Upamanyu Biswas
After tripping and stumbling over a staggering number of irresponsible, insensitive, and reckless situations involving the White House’s staff and guests, the seventh and eighth episodes of ‘The Residence,’ titled ‘The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb’ and ‘The Mystery of the Yellow Room,’ propels out trusty detective lead, Cordelia Cupp, towards the right direction in solving the murder of A.B. Wynter. With so many confusing elements attached to the case and the growing list of suspects, the investigation has been nothing short of an unnecessarily complex task for Cordelia. However, the detective manages to alight upon the right pieces of evidence in the last two episodes, as she looks into the life of Wynter and finds the reason for his death, alongside the identity of the person responsible for the heinous crime. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Engineer Enters the Game After the Case’s Reopening
Episode 7 opens with a closer look into Elsyie Chayle’s life, a housemaid with an impeccable reputation among the White House staff. She is shown to be talking aggressively with someone on her phone before going to sleep. The following morning, she interacts with her daughter, who is excited to learn that her mother is attending a state dinner with important Australian officials. The young girl suggests that Elsyie could speak to Hugh Jackman. Elsyie gets on the bus and once again starts talking aggressively with someone on the phone. After getting to work, she starts cleaning around the White House’s different rooms, even running into Hugh Jackman by accident, as her daughter wanted. Subsequently, we skip to a scene where Elsyie is holding a candlestick in her hands while Wynter is shown lying on the floor of the Yellow Oval Room.
In the present day, we see Cordelia back in Washington, DC, rearing to investigate. However, she cannot question Patrick Doumbe because the man’s immunity does not extend beyond the hearing. Cordelia is driven to the White House by Wokes and Park. Harry Hollinger wants to sponsor the investigation this time because the administration is at rock bottom and needs some answers for Wynter’s murder to appease the public. Cordelia agrees to look into it even though she does not trust Hollinger. Subsequently, she starts scouring through several rooms in the White House to review important details about the case. She asks Park to bring in Jasmine Haney. The new Chief Usher arrives and asks Cordelia if she is back investigating – the detective says yes.
Cordelia is provided a brief overview of the White House’s situation and how things have changed under Lilly’s watch. The President has also moved into Blair House a week after Wynter’s murder. Cordelia tells Haney that she would like to find Wynter’s journals. Unfortunately, they are still missing. The detective heads into Haney’s office and sees the new changes she has made to the interior. She asks Haney about the keys that were in Wynter’s coat pocket. Surprisingly, they are not his but Bruce Geller’s, the engineer. Subsequently, Bruce Geller is brought in for questioning. He grows worried when he is shown the keys. As Cordelia probes into him, we start learning more about Bruce’s predicament and his history with Wynter in the White House.
A while back, President Perry Morgan gave Bruce a tough assignment to fix his hot water shower as he likes extremely hot showers. After a lot of failed attempts, when Bruce managed to get the shower temperature right, Wynter just told him to focus on the next problem rather than acknowledge his achievement. Bruce was angry at Wynter for not protecting or rewarding him with anything. He got even more furious that Wynter sent him to fix Tripp Morgan’s toilet on a day when he was supposed to have a holiday. After some more questions, the engineer reveals that he was in the Yellow Oval Room the night Wynter was killed. His reason for being there was mostly to check if the ceilings had been ruined by what Tripp had done to the toilet. While in the room, he admits that he saw someone alive – Lilly Schumacher.
Cordelia Uncovers an Unlikely Love Story in the White House
Cordelia and Park then question Lilly, who has been changing up the entire White House decor to make it more like a modern hotel aesthetic. Lilly says that she had been to the second floor that night because she was all over the house looking for Wynter. According to the other staff, she seemed very worried for Wynter. Lilly backs up Bruce’s story, but Cordelia finds her body language to be very suspicious. Later, during a group discussion between Chief Wokes, Agent Park, and Cordelia, the latter learns that Lilly comes from a wealthy family, one of President Morgan’s most prominent financial backers during his campaign. As a result, Lilly became their social secretary. Cordelia then asks Lilly why she was looking for Bruce in the Yellow Oval Room, causing her to lose resolve and say that she actually went looking for him twice.
During her first sweep of the house, Lilly states that she found Wynter in the Yellow Oval Room arguing with someone. Her run-in with Bruce happened during her second sweep of the house. After applying some pressure, Lilly reveals that the person fighting with Wynter that night was Elysie. The maid is called in for questioning. Cordelia asks her about what she was doing on the second floor that night, a fact she let slip even during the first interrogation. Elsyie says that she began the night taking care of the Lincoln Bedroom for Kylie Minogue until Agent Rausch told her that no one should be on the second floor. Subsequently, Wynter called her to the Yellow Oval Room, where he questioned her about her past and secret criminal record – something she lied about when applying for the job.
