Let's Discuss This Mystery Character On Only Murders In The Building

Charles, Oliver, and Mabel’s podcast, Only Murders In the Building, (as well as the Hulu show that’s telling the story) centers on the premise that the murderer of Tim Kono is someone who lives in their building. It’s a grand theory, but there’s one problem with it: One of their prime suspects might not be a resident. On the night of the murder, there was a mystery man in a tie-dye hoodie who Charles saw going up the stairs of the building while everyone else was leaving. So, who is Tie-Dye Guy in Only Murders In The Building? Could he be a resident in disguise? Or is he an outside force? The answer may be the difference between life and death for at least one character.

Warning: Spoilers for Only Murders In The Building Episode 4 follow. After the poisoning of Winnie at the end of Episode 3, much of Episode 4, “The Sting,” focused on the building’s biggest celebrity resident. Oliver was convinced Sting was the man behind his dog’s illness and Tim Kono’s death — so convinced, in fact, that he cooked a 19-pound turkey just to get himself into the man’s apartment.

But Charles pointed out that other suspects were being overlooked. Specifically, one the group refers to as “Tie-Dye Guy.” No one knows who Tie-Dye Guy is or why he was in the building when Tim Kono died, but as the only person going up the stairs during the fire alarm when everyone else was on their way down, he had to be a suspect.

By the episode’s end, Charles turned out to be correct. Sting was a dead end. There was a motive: Kono was the financial adviser who lost Sting a lot of money. But it wasn’t enough to drive Sting to kill. He did shout at Kono to “kill himself” in a rage, but that was it. It was why Sting was in such a terrible mood when he was in the elevator with Oliver and Winnie — he blamed himself for Kono’s death, assuming the man had heeded his advice. Learning Kono was murdered was actually a relief to him, in addition to clearing him of suspicion.

With everything back at square one, Mabel headed out to see if she could follow up on a Hardy Boys clue she’d privately found in Tim’s apartment, without telling either of her co-hosts where she was going. But it may have been the wrong move. As she walked down the street, Tie-Dye Guy was following her.

But really, who is Tie-Dye Guy? The current best guess is that he’ll turn out to be Mabel’s other connection to the past: Oscar, the superintendent’s son, who just got out of prison after wrongly being accused of killing their friend, Zoe. Oscar had the most significant motive to kill Tim Kono, whose silence put him away. He also has reason to kill Mabel, who didn’t step forward and help him either. He’s the most significant missing piece of this case.

But if Oscar is Tie-Dye Guy, does that necessarily mean he killed Kono? What if he’s innocent? Or worse, what if he’s not Tie-Dye Guy after all?

Only Murders In The Building will continue with new episodes every Tuesday on Hulu.