This page contains spoilers for Season 5 of Only Murders in the Building. Proceed with caution!
The Murder of Ben Glenroy is the case investigated during the third season of Only Murders in the Building.
Timeline[]
See also: Timeline
Ben was killed on February 16, 2023, nearly a year after Bunny Folger's murder was solved. The investigation ended on April 5, when Sazz Pataki's murder occurred.
Suspects[]
Major Suspects[]
Gregg Rivera[]
The trio attended Ben’s funeral in The Beat Goes On, though they were put in one of the over-spill rooms at the cathedral (overflow three) because so many people were there to mourn him.
While looking around the room, Mabel ended up talking to Gregg, who introduced himself as someone who did security for Ben and told her that her reputation preceded her. Hearing that he did security for Ben, excited her and so she got talking to him, asking him questions and such. He told her that he has a whole filing cabinet about all the threats, crazy fans and restraining orders Ben has had to deal with.
Whilst the two of them are standing at the edge of the room together, Gregg seemingly started to profile various members of the cast members of the play. Mabel told him that it sounded like he was investigating, with which he replied back with “Aren’t you?” Gregg soon offered Mabel and the other two, the opportunity to see the files, which she took up. She asked him if he’s shown the cops and he told her that he doesn’t trust the cops, which pleased Mabel.
With Oliver busy elsewhere, Mabel and Charles ended up at Gregg’s apartment where, at first Gregg seemed legitimate, with him showing them Ben related merchandise he owned, some of which Ben allegedly gave to Gregg. Mabel asked if they could see those files he had told her about. So, Gregg walked out the room, looking like he might be getting those files, before coming back with his dog, a girl, who he had named Ben.
When Gregg had gone back into the other room, Charles began to feel uneasy and wanted to leave, saying Gregg gives off an unhealthy vibe, however Mabel wanted to stay, saying that he’s just a fan. It’s only when she saw and pointed to some photos of what looked like Gregg and Ben together as friends, that turned out to be just a whole collection of photoshopped photos of the two men, that things started to go downhill.
Charles began to leave but when he got into the hallway, he heard a commotion behind him, so turned back around and laying on the ground is Mabel, unconscious on the floor. Just then, Gregg chloroformed Charles too.
Gregg had dragged Mabel and Charles down to the basement of Gregg's apartment building, where he tied them both to a pipe. He admitted then, that he’s not a security guard and was actually a member of staff at Lulu’s Steakhouse, all whilst he is playing around with different weapons he’d brought with him, like large knives and a kitchen torch he stole from the sous chef at his work.
He threatened them with the torch, angry that Charles, he thought, killed Ben, because Charles hated him. Which he didn’t.
Mabel started to shout for help, so Gregg, to stop her from making a sound, stuffed a hankie, one of Ben’s gifts for the cast and crew of Death Rattle Dazzle, into her mouth. Not able to keep it in her mouth, Mabel asked Gregg where he got it from. He told her that he stole it from Ben’s Penthouse apartment the night that Ben died, when Gregg was looking for clues and collectables. Mabel questioned that he broke in but Gregg shoved the hankie back into her mouth.
Eventually, the police arrived, having been following Gregg for the last 48 hours, led by Detective Biswas. He mentioned that Detective Williams told him about the trio and their podcast. He also mentioned that the police have been following Gregg because someone had seen him running out of the Arconia two minutes after Ben had died.
Having been freed and Gregg arrested, Mabel and Charles head back to the Arconia and were waiting on the elevator. Mabel, whilst waiting, mentioned that, though Gregg had kidnapped and threatened them with violence, she didn't think he killed Ben because he loved him too much, which was why he kidnapped them. Gregg thought Charles had killed Ben and he wanted revenge. Mabel was just collateral.
In CoBro, having been having help from Theo with packing up her apartment, Mabel and Theo head up to the Penthouse, where an auction is happening of all Ben’s things, many of which are career related.
Whilst up there, Theo told Mabel that CoBro was Ben's idea as a child, which then became a successful movie franchise when he was older. She called him a nerd, pushing up his glasses which made him smile.
Seeing Dickie there, Mabel told him that she wanted to look for his brother's killer, since she didn't believe Gregg was his killer. Dickie had previously told her in the conversation that Ben set all his watches twenty minutes early. However, angered by this, Dickie informed her firmly that Ben died at 12:06, which was just before the time Gregg was seen leaving the Arconia.
Going back to packing up her apartment with Theo, Mabel suddenly realized whilst looking at the murder board and the photo she took of Ben dead in the elevator with his watch on, that Gregg wasn't at the Arconia the time of Ben's death, remembering what Dickie had said about Ben setting all his watches to be twenty minutes early. So the time that was shown on his watch when he died was actually wrong. Mabel told Theo all this. He then told her that the cops said Gregg was there at that time but she replied that the police said Ben died at 12:06, but that was only because it was the time on Ben's watch when he fell and it stopped. She began to nerd out, suddenly walking away from Theo for a moment, so he had no chance of knowing anything she was saying. She realised that Ben actually died at 12:26, twenty minutes afterwards. When she stopped talking, Theo told her, “Who’s the nerd now?”, a reference to her comment about him earlier that day, and smirked at her. She signed a laughter.
