he knows, he’s pushing a dry cleaning barrel down the sidewalk to the lobby, using clothes to obscure Nicky’s dead body. He makes it to the elevator when Uma Heller (Jackie Hoffman), unwilling to wait, pushes her way in and comments on how Oliver smells like death. She notices he’s sweating and acting strange.

Charles and Mabel are shocked when Oliver wheels the dead body into Charles’ apartment. He says he panicked, having sneezed on the body due to his allergy to gardenias, so his DNA is all over it. Mabel believes the killer is expecting the body to be found when Clean-Ups opens at 7 am, so they have until then to remove Oliver’s DNA. They use wet naps to do just that. Mabel notices that there’s green under Nicky’s fingernails, just like the nail of the severed finger. Charles, who used to be a card dealer, recognizes this as a premium felt (F1 grade Lachlan felt), which matches the Velvet Room. Charles is anxious, and as in the past, he imagines that Nicky is talking to him, taunting his fear of dying alone in his apartment.

Nicky appears to be wearing the same suit as the photo from Oliver’s wedding day, but the gardenia flower is fresh. Mabel wants to take this rare opportunity to inspect the body for more clues. They lay it on Charles’ kitchen island and close the blinds. A meat cleaver is sticking out of Nicky’s chest, but Mabel wants to try to determine the time of death. There are no signs of rigor mortis, but it could have worn off if his death was days ago. She notices pooled blood in Nicky’s ankles. There’s a white substance on his sleeve, possibly paint, and no signs of maggots or blow fly eggs in Nicky’s nostrils. There are rope marks on his wrists, and a burn mark behind one of his ears.

Oliver reheats some leftover Chinese food while looking through old texts. He sent a lot of angry messages to Lester about his shrimp order, including an all-caps threat. He worries that’s the last thing Lester saw before he died. Mabel makes the case board as Charles takes a bite of a microwaved dumpling and accuses Oliver of having the ability to make the outside scalding while the inside is freezer-burned. This gives Mabel an idea. What if Nicky’s body was frozen between the time of death and now? The burn on the back of the ear could be freezer burn, and there wouldn’t be any signs of decomposition. She checks Nicky’s lips and discovers a piece of paper inside his mouth. But when they realize it’s 6:45 am, they have to get the body back.

The elevator ride down with the dry cleaning bin is not exclusive. Not only does Uma get back on, but so does Dr. Grover Stanley (Russell G. Jones), who is carrying his own bag of dry cleaning. He offers Oliver a free therapy session if he takes his bag for him, tossing it on the bin.

In the lobby, Uma complains to Randall (Jermaine Fowler) about a humming sound in the elevator. He pulls out the ledger to see what Lester had written about that, and Mabel recognizes the paper as the same kind that was in Nicky’s mouth. Oliver breaks away to try to borrow the ledger.

A gaggle of paparazzi blocks the front door as a celebrity enters. To Mabel’s surprise, this person knows her - Althea (Beanie Feldstein), a friend from her teenage years who is now the most-searched artist on Wondify and goes by the name THÉ. She just bought the penthouse apartment.

Charles continued pushing the bin alone to Clean-Ups, struggling to get Nicky’s body out of the bin without getting his DNA on it. He uses some garment bags to wrap his arms as the dead body continues to taunt him.

Oliver finds Randall surrounded by frustrated tenants with complaints and helps to shoo them away. Randall feels he didn’t receive enough training before Lester died, and he’s overwhelmed. Oliver asks about the ledger, and when Randall holds it close to his chest, Oliver rips it out of his hands and runs away with it.

Mabel and THÉ catch up as the paparazzi snap photos. THÉ hasn’t heard of Mabel’s podcast, nor the movie being made about it. She pulls out her phone to look for it and doesn’t find it in the top ten, and has no clue that the “view more" option was there. THÉ offers to be a guest on the pod to help boost its status. Mabel declines and seems relieved to leave when THÉ gets a call.

As Charles gets Nicky’s body to the back of the dry cleaners, he notices a tattoo on his collar: “Death Alone," a famous poem by Pablo Neruda. He imagines Nicky reciting the poem as he hears the bell above the door chime. Two police officers (Michael Benjamin Hernandez and Jason Sweettooth Williams) enter, confused that the body they came to collect isn’t hanging up. The other simply instructs them to write down what they were told and to note that the Caputo crime family is the primary suspect. Charles hides between clothes racks and takes a picture of the cops on his phone, but the sound isn’t silent. They start to look around, but when they don’t find anybody, they assume they misheard and leave.

Charles rushes to Mabel’s apartment to tell her about the cover-up at Clean-Ups. He sees her looking at THÉ’s social media accounts, and Mabel clarifies that they aren’t friends. “She brings out the worst in me," she says. Oliver rushes in with the ledger and tells them it has notes about all the tenants, bird watching, and a poem called “After You." They find the missing page, and Mabel uses a sideways crayon to color the next page to see what was written. It’s full of bird names, poker terms, and dollar amounts. They realize the ledger includes a log of games in the Velvet Room, and that each game is played on a Saturday night. Mabel suggests they head down and hide to see who turns up. Oliver and Charles decide they need naps if they're going to be up past midnight.

Oliver finds Randall upset in the closet behind the desk, returning the ledger and apologizing. He offers to help fill in the gaps in his knowledge.

Before Charles takes his nap, he makes a call to an experimental medication trial to order more meds by Thursday under the name “General Custer."

Before midnight, the trio heads down to the Lavender Room. They aren’t there long before the door beeps behind them. They hide behind the bar and watch as three well-known faces appear - three billionaire CEOs. There’s tech magnate and longevity enthusiast Sebastian “Bash" Steed (Christoph Waltz), pharmaceutical heir Jay Pflug (Logan Lerman), and hotel magnate Camila White (Renée Zellweger). Oliver refers to them as “the new mob of New York." They head towards the bar to grab a drink. As the trio hides behind, they get a good view of Jay’s right hand, which is bandaged. He appears to be missing his index finger.

To be continued in “Dirty Birds," streaming September 16th on Hulu.