Hearts were the first team to threaten either goal in the 10th minute, but Andrew Driver's right-foot shot was tame.
Just a minute later and the home side should have been in front.
Souleymane Bamba threaded a neat through ball to Fletcher but, one-on-one with Janos Balogh, the Hibs striker lost composure and the keeper was able to touch the ball away from his feet.
This turned out to be Hibs' only opportunity in an insipid display.
Only a last-ditch tackle from David van Zanten denied Driver another opportunity as the match flowed from end to end.
With Hibs pressing for an opening goal, on the half hour a reckless tackle by Fletcher resulted in a straight red card for the Hibs striker.
The sending off turned the game in the visitors' favour and they took the lead after 38 minutes.
When the ball spun wide in the home penalty area, Makaba-Makalamby chased the ball needlessly, taking him out of his goal.
With the keeper stranded, Driver got to the ball first and crossed for Christian Nade for the simplest of finishes.
The error by Makaba-Makalamby meant he did not reappear for the second half, with debutant Grzegorz Szamotulski taking his place.
The match was beginning to toil in the wind and rain with only a shot wide by Bamba and a poor effort by David Obua to speak of by the hour.
Hearts were looking comfortable without creating any chances, but it was the lack of fight in the home side which was most evident.
It was no surprise therefore when Hibs made a double substitution in 66 minutes with the ineffective Derek Riordan and Jonatan Johansson replaced by Colin Nish and Alan O'Brien.
Those substitutions failed to ignite a spark in the match with neither side threatening to score until five minutes from time when a Driver shot was saved easily by Szamotulski.
The match was made safe in stoppage time by substitute Gary Glen, who rounded Szamotulski and sent the Hearts fans into delirium by firing into an empty net.