Sometime afterwards, still at Mabel’s apartment, Mabel and Tobert discussed all that had been found about Ben and his murder. He mentioned that he knew Ben was always late but he didn't think it was intentional, he thought it was because he was a dick.
Tobert’s brought over some fancy equipment to record a podcast, thinking Mabel could go solo, maybe with a sexy new podcast and poster, which Mabel wasn't okay with.
Just then, Theo walked in with takeout and a piece of paper and the men looked at each other as Mabel introduced them to one another. Tobert picked up on Theo wanting to tell Mabel something, given the fact that Theo was holding a piece of paper, with the original CoBro poster printed on it, from when Ben and Dickie were children. Instead of the signature at the bottom being a B. Glenroy, it was actually R. Glenroy that had been edited to look more like a B. This meant that it was Dickie (aka. Richard) who was the original creator of CoBro and Ben stole his idea.
Realizing Dickie could be the murderer and not actually Gregg, Mabel headed over to the murder board, where Theo and Tobert followed. Tobert pointed out that their theory rested entirely on the B being an R. Mabel mentioned that the podcast once accused Sting of murder because he didn't like dogs, so this was actually solid evidence in comparison. Mabel pointed to the photo of Gregg on the board and said that they need to get him out of jail.
This new temporary trio, with Mabel as the sole voice, made a new episode, which mentioned all the clues that Gregg didn't murder Ben, which helped get him released.
In Sitzprobe, a public news article was seen by the cast of the musical, saying that Gregg was an innocent suspect and that Ben's killer was still at large.
Loretta Durkin[]
Whilst on a dinner date at Loretta’s apartment in Ah, Love!, Oliver accidentally lost a tooth on a pork chop, which caused them both to laugh, making Oliver snort. Loretta told him that she loved that snort he does, saying that he sounded like an adorable little piglet.
This kick-started a discussion about pigs and how Loretta had played a pig several times, including playing one in the cruise ship production of Charlotte’s Web, when she was in her thirties and then Snowball in a black box production of Animal Farm.
Loretta told Oliver that she thought Ben Glenroy was a ‘fucking pig’, which is exactly what was written on Ben’s mirror in his dressing room the night he was poisoned. Oliver turned white, which Loretta noticed and asked him what was going on. Oliver asked his own question, wondering if she ever told Ben this, but she informed Oliver that she didn't want to talk about Ben right then.
They moved the date elsewhere, to traveling along the East River in New York, on a public ferry. It’s here, where they smoked forty year old weed owned by Loretta, which they ended up learning Oliver had actually rolled all those years previously.
Cuddling up on the ferry, Oliver was still thinking about Loretta's turn of phrase, so he asked her again about Ben. However, this time she admitted to having had a fight with him about half an hour before he went on stage that night. Why they had fought, was because Ben had accused Loretta of being obsessed with him and that, according to him, she had wormed her way into the show and that he didn’t want to share the stage with a no-name. She added, telling Oliver that she snapped and called him ‘a fucking pig’. That was the last thing she had said to him before Ben collapsed.
Loretta mentioned that she was by far not the only person who felt that way towards him, mentioning that he was an asshole to everybody, even to his kindhearted brother, Dickie.
She told Oliver that she was really sorry that he hadn't gotten his opening night. Oliver replied, telling her that he was sorry Ben was so terrible to her. He added that he himself adored her and everything about her.
They went back to Loretta’s where they ended up sleeping together and were then chatting in bed together afterwards.
Whilst she was drawing them a bath in the other room, Oliver explored over towards her book shelves. There, he came across a news article cutout involving Ben, so he pulled out the scrapbook which it had come from and had a look. Inside, was various news article clipping, all involving Ben, which seemed to look like Loretta was obsessed with Ben after all.
In Ghost Light, Oliver found himself talking to the previous director of Death Rattle, Jerry Blau, up in the rafters of the theater about what Jerry had seen the night Ben died.
Jerry mentioned that Loretta had anger issues because of witnessing her shouting at Ben and then Charles punching Ben. Oliver wondered if Loretta was a murderer after all because she hated Ben and was violent towards him. However, he also wondered if that made her a murderer or just simply quirky.
In CoBro, whilst at Oliver’s, Oliver showed Charles the book of news articles of Ben that Loretta owned in the scrapbook. Oliver wanted to know Charles’ opinion, which Charles gave, saying that he didn’t think she murdered Ben. So Oliver immediately told him that it meant she was a killer, given Charles’ dating instincts weren't good. Charles added that he’s not saying it's not weird, just that it's not evidence of murder. He also suggested that, if Oliver was worried, why doesn't he just talk to Loretta about everything on his mind.
