"Nail in the Coffin" is the first episode of the fifth season of Only Murders in the Building, starring Steve Martin, Selena Gomez and Martin Short. It originally aired on September 9, 2025, alongside the second and third episode.
Short Summary[]
While investigating Lester's mysterious "accidental" death, the clues lure Charles, Oliver, and Mabel out of Manhattan — and straight into some dangerous new "old" territory.
Full Summary[]
As Lester's body is prepared, Oliver reads his obituary, which talks about Lester's career at the Arconia and asks for donations to the National Audubon Birdwatching Society and the Hollywood Improv East. Oliver finds the obituary lacking. He thinks they should have come to him to write it. Charles says he's more upset about the obituary than the police ruling his death an accident. Mabel is also upset about that. Oliver says he and Lester ribbed each other because that's what friends do. He picks up a piece of shrimp. Mabel can't believe he's eating it because it was from the wedding four days ago. Oliver claims you can eat it for five days if it's been on ice, six if you've recently had salmonella. He can't believe the caterers forgot to serve it. It's really just a vessel for the cocktail sauce for him. Howard comes in, declaring himself depressed. He's upset because Sevelyn and Gravey are getting along and he feels left out. Meanwhile, Jonathan is on tour with Thoroughly Modern Millie. Howard notices the shrimp in front of Oliver and asks how much he has left. When he says there's a second case in the fridge, Howard realizes he has a way to buy their love. As he goes to get it, the others decide it's time to go see Lester, who requested to lie in state in the lobby. Howard was just down there and the biggest buzz is the security footage. They think he's going to say it turns out it wasn't accidental after all, but instead, he says it confirms that it was an accident. The other buzz downstairs is whether or not the new doorman is hot. Most people agree that he is. He leaves, saying he'll see them downstairs. Mabel still finds the death a little fishy. Oliver says it's probably for the best, since no murder beings no podcast, which means he gets to enjoy being a newlywed and Mabel gets to be a 30-something in the city. He doesn't know what Charles does. Charles says he has things. Mabel then startles, noticing something. She and Charles try to get Oliver's attention on the shrimp in his hand, which is actually a severed human finger. Oliver screams and throws it.
They look at the finger from a distance, trying to decide if it's really a finger. Mabel notices some kind of green fungus on it and picks it up over Charles and Oliver's objections. Mabel asks if anyone at the wedding mentioned an accident in the kitchen. Oliver thinks there's no way this was an accident. Oliver agrees. It's a message. Mabel puts the finger back on ice and Oliver says it's mobby, like the horse head in The Godfather. Mabel remembers Sofia and goes over to the board, where her card is pinned. She and Charles tell Oliver about Sofia's request to find her husband. Oliver is upset that they turned down a mob wife. He looks up a picture of her and Nicky and makes Marlon Brando impression. He and Charles debate the impression until Mabel asks if they can get back to the finger. They wonder whose finger it could be and Charles wonders if anyone checked to see if Lester had all his fingers.
Charles, Mabel, and Oliver get off the elevator. They just need to take a quick look at his fingers. Oliver thinks it won't be hard because he can't imagine there will be a large crowd. They're surprised to see a large crowd of people in the lobby. Among the crowd is Mayor Beau Tillman, who is talking to Lester's widow, Lorraine Coluca. Tillman goes to the podium and calls everyone's attention. Romy takes pictures of him as he says he's there because he loved Lester, though he didn't know him. He loves a great doorman and says doormen are a key voting bloc. He wanted to stop by to say he stands by them all in respecting the old guard like Lester. As he finishes, he reminds everyone the election is right around the corner and urges everyone to vote.
Mabel and Charles go over to the picture boards and realize Oliver was the only person not to submit a picture of himself with Lester. He turned off all Arconia emails after Howard kept spamming his Dua Lipa fan fiction. They look over at Lester and Charles realizes his hands are by his sides, not crossed over his chest. They can't count his fingers easily. Charles asks them to talk to Lorraine and find out if Lester had all his fingers when he died. While they do that, Charles is going to work his way in by the casket.