Wynter was very angry with her, while Elsyie was desperate to cling to her job. She also lies to Cordelia about the argument, never mentioning anything about her criminal past. After the fight, Wynter told the maid that she should take care of the Lincoln Bedroom and meet him in the office in the morning. Elsyie was really angry and scared when she left. She went to the secret closet and waited outside it for a long time, which is when she ran into Bruce. The engineer recalls her telling him that she wants to kill Wynter. He walked away and then came back to see Wynter was dead and Elsyie running away with a candlestick in her hand. Adding two and two together, Bruce concluded that Elsyie killed Wynter. However, Elsyie reports differently, saying that Bruce was the killer.
After reflecting by herself away from Elsyie and Bruce, Cordelia makes a monumental discovery that helps her piece together their story a little better. She confronts Bruce in the basement, telling him that he and Elsyie are in love with each other. He admits that they are in love; their relationship has been ongoing for just over a year. Cordelia figured it out because Bruce’s keyring matched the pendant worn by Elsyie around her neck. Its design is meant to represent the pantheon, something Elsyie loves. Cordelia wonders if one of the two is lying, if both are lying or if both are telling the truth somehow. She reflects on all three possibilities as Park leaves her by herself in the Yellow Oval Room. She is also convinced that the murder took place in this room.
The Yellow Oval Room Holds the Answers
On the night of October 11th, A.B. Wynter and Angie Huggins are playing a game of backgammon together. Wynter tells her that it is his father’s birthday. As Wynter loses a few rounds, he starts talking about his past and how he lost his mom and dad in a car crash when he was 11. It is a rare moment where he grows emotional. We then receive a flashback of all the problematic situations Wynter had to deal with the night he died, including his run-in with Bruce, Didier, Marvella, David Rylance, the Mottas, Hollinger, Tripp, Sheila, and many others. It ends with him walking towards the Yellow Oval Room after telling Elsyie to meet with him. Meanwhile, Cordelia sits in the Yellow Oval Room, reminiscing about everything and collating all the facts again.
We cut to the congressional meeting, where Cordelia sits in front of the senators and an empty gallery. Apparently, a suspect has been detained in A.B. Wynter’s death. However, Cordelia refuses to present the name. Instead, she asks the senators if they want to know how she figured out the truth.
The scene returns to the Yellow Oval Room, where Cordelia realizes a few things are missing. First, she searches for an antique vase that has been missing since October 11th. Secondly, she wants to know the whereabouts of the Franklin Clock, another missing paraphernalia. She asks around about the damaged yellow flowers in the room, which the florist thinks may be the result of paraquat use. Cordelia and Park ask Emily if she has any in the greenhouse. Although she doesn’t, there is a shelf with some leftover paraquat remaining.
They head back to the house, where Cordelia locates a tumbler that was potentially used as a murder weapon and contains paraquat in it. In the Yellow Oval Room, the detective hypothesizes that Wynter was poisoned by the paraquat, and the murder weapon used on him was the missing Franklin Clock. They head over to Tripp Morgan to see if he may have hoarded the clock in his room. After a brief conversation, they learn that Tripp has no idea where the clock is. However, Cordelia’s ear pricks up at the mention of the fact that Wynter was retiring. She follows up on it with Harry Hollinger, who denies ever knowing Wynter’s intention to retire. However, Hollinger does bring up the fact that Jasmine Haney had a meltdown when she came up to the third floor – she was angry that she was not going to be the Chief Usher because Wynter had delayed his retirement.
At the congressional meeting, the senate is surprised to learn that Jasmine Haney is a person of interest in the crime. Cordelia and Park discuss how the truth is sometimes hiding right in front of you, connecting it with how Jasmine has been showing them around the place all this while. Still, Park also believes that other people were involved in the crime. As he keeps talking, Cordelia finds Wynter’s journal in the library. It was hiding in plain sight, and no one had noticed it. While reading it, she finds that Wynter has written candidly about his opinion on a lot of things. She also finds a ledger with numbers that she is unable to figure out. However, the last page proves to be the most important. It is a half-torn message that seamlessly fits together with the suicide note from earlier. The detective can’t figure out how it ended up in Wynter’s pocket on October 11th.
Cordelia Gathers a Crowd For Her Final Explanation
Agent Trask intervenes and tells Cordelia, Park, and Chief Wokes that someone upstairs wants to speak with them – President Morgan. The President is unhappy that Cordelia is back investigating again. Hollinger reveals it was he who brought her back. Cordelia realizes something weird about the paintings as the grown men bicker in the Red Room. She leaves and studies the paintings in other rooms before telling Park that things have been moved around since the murder. Based on this discovery, the detective knows how Wynter was killed. She tells the President to gather a group of people as she plans to reveal the murderer soon. When she returns, all the most notable guests from the previous episodes have been gathered in the White House. She tells them that she does not know the murderer’s exact identity but is certain that one of them is the killer.