In Sitzprobe, Loretta learned from Oliver that he and Mabel were thinking the murderer was Dickie, which secretly upset her.
When Mabel was looking for some scotch tape for Howard and the shredded paper he was working on as a possible clue, Loretta appeared and offered to help, though she didn't let on that it was because she was concerned about the sudden interest in Dickie. She mentioned that she always had some tape in her bag because of her side business as a professional gift wrapper.
It was here that Loretta mentioned hearing about Mabel investigating who the murderer could be and that maybe Mabel could talk about her theories, so Loretta could lend a hand and help.
Mabel was suspicious of Loretta wanting to help, commenting that killers sometimes inserted themselves into investigations. Loretta laughed at this but immediately realised that Mabel was being serious. She mentioned again that she really wanted to help out and that this show meant the world to her, since it was supposed to be her Broadway debut.
They both ended up sitting down on a nearby bench, where Mabel did tell Loretta that she was looking at Dickie being the killer. Loretta told her that she didn’t think he was the killer, since he was a good kid, which Mabel pointed out that Dickie’s about fifty and so, not a kid.
Loretta, trying to throw Mabel off that suspect thread, told her that there are odder characters in the cast, even mentioning certain cast and crew members such as Bobo and then K.T., just trying to get Mabel and so the trio, off Dickie’s back. She elaborated again, that she just could not see Dickie as a murderer.
Eventually, at the theater, several police officers arrived, two of them telling Dickie that they wanted to have a talk to him. He told Loretta the news, which she had noted already, having seen the police officers talking to him, stressing her.
Whilst on stage, practicing her performance at the sitzprobe, Loretta noticed some police officers again, standing by Dickie once more, about to question him elsewhere. Panicking and wanting to protect Dickie still, she stopped her performance, running to the officers to tell them that she had poisoned Ben.
It’s in the audience, seeing this all happen, where Charles and Mabel learned through reading a letter of Loretta's they had stolen, that Dickie was her biological son.
In Thirty, Mabel, Charles and Oliver were at the murder board at Charles’ apartment. Mabel mentioned that, if Loretta made up her confession to protect Dickie, don't they need to prove that he’s Ben's real killer to get her out. She then added her theory that Loretta clearly thought that he was guilty, which was why she confessed to protect him.
However, after inviting Dickie over to Oliver’s and talking to him about where he might have been the night Ben was murdered, they realised that he couldn't have done it. Oliver mentioned that this meant Loretta gave herself up for someone who hadn’t murdered Ben.
Seeing how much Oliver was salivating over his dip, whilst thinking over all the footage from Tobert’s documentary camera that the trio had, Mabel realised that the so-called person Ben had been talking to in his dressing room, the night he died, wasn’t actually a person. Instead, he had been talking to one of the cookies Cliff had offered Ben but he had turned down.
However, there had been a cookie placed on his dressing table when he had been out of the room and it was after eating said cookie, that Ben spoke to himself that Loretta was right, he was a fucking pig.
Eventually though, the trio realised that it was Donna who had poisoned Ben, the motive now being the bad first review of the show, which mentioned Ben in a poor light, with the new murder weapon being a cookie.
They went and tried to get Loretta out of jail at her arraignment. There Oliver told Loretta that they know she didn’t do it and was just protecting Dickie. Loretta asked them who they thought murdered Ben. Oliver was about to answer her question, when Mabel noticed a particular someone in the crowd who said Oliver’s name. The trio, alongside Loretta, soon learned that Donna was in the crowd at the arraignment.
In Opening Night, at Charles’, we learnt that Oliver (using Charles’ money) bailed Loretta out of jail, with her saying that she was glad that the trio had stopped her from pleading guilty to Ben's murder. Mabel told her that they knew she was just trying to protect Dickie, her son.
Dickie Glenroy[]
In CoBro, Mabel and Theo headed on up to the penthouse to the auctioning off of Ben’s memorabilia, which excited Theo who was a fan of the CoBro movie franchise.
Whilst up there, Theo told Mabel that CoBro was Ben's idea as a child, which then became a successful movie franchise when he was older. She called him a nerd, pushing up his glasses which made him smile.
Seeing Dickie there, Mabel told him that she wanted to look for his brother's killer, since she didn't believe Gregg was his killer. Dickie had previously told her in the conversation that Ben set all his watches twenty minutes early. However, angered by this, Dickie informed her firmly that Ben died at 12:06, which was just before the time Gregg was seen leaving the Arconia.