Lorraine offers Randall Lester's building ledger. Randall tries to refuse, but Lorraine says Lester would want him to have it, plus there are some interesting tidbits in there. Lester was very thorough. Mabel and Oliver cut in and ask Mabel expresses condolences, Randall whispers her name and apartment number to Lorraine. Oliver asks if Lester was fully complete the last time she saw him. She's confused.
Charles pretends to be crying over Lester as he tries to look down at Lester's hands. Nearby, Mayor Tillman is posing for photographs while Romy takes pictures. When he notices Charles, Charles thinks he's a Brazzos fan. He's actually a fan of the podcast. He would love an endorsement because the three of them cover every demo between them, because he assumes Charles is gay. Charles says he is a little. Mayor Tillman also wants to be a guest on the podcast, but Charles informs him they're apolitical. He has Romy give Charles his card in case they change their minds. Charles goes back to his act, but struggles to get access to the fingers.
Howard admires the tribute to Lester. Lorraine wishes she'd gotten the chance to clean his had first. It was stained with blood from the fountain. He wouldn't have wanted that. Oliver doesn't think he ever saw a wrinkle on Lester's sleeve in all the years he knew him. Lorraine asks what his name is and Randall whispers it to her, saying Oliver's in 10D. Oliver tries to say he's in 10C, but Randall knows he's in 10D because he just delivered some packages to Oliver's home. Oliver doesn't know who Randall is, so Mabel explains that he was Lester's trainee, now the new doorman. He also played the upright bass at Oliver's wedding. Lorraine finally puts Oliver's name together and says he's the cuckoo chick. Lester likened all the tenants to birds and he called Oliver the cuckoo chick, the neediest bird of all. Oliver says he's not a taker and says he was Lester's favorite tenant. Howard says the only thing he didn't take was a picture with Lester. Mabel is horrified to look over and see Charles's dramatics increasing. She goes to the podium to draw everyone's attention away from him. She talks about visiting the building as a child and Lester giving her a sketching pad and lying that it was from her mother when her mother forgot her birthday. While Mabel is talking, Uma looks over to see Charles with his hand down in the coffin and asks loudly what he's doing, drawing everyone's attention to him.
Mabel is upset that Charles did all that and still couldn't get an accurate finger count. He says Lester had gloves on, so there were either eight or eleven fingers. Oliver comes in with proof that he cared about Lester in the form of a picture of them from his wedding. It's not the best picture, with Oliver blurry in the foreground while Lester is blurry in the background. Oliver likes the changes Mabel has made to her apartment. Mabel's leveling up. But not too much, since she still found a finger in shrimp and got booed out of a wake. Mabel looks closer at the picture and realizes Nicky Caccimelio is in it with Lester, handing him an envelope. Charles finds it fishy that Lester had a run-in with a missing mobster on the night he died. Mabel wonders if Nicky killed Lester. She goes to text Howard so they can get the footage that supposedly proves it was an accident. Charles also thinks they need to go to Staten Island to talk to Sofia. Oliver gets up to leave, saying the mob is the one thing he won't mess with. Mabel says they've dealt with threatening people before and she wonders why this is so different. Oliver says in 1982, he wrote a show called Newark, Newark. He had trouble finding investors, so he borrowed $400 from the mob. Charles says that going with them would go a long way in convincing people that Oliver cared about Lester. Oliver says he has nothing to prove, so Mabel and Charles say they'll do it alone and get all the glory. They leave and after five seconds, Oliver gets up and runs after them. He finds them waiting for him just outside the door.
