Later that night, after being aggravated by Pearl over his inability to fix their broken washing machine, Lester beats her to death with a hammer, then calls Malvo for assistance.

Lester returns to work and calls Hess's widow, Gina, about his life insurance policy.

Numbers and Mr. Wrench, two hitmen sent from Fargo, North Dakota to kill Hess's murderer, are watching from outside.

Convinced he killed Hess, they visit Lester's office and threaten him, but leave when Solverson unexpectedly arrives.

Lester is hospitalized after his right hand gets severely infected from a shotgun pellet wound sustained when Malvo shot Thurman.

Realizing he's close to getting caught, Lester sneaks out of the hospital, visits Chazz's house, and plants evidence in his gun cabinet; he also places one of his brother's guns in his nephew's backpack, to ensure the police will search Chazz's house.

Later, Gina and her sons angrily storm into Lester's office, but he manages to repel them with a stapler.

Lester's assertive behavior impresses his co-worker, Linda, whom he later marries during the one year time skip.

Instead of helping Malvo hide the bodies, Lester hits him over the head with his award and runs back to his hotel room to fetch Linda.

Solverson asks why they tried to board a plane at the last minute, Linda backs up Lester's story by saying they left because she was homesick.

Before leaving town, Lester says they need to stop by the office to pick up some cash and their passports from the safe.

Suspecting that Malvo is hiding inside and waiting to ambush them, he sends Linda into the office wearing his coat to get what they came for.

He then excuses himself to the bathroom, but actually goes out the back door to make an anonymous phone call to the police, saying that he heard gunshots.

The next morning, Lester is allowed to return home, but must be accompanied by FBI agents Pepper and Budge.

Two weeks later, Lester is shown on a snowmobile attempting to escape to Canada via Glacier National Park in Montana.

Being sought now that his role in the deaths of Pearl and Thurman has been established, Lester is recognized by police, who pursue him on snowmobiles.

Desperate, he escapes on foot, only to fall through thin ice into a lake, dying within seconds with his hat remaining on top of the water.

[5][6] Robert Bianco of USA Today praised the dynamic of Freeman and Billy Bob Thornton, writing that their "brilliantly written and played dynamic gives the warped relationship between Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in True Detective a run for its money.

[9] Due to the obvious similarities of the characters of Lester and Jerry Lundegaard of the original film, Freeman has stated that he purposely decided not to watch the original film to prevent his role to seem like an imitation of William H. Macy's portrayal of Lundegaard.