Going back to her apartment, having been packing her possessions with Theo, Mabel suddenly realized whilst looking at the murder board and the photo she took of Ben dead in the elevator with his watch on, that Gregg wasn't at the Arconia the time of Ben's death, remembering what Dickie had said about Ben setting all his watches to be twenty minutes early. So the time that was shown on his watch when he died was actually wrong. She realized that instead of having been killed at 12:06, he actually was killed at 12:26, twenty minutes afterwards. When she stopped talking, Theo told her, “Who’s the nerd now?”, a reference to her comment about him earlier that day, and smirked at her. She signed a laughter.
Sometime afterwards, Mabel and Tobert were at her apartment, discussing the clues she had found around Ben’s murder, such as his watch running twenty minutes early. Tobert mentioned that he knew Ben was always late but he hadn’t thought that it was intentional, he thought it was because he was a dick.
Tobert brought over some fancy equipment to record a podcast, thinking Mabel could go solo, maybe with a sexy new podcast and poster, which Mabel wasn't okay with.
Just then, Theo walked in with takeout and a piece of paper and the men looked at each other as Mabel introduced them to one another. Tobert picked up on Theo wanting to tell Mabel something, given the fact that Theo was holding a piece of paper, with the original CoBro poster printed on it, from when Ben and Dickie were children. Instead of the signature at the bottom being a B. Glenroy, it was actually R. Glenroy that had been edited to look more like a B. This meant that it was Dickie (aka. Richard) who was the original creator of CoBro and Ben stole his idea.
Mabel mentioned that Dickie had told her that Ben always got the credit and the fame, though she hadn’t thought anything of it at the time when he said this to her. Tobert added, pointing out how cold it was that Cobro was Dickie's creation and Ben had just stolen it and made millions off of it. It all pointed to a motive to kill.
Realizing Dickie could be the murderer and not actually Gregg, Mabel headed over to the murder board, where Theo and Tobert followed. Tobert pointed out that their theory rested entirely on the B being an R. Mabel mentioned that the podcast once accused Sting of murder because he didn't like dogs, so this was actually solid evidence in comparison.
At the end of the episode, we learned that Dickie bought the hankie Uma had taken from Ben’s body in the elevator, which she had mentioned to Charles, that she gotten some moron to pay seven grand for the hankie, commenting that she sold it to one of those ‘snake dorks’ upstairs.
With the trio having fallen out and not on good terms, in Sitzprobe, Mabel appeared at the sizprobe, where the trio went off behind the scenes to talk. Mabel told them that her gut was telling her that it was Dickie who's the murderer, which Oliver was happy with because he's nothing to do with the cast, so wouldn't affect his musical. Mabel sarcastically told him that his priorities haven't changed.
Whilst back at the sitzprobe, Mabel couldn’t help but look at Dickie suspiciously amongst the empty audience seats.
Later on that day, Williams came barging into the theater where everyone was practicing, saying that the killer was in the room, which was something she always wanted to say. She informed everyone there that Ben was poisoned and that someone covered it up. She questioned them all individually.
Also, Loretta learned from Oliver that he and Mabel were thinking the murderer was Dickie, which secretly upset her.
When Mabel was looking for some scotch tape for Howard and the shredded paper he was working on as a possible clue, Loretta appeared and offered to help, though she didn't let on that it was because she was concerned about the sudden interest in Dickie. She mentioned that she always had some tape in her bag because of her side business as a professional gift wrapper.
It was here that Loretta mentioned hearing about Mabel investigating who the murderer could be and that maybe Mabel could talk about her theories, so Loretta could lend a hand and help.
Mabel was suspicious of Loretta wanting to help, commenting that killers sometimes inserted themselves into investigations. Loretta laughed at this but immediately realised that Mabel was being serious. She mentioned again that she really wanted to help out and that this show meant the world to her, since it was supposed to be her Broadway debut.
They both ended up sitting down on a nearby bench, where Mabel did tell Loretta that she was looking at Dickie being the killer. Loretta told her that she didn’t think he was the killer, since he was a good kid, which Mabel pointed out that Dickie’s about fifty and so, not a kid.
Loretta, trying to throw Mabel off that suspect thread, told her that there are odder characters in the cast, even mentioning certain cast and crew members such as Bobo and then K.T., just trying to get Mabel and so the trio, off Dickie’s back. She elaborated again, that she just could not see Dickie as a murderer.
Eventually, at the theater, several police officers arrived, two of them telling Dickie that they wanted to have a talk to him. He told Loretta the news, which she had noted already, having seen the police officers talking to him, stressing her.
Whilst on stage, practicing her performance at the sitzprobe, Loretta noticed some police officers again, standing by Dickie once more, about to question him elsewhere. Panicking and wanting to protect Dickie still, she stopped her performance, running to the officers to tell them that she had poisoned Ben.
It’s in the audience, seeing this all happen, where Charles and Mabel learned through reading a letter of Loretta's they had stolen, that Dickie was her biological son.