Oliver, Charles, and Mabel take the ferry to Staten Island and then a cab to the Caccimelio home. Charles is surprised that Mabel put the finger in her Stanley cup. Mabel thanks him for reminding her because she keeps wanting to take a sip. Mabel pulls out her phone to record an intro about the mafia. Charles puts on a bad Italian accent and starts talking, so Mabel stops recording and says they can't lean into offensive stereotypes. Charles says they live in the Godfather house. That's what Mabel is talking about, but Oliver points and tells Mabel it's literally the house from The Godfather. They get out of the cab and talk about how to handle the situation as they walk up. Oliver thinks they need to be delicate because they already rejected her once. Mabel wants to take the lead. However, when Johnny answers the door, Charles loudly greets him. Johnny stops him from introducing them, saying he knows who they are. He has them come inside. They pass Nonna, who is making sausages. Johnny leads them into a room with a table and calls in Tony, Mikey, Vinny, and Braden. He introduces himself and his brothers. Mikey knows they're the podcasters and asks if they like telling stories. He thinks that's good because they have a story for them. They all sit and Vinny starts telling the story. The brothers take turns telling the story of a restaurant owner in 1970 who was approached by the mob with an offer. He refused, which the mob found disrespectful, so they set his restaurant on fire. When the mob gives you an opportunity, you say yes or soon you'll be saying nothing at all. Johnny pulls out a gun and aims it at them, then all five brothers start singing. When they finish, Oliver asks what's happening. Johnny explains that it's their theme song. For their podcast, "Ey, I'm Talkin' Here!" It's them talking about historical mob stories. The gun, which is actually a bluetooth speaker, is part of their merchandise. They're excited about them thinking it was a real gun, saying Nonna was wrong and they are intimidating enough to be real mobsters. As Johnny plays with the gun, he accidentally knocks over the cup, spilling the finger onto the table. The brothers scream and beg Charles, Mabel, and Oliver not to hurt them. They thought they were there to do a collaboration for their podcast because they're friends with their mom. Mabel questions that just as Sofia walks in and says they don't even make 3D doritos anymore. When she sees Charles, Mabel, and Oliver, she says she sees they've met her sons. Then Nonna comes in on her scooter and tells them to keep their fingers out of her gravy.
Sofia can't believe they refused to help her find her husband and now are showing up at her home accusing her of sending them a finger. Mabel asks what she meant when she said her husband being missing had everything to do with her husband. Their doorman is dead and Nicky wasn't actually missing that night. They have proof he was at the Arconia. Oliver pulls out his phone and shows her the picture of him with Lester. Sofia throws a ball to get her sons to leave the room, then says they've clearly heard about her family's ties to criminal activity. But the truth is the mob is dead. Mabel asks why they should believe her. Sofia asks if the mob were still alive, why would her sons be podcasting about mob activity in the 1970s. That's the last time there was anything to talk about. Scorsese is making movies about Native Americans and Irish people now. Her husband spent their life savings moving them into the Godfather house. Mabel asks what Nicky was doing with Lester. Sofia explains that they own Clean-Ups, the dry cleaner inside the Arconia. Nicky couldn't find the time to tell his family he was alive, but he still had time to drop off receipts with Lester. Nicky has a history of disappearing for a few days to do drugs, gamble, and bed other women, but she was hoping they'd find him before the world discovered he was a failed mobster who likes gardenias. Oliver asks if there's any change the finger is Nicky's. Sofia has trouble telling from just one finger, so Oliver does a bad Italian impression that Sofia finds offensive. After a moment, she says it's not his because he had very hairy fingers. She starts to tear up and says they should go. They pack the finger and go. As they walk away, Sofia calls Charles back and hands him his hat. She's sure he finds her crazy for wanting to find Nicky when he clearly doesn't want to come home. He says she doesn't seem like the type to settle for a womanizer. She seems more the type to know what's up.
Oliver and Mabel watch Charles and Sofia from the car and are bewildered by Charles' behavior.
Sofia tells Charles her marriage is over and the family business is hanging by a thread. She's worried they'll lose the house. Charles says he'll see what he can do, but all bets are off if Nicky killed Lester. Sofia hands Charles a pack of cards, saying Nicky used to carry them around everywhere. The night he went missing, he left it on her night stand. Charles takes the cards with him.