In Thirty, Mabel, Charles and Oliver were at the murder board at Charles’ apartment. Mabel mentioned that, if Loretta made up her confession to protect Dickie, don't they need to prove that he’s Ben's real killer to get her out. She then added her theory that Loretta clearly thought that he was guilty, which was why she confessed to protect him.
Later at Oliver’s, Dickie was invited over to talk with the trio. The four of them sat in the living room.
Charles, trying to coax a confession out of Dickie, mentioned to him that, for a minute, they thought that he had killed Ben. He nervously questioned them why they thought this.
Mabel, also trying to coax a confession, told Dickie that it's dumb, but that the trio know that Ben stole CoBro from him. This caused Dickie to admit that he was resentful of this. She mentioned also, that Dickie had told her that he covered up things, so kind of figured he'd covered up Ben's blood work to hide the poison in his system.
Dickie admitted that he did do that but that he didn't know Ben had been poisoned when he did so. He just knew there was other stuff there Ben wouldn't have wanted getting out. He asked the trio if they believed him.
Oliver told him that of course they do but out of curiosity, asked where he was when Ben was pushed to his death.
Dickie replied, saying that he left Oliver's party early because he was freaking out that Ben had come back to life and knew that had to get out of there. So, he got wasted, put on Ben's CoBro suit, and went looking for drugs and whores, mentioning that why should Ben have all the fun.
Mabel questioned this, asking if that was what Ben was into, so Dickie continued. He told them, saying that every Thursday, Ben would disappear for hours and that when Dickie would ask about where he went, Ben would reply that ‘snitches get stitches’.
So, Dickie tracked Ben’s phone to a place on Broadway, between 35th and 36th, where, according to Dickie, Ben would go do sex with his ‘five whores’, as Ben so affectionately called them. Dickie added that Ben even saved opening night seats for them, Trixie, Marigold, Emerald, Dot and Mei Mei.
Dickie then pulled out his phone and showed the trio security footage of him outside in the suit, screaming to bring him the five whores. He slept there all night and someone or something peed on him.
Mabel commented that this was proof that Dickie wasn't at the Arconia when Ben was murdered.
Dickie told the trio that the cops got the image from a security camera, after he told them where he was at that moment. However, they hadn’t bought it as an alibi because they couldn't fully see his face.
He then added that he couldn’t believe that Loretta murdered Ben but Oliver mentioned that he didn’t think she had done it. This caused Dickie to wonder why she would do something like that, to confess if she hadn’t done anything. The trio know why, which was Loretta protecting her son, but told Dickie that they had no idea why.
Oliver later mentioned that this meant Loretta gave herself up for someone who hadn’t murdered Ben.
The trio decided to go to where Ben had been on Broadway, which they learned was a fabric shop called ‘Snitches Get Stitches’. The whores Ben and Dickie mentioned, were actually seamstresses, though one of them, Trixie, she told the trio that she did used to be a self described whore.
Donna DeMeo/Cliff DeMeo[]
In Ghost Light, whilst at Mabel’s apartment, Howard mentioned that K.T.’s office was locked on the night of Ben's murder, which was never locked usually. He wanted a broom to ‘sweep’ the stage for good-luck. He said to the trio that strange noises were coming from within the room.
Later, the trio and Howard go to the Gooseberry Theater to simply entertain Howard's ghost theory. However, whilst there, sandbags started to fall from the rafters, nearly hitting Charles who was standing on the empty stage with everyone else.
Howard barged into K.T.’s office to get a broom to clean away the sand, making K.T. jump. This had caused her to ruin the highlighting she was doing, so she shredded the paper. The shredder made an odd scraping sound, which caused Howard to look at it with interest.
In Sitzprobe, at the sitzprobe and behind the scenes, Howard asked Mabel to go with him somewhere because he’d made a huge break in the case.
They ended up at K.T.’s office, where Howard mentioned shredding his papa smurf-skeletor slash-fic fanfic when the cops came, which he felt could be misunderstood in the wrong hands. It was then that he realized that the spooky sound from opening night, when he had been looking for the broom and the office door had been locked, was the paper shredder.
Mabel commented that someone in the office had been shredding something. She added that, if someone was shredding something, the evidence was destroyed. However, Howard told Mabel that he would be able to reassemble it back together. She ended up helping Howard with the putting together of the paper, at one point.
Whilst still in the office with Howard, Mabel noticed rat poison in a box, so told Howard that he might be right, that the killer might have stood in the office on opening night.
Alongside this, Williams was interviewing the cast and crew where she was trying to get some info on who the murderer could be and where everyone had been when Ben had been poisoned.
In Thirty, the trio went over all the cast and crew interviews that they had secretly recorded. Howard, in his interview, mentioned to Williams about the funny noises he had heard coming from K.T.’s locked office.
In the present, Howard continued to put the shredded paper together.
He ended up coming over to see the trio at Charles’, to tell them that he had put together the shredded paper.
Oliver had a look and knew just by the first two words, ‘Doesn’t sing’, that the paper was Maxine’s unpublished review for the original play, before it was a musical. This gave the motive to murder, according to Oliver.
Oliver then thought that the cookies, one which Ben ate and was poisoned, came from Donna but it’s Mabel who said that that wasn't the case and that it actually came from her son, Cliff.
They all realized that, if the review had aired, it would have been Cliff’s first production and last, so actually, this gave motive on Cliff poisoning Ben. Even if it could have sabotaged the play.
Mabel and the trio mentioned how Donna somehow got her hands on the review, and so, wouldn’t want the bad review to come out, so shredded it having seen Ben as the weak link for the play. So she saw a cookie on K.T.’s desk and the rat poison on the shelf and came up with the idea to poison Ben.
Donna left Ben the cookie in his dressing room in plain sight and knew that it was his weakness, as well as knowing that he was in a bad spot emotionally, on top of fasting until after the show. However, upon finding herself talking to Ben, she subtly made sure that he ate the cookie. So, the trio learned that there was a new motive; the review and a new murder weapon; a cookie.
The three of them went to Loretta’s arraignment, to try to get her out of jail somehow. There, Oliver told Loretta that the three of them knew that she hadn’t killed Ben and that she was just protecting Dickie. Loretta asked who they thought had done it instead, so Oliver was about to reply to her, when Mabel noticed someone specific in the crowd and said Oliver’s name to show him the person in the room with them. The trio soon learnt that Donna was in the crowd, watching.
In Opening Night, the trio still thought that, as well as poisoning Ben, Donna also pushed him down the elevator shaft, which wasn’t actually the case. They comment that it was a pretty drastic step for her.
Safe at Charles’, Loretta informed the others that she saw her vomiting in the theater toilets, meaning she was sick. Loretta added that if she's only got a limited amount of time to ensure her son’s future, a mother would do almost anything.
Charles told Loretta that her theory was good but thin. They still hadn't got anything to tie Donna to the push, so needed a confession from her on tape.
Mabel had written a script and a plan for the trio to follow to try and get Donna to confess.
Loretta then told the trio that Dickie had given her something recently and he was worried it might implicate her and so she showed it to the trio. Turned out that it was the bloody handkerchief that Ben had on him when he had died.
Mabel headed over to the red carpet of the opening of Death Razzle Dazzle. She went under the guise that someone was looking for Donna and wanted to give her some flowers, as well as a note that read, ‘New review in K.T.’s office.’. Knowing that this would make her go there, which would be where the trio would be waiting.
On the red carpet, before Donna went to the office, she told Cliff that she had to go somewhere but before she left, she dabbed her mouth with a tissue, leaving lipstick on it, then kissed her son, Cliff on the lips, before putting the tissue in his pocket, by his heart. Seeing Mabel’s expression, Donna told Mabel that it was something that they do; first a kiss on the lips and then a kiss on the heart.
When Donna headed to the office, she found the trio inside, waiting. They had gone through the script that Mabel had written out for them, showing that they had known it was her that killed Ben but before they got through it, she admitted she poisoned Ben (though not killed him). She then asked them where the hidden mic was and suggested it was under the plate of cookies Oliver was holding, as a way to intimidate her earlier.
Mabel said that would have been clever then pointed towards Tobert, who spoke from behind the door, looking like a coat-rack, with the boom in hand. Donna mentioned into the boom, grabbing it from Tobert, that Maxine's review would have killed the show so she bought it some time and that she wasn't trying to kill Ben, just wanted to knock him on his ass. Though said that it was hard to know how much non-lethal amount of rat poison to give someone without killing them. She then mentioned that Oliver was sitting on a hit musical, after she had done this. Mabel then said that she hadn't just bought time but she pushed Ben to his death.
Then Charles pulled out the bloody hankie Loretta had handed them, which had Donna's shade of lipstick on it, as well as the blood. He suggested that it was hers and had it snatched by Ben when he fell. She looked sad and admitted that she pushed Ben but it was only because she realized her son was the murderer instead, so was protecting him.
Watching Loretta and Dickie backstage, finally learning who they are to one another, Mabel overheard Loretta saying that there was nothing in the world she wouldn't do for Dickie. It's hearing this and seeing Donna and Cliff in the audience, with her whispering something to him and him upset, that Mabel realized that it was Donna had lied about killing Ben to protect Cliff, her son.
Mabel, having seen Cliff leave the audience, went to look for him, finding him up in the rafters, above the stage. She mentioned that his mother had confessed to killing Ben, which he replied, saying that he knew because she had told him whilst they were sitting in the audience earlier.
It’s here where Mabel put together the full picture and told Cliff that it wasn’t Donna who had pushed Ben and that it was him instead.
She mentioned that he and his mother, Donna had done their ‘One on the lips, one on the heart’ ritual that they did, at Oliver's party, which was why Cliff had a hankie with Donna’s lipstick on it, with it being the one that Ben grabbed when he had fallen.