Charles, Mabel, and Oliver get on the elevator. As the doors go to close, Mabel stops them. She has to stop doing this because she doesn't live in this tower anymore. She exits the elevator. Oliver says he has to call Loretta because he's still getting used to the time difference. Charles asks how she likes New Zealand and Oliver says she loves it. Charles says that Oliver is married now, which is the start of a new chapter and Mabel has a million new chapters, but he's not sure what's next for him. When the elevator stops, Oliver says pepcid with two tums will fix everything. His phone rings and he answers it as the doors close.
Back in his apartment, Charles plays with the deck Sofia gave him. He realizes one is magnetic when it attracts a paperclip. When he looks at it through his wine, he sees that the card has a map on it.
Mabel is reviewing the footage Howard sent her. She says it doesn't prove anything. The footage from the courtyard is missing and in one clip, Lester looks as though he's running from someone.
Oliver looks at the picture of Lester and Nicky and says Lester knew Oliver cared about him, but it wouldn't hurt if the building knew, too.
Charles follows the map on the card and gets on the elevator.
Mabel checks out the security cameras in the building.
Oliver races around with Lester's cap.
Mabel and Charles run into each other and he tells her about the map. They keep following the map. Mabel quickly realizes it's leading them through all the blind spots in the building, which she's been mapping. Charles realizes in horror that he's finished off his wine. To replicate the effect, Mabel pulls out her red lipstick and smears it on Charles' glasses. The maps leads them to a door by the front desk. It's a closet. Mabel knows the closet. She searches the shelf and finds a handle, which opens a secret passageway.
Oliver arrives at the dry cleaner, but it's closed. He knocks and says he has a hat emergency. The door clicks and he enters.
Mabel and Charles go down some steps and find a locked door. Charles waves the card in front of the keypad and it unlocks.
Oliver calls out, but no one answers. He says he's dropping off a hat. He spots Lester's uniform and goes to retrieve it.
Charles and Mabel enter The Velvet Room. It's filled with very old furniture.
Oliver reaches up to grab the uniform, but can't reach it, so he goes to activate the rack to rotate items.
Charles says the card has numbers on the bottom: 6, 24, 0, 0. Mabel goes over to a roulette wheel and enters the numbers by turning it. It opens a drawer.
Oliver looks through the clothes.
Charles pulls a blood-stained envelope out of the drawer. It's the envelope Nicky gave Lester at the wedding. It's full of cash. They know Lester was there the night he died, meaning it wasn't an accident. They need to find Nicky.
Oliver finally gets the uniform free. He looks up just as Nicky's body comes toward him, hanging from the rack. It falls on him, pinning him to the floor.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Steve Martin as Charles-Haden Savage
- Martin Short as Oliver Putnam
- Selena Gomez as Mabel Mora
- Michael Cyril Creighton as Howard Morris
Guest starring[]
- Vanessa Aspillaga as Ursula
- Bobby Cannavale as Nicky Caccimelio
- Teddy Coluca as Lester Coluca
- Dane DiLiegro as Johnny Caccimelio
- Jermaine Fowler as Randall Winston
- Jackie Hoffman as Uma Heller
- Russell G. Jones as Grover Stanley
- Keegan-Michael Key as Mayor Beau Tillman
- Téa Leoni as Sofia Caccimelio
- Dianne Wiest as Lorraine Coluca
Co-starring[]
- Shea Buckner as Tony
- Elizabeth D'Onofrio as Nonna
- Aaron Dean Eisenberg as Braden
- Caitlin Houlahan as Romy
- Cory Jeacoma as Mikey
- Evan Mulrooney as Vinny
Notes and Trivia[]
General[]
- The title sequence to this episode shows Mabel with an orange Stanley cup in her window and Howard walking Sevelyn and Gravey.
- In the episode credits there is a dedication to the memory of Jim Edmiston and Collin Smith.
Cultural references[]
Soundtrack[]
Media[]
Episode Stills[]
Behind the Scenes[]
Videos[]
See Also[]
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A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here. |
References[]