A flashback to that night, showed that Ben had realized Donna had poisoned him with the cookie, which was one of the catalysts of how and why Ben got murdered.
Back in the rafters, Cliff was threatening to jump onto the stage from this height, which would have severely injured or killed himself, but whilst dangling over the stage still in the midst of the musical, Donna appeared and helped her son up, back to safety.
Curtain call eventually happened and afterwards, Donna and Cliff are walked out of the theater together, handcuffed and kissed one another on the journey out of the building.
Minor Suspects[]
Kimber Min[]
The trio suspected all of the cast and crew as being Ben's killer but didn’t let on. So when asked by Charles if he could have her hankie alongside the cast’s in Grab Your Hankies, a ploy to work out whose hankie Ben had been holding when he died, Kimber agreed.
Charles had tried to bond with several core members of the cast, inviting them over to his apartment, so he could try and work out who had that missing hankie, with some success. It was only Mabel and Charles who considered all the cast and crew as suspects. Oliver was busy working on his work on the musical.
However, when Kimber never handed hers over, Charles asked, while there were rehearsals at Oliver’s apartment, if he could have her hankie, hoping to remind her. She told him that she didn't have her hankie from Ben anymore, saying that she must have thrown it away or given it to a good cause. This made her a suspect, especially given she also seemed jealous of anyone better than her in the musical.
In The White Room, Mabel and Oliver went and saw if they could find the serum of Kimber’s that they had learned Ben might have used opening night, since Kimber had mentioned in a TikTok that you could de-age like Ben, if you used the stuff. They thought that this was how Ben was poisoned.
However, when they got to Kimber’s dressing room at the theater, she was there. So, very quickly, they had to come up with what to do on the spot. Mabel kept staring at the serum on the dressing table in front of Kimber, which she noticed so started to mention the serum happily.
Charles soon appeared, which wasn't the plan, so they told Kimber that he’s there because he had mini strokes and had wandered over to the theater.
The trio ended up in the hallway outside Kimber’s room, where they tried to work out who’d be best to talk to her to get more information. None of them thought that they’d be the best but Mabel ended up doing it, even when she did a really bad Gen-Z speech when Kimber poked her head out into the hallway.
When in the dressing room, Mabel hinted that she thought that there was a show-mance between Kimber and Ben. Kimber quickly told Mabel that she wasn’t sleeping with Ben and actually wanted an endorsement from him about using her product. She even wrote what he would have had to say in a future social meia post of his. He agreed to doing so, talking about empowering female entrepreneurs but unfortunately for Kimber, he backed out at the last minute. It’s because of this, that was why she felt okay selling her hankie from him on eBay.
This proved that Kimber hadn’t killed him. She told Mabel too, that she felt guilty selling the only thing Ben had ever given her, saying that Ben wasn’t easy but he could be sweet. She mentioned that he was panicking about a red mark on his face on opening night. So, he called in someone to cover it up, who the trio later learned was Joy.
Joy Payne[]
In The White Room, Joy mentioned to Charles in his apartment, that she’s going to look out for him, something which Joy had told Ben, that if he touched a hair on Charles’ head, he’d have Joy to deal with.
In the theater with Mabel, Kimber mentioned that Ben had been panicking on opening night about a red mark on his face. He called someone to his dressing room to cover it up, which the trio later learned to be Joy.
The trio found in Ben’s dressing room, a drawing of a pig and writing, saying ‘fucking pig’ in red lipstick. The lipstick was still there, so they thought that whoever owned the lipstick was the killer. Charles and Oliver eventually left Mabel alone to continue to do the investigation, because they were both busy elsewhere. Mabel took the lipstick and placed it in her coat pocket.
Later in the day, Mabel and Oliver head on over to Charles’, where he has unknowingly (he went to the White Room) proposed to Joy, which they ended up witnessing. Mabel, still carrying the lipstick, upon seeing it, Joy excitedly took it, saying it was hers. She asked the trio where they had found it, mentioning that she hated an incomplete set of makeup, since there had been an empty space in her clutch until this moment.
In Ah, Love!, Charles asked Joy if she knew anything about why the lipstick had been found in Ben's dressing room. This made her angry, so much so that, having planned for her and Charles to go cake tasting for their wedding, she decided to go on her own instead.
At this time, Sazz was at his apartment and witnessed some of the argument. Charles told Sazz that he thought Joy was a murderer, which shocked her. She strongly mentioned that she does not think this is the case, saying they’ve both known her for years.
Whilst Joy was still at the cake tasting, the two of them end up doing a little game involving the lights of Joy’s new fishtank.
This led to Sazz helping Charles realize that the reason why he thought Joy could be a murderer, was because of thinking she might be a psychopath for loving him, because she had been seeing the close up of his face to do his makeup for thirty years, something he thought only a psychopath could find attractive.
Sazz informed him, saying that he’s not afraid of 'Uppercase J Joy' and that he's actually afraid of 'Lowercase J Joy'. Charles mentioned that this was his problem and thought he was crazy for thinking so. Sazz told him that he needed to stop being such a scaredy cat.
Joy eventually came back to the apartment with twenty cake samples for Charles to try himself. It’s then that she mentioned being backstage on opening night of the musical. Howard had summoned her back there in a panic because Ben had a cosmetic emergency, the red mark on his face. She thought that somebody had hit Ben in the face.
She assumed that her lipstick had fallen out of her clutch when she was back there. She also told Charles that she hadn't written on Ben's mirror because she hadn't killed Ben.
Charles admitted to Joy that he was actually the person who had hit Ben, which he did so because of witnessing Ben and Loretta arguing on the stage and seeing Ben being rough with Loretta. Ben ended up telling Charles to stay out of it but Charles instead punched Ben.
Jonathan Bridgecroft[]
In Ah, Love!, Oliver and Charles wondered if Mabel was going on a date because she’s all dressed up but she told them that she wasn’t and that she was actually going on a stakeout with Tobert for a suspect he had a lead on and the place had a dress code. Then, trying to deflect, she told them, that this stakeout, ‘It’s when two totally platonic, semi-professional investigators wait together, in an out-of-sight, enclosed space, and watch while a suspect hopefully incriminates themselves, while we hold our pee in for hours and eat stale Cheetos.’
When Mabel got to where the stakeout would be, Tobert was already there at a table. They both sat and Mabel asked who his lead was. It’s then that they see Jonathan getting up on stage. It’s a piano bar that they’re at, so he started singing.
She’s surprised that Tobert thought Jonathan could be the murderer. He told her that, if he was, that Ben’s understudy was a great suspect, someone who had more to gain from Ben dying than others. He also told her that he had been following Jonathan for a while now but couldn’t find anything much about him, other than he volunteered with ‘Broadway Cares, and had a weekly cabaret at the bar that they were at.
Mabel was disappointed by this lead, so Tobert admitted that he orchestrated all this, because he wanted to go on a date with ‘the cute girl from the armoire’, somewhere they had previously hidden together on their separate investigations in the Penthouse. Mabel showed Tobert that she accepted the date by ordering her drink of choice; a mezcal old fashioned.
Later on the date, Mabel noticed Jonathan hugging and then sitting down at a table with a guy in a red coat and cap. He then was seen handing the unknown man an envelope, with the man then handing Jonathan a slip of paper. Mabel was informing Tobert on what she was seeing, so much so that he wanted to see what was going on himself. Unfortunately, when he did turn, he accidentally bumped into a waiter walking by with a tray, causing a commotion. This caused Jonathan and the man to see the two of them, before quickly getting up and walking out the back door, leaving Mabel and Tobert embarrassed.
Tobert told Mabel that he knew who the guy was, telling her that he was Ben's private doctor. A ‘celebrity concierge, anything you need prescription filler’ type. The doctor had actually seen Ben a few times that past year. Mabel wondered why, this man who she knew as simply Dr. C, was meeting Jonathan and why Jonathan was paying him for something.
In Ghost Light, the morning after the date, the trio and Tobert are at Mabel's apartment. Howard, in a panic came over, saying he saw Gideon Goosebury's ghost that morning at the theater, in a red coat and cap.
The trio went to the murder-board to discuss between them, with Tobert joining along. It seemed that Tobert was three wheeling the trio but actually Mabel and Tobert agreed that the alleged Gideon in the theater looked much like Ben's doctor, with the red coat and cap, so they thought that Dr. C and Jonathan might have been covering their tracks in the theater after poisoning Ben.
The trio headed off to investigate with Howard about the ghost incident and separated. Mabel ended up bumping into Tobert who had been following Jonathan around the theater.
The two of them went to Jonathan’s dressing room together, where they found him with a bag of pill bottles which Tobert snapped away from him. The pills were from a Dr. Hiram Camareri aka. Dr. C.
They asked Jonathan what’s going on, by which he at first said that he didn't know what they were talking about but then he changed his mind and opened up, telling them both that he'd been feeling really anxious since taking over Ben's part in the musical, saying it's a lot of pressure being the lead. So, he asked Dr. C for some help. He added that the doctor could get Ben anything he wanted, so he gave Jonathan the ‘Leading Man cocktail’, something that Ben had been taking. According to Jonathan, the cocktail was a mix of beta blockers, propecia, HGH, and just a dash of methamphetamine.
Mabel picked up on the fact that Jonathan didn't want to be the lead, asking the question. He answered, telling them that no, he didn’t want to be but to please not tell Howard because he wouldn't understand. He mentioned that it was Howard's dream to be on stage, in a leading role but that he had no idea what it’s like to carry the weight of an entire show on your shoulders.