As they gather in the game room, Cordelia begins recounting the facts from the case, beginning with Nan Cox discovering Wynter’s body, her arrival on the scene, and subsequent run-ins with Harry Hollinger. She then picks up on David Rylance and Marvella’s secret tryst, something no one knows about, and the detective decides not to share. Next, she points out that a knife had gone missing, one which belonged to Didier Gotthard, who tried to destroy the murder weapon in fear that he may be suspected of killing Wynter. She also states that Sheila was in the room, drinking vodka meant for Nan Cox. However, all of this still did not change the fact that Wynter’s body was dragged into the game room first. It was brought there from Room 301 – a room closed under false renovation by the Morgans to avoid Hollinger’s sister from staying over.
Some Startling Discoveries Come to Light
Cordelia explains that a red blinking light was seen by someone in room 301 from the Hay-Adams Hotel around the time of Wynter’s death. The person the red light belonged to was Tripp Morgan, whose digital wristwatch was known to flash red light erratically. The detective admits that she had no idea what Tripp was doing in the room until recently. She set up Tripp for a confession in one of the White House’s corridors with George McCutcheon as his only companion. While standing in silence, Tripp revealed that after Bruce showed up at his room, he went to Room 301 to crash out. However, when he woke up, he found Wynter’s dead body next to him. Worried that he may be blamed for the Chief Usher’s death, Tripp dragged him across the corridor to the game room.
As Tripp was moving the body, Sheila noticed them in her drunken stupor but failed to make out who it was. In the game room, Tripp eventually discovered that Wynter’s coat pocket had a suicide note in it. Realizing his mistake, he decided to make the death look more like a suicide. So, he got a knife from Didier’s room and used it to slash open Wynter’s wrist. He then went back to Room 301 and removed the bloodstain by using paint to cover it up. He also found a set of keys on the floor, which he slipped into Wynter’s pocket. When the revelation is brought forth, the crowd of people goes ballistic at Tripp. However, Cordelia admits that he is still not Wynter’s actual killer. The murder happened on the floor below. The detective opens the secret passageway to head downstairs, followed by the others.
On the 2nd floor, Cordelia brings up the bloodstain on the Lincoln Bedroom’s floor. We learn that the person who dragged Wynter’s body upstairs was Bruce Geller, the resident engineer. Bruce found Wynter’s dead body in the Yellow Oval Room. Thinking the murderer was Elsyie, a woman he loves, he decided to drag Wynter’s body upstairs to Room 301. While in that room, he lost his keys, which was why they ended up in Wynter’s pocket after Tripp retrieved them, thinking they belonged to the Chief Usher. While the engineer believed Elsyie was the killer, her lover claimed the opposite because she did not see Bruce when she discovered Wynter’s dead body. The suspicion falls on the two of them as the main culprits behind Wynter’s death. Another suspect is added as the group suggests that Patrick Doumbe could have also killed Wynter as he was on the same floor.
Cordelia suggests that the killer was neither Bruce, Elsyie, or Patrick but someone else. She believes that a mysterious person entered the room from one of the doors and tried to poison Wynter to death, eventually using the clock to kill him. However, everyone is confused about how they could have moved in and out of the room without anyone else noticing. That is when Cordelia mentions that a secret passageway was used, which no longer exists because it has been sealed up. She states there was a passageway connecting the Yellow Oval Room to the Treaty Room that has been sealed up since the night of the murder. As such, everyone could be a suspect in Wynter’s death. After some questioning, Hollinger points out that Jasmine Haney ordered the sealing of that door.
Cordelia Finally Closes in On the Real Murderer
When the blame turns on Jasmine Haney, the new Chief Usher says that Elliott Morgan, the President’s husband, ordered her to carry out the task of sealing the passageway. He denies the claim. Cordelia points out that this is his second time doing so – the first being the one ordering Agent Rausch that all security personnel must stay away from the second floor. After some deliberation, Cordelia states that maybe Elliott was not the one making the calls – maybe it was someone impersonating him. Soon after, Lilly speaks up and reveals that she is the one who ordered the passageway to be sealed up. She impersonated Elliott’s voice, something she has a knack for. However, her reasons were seemingly more complicated. She did it because she was worried for Bruce and Elsyie.
Lilly claims that she saw Elsyie kill Wynter that night using the vase and clock, while Bruce arrived not long after to dispose of the body. She felt worried for them and did not want to sell them out so easily. When Cordelia asks her about the poison, Lilly alleges that Elsyie had reserved it for her husband, a man who had ruined her life. As for the clock, Bruce promised to take care of it and took it away. Agent Park recognizes that something is off about the confession and calls out Lilly’s bluff, just like Cordelia told him to watch out for the “blink.” Cordelia then reveals that Lilly is A.B. Wynter’s murderer. She figured it out because Lilly had been acting all along. The detective takes out a knife and tears through the sealed-up wall, opening the passageway again. There, she finds a secret compartment, which reveals the Franklin Clock with some bloodstains on it.
Cordelia then begins to explain Lilly’s plan and why she killed Wynter. In truth, the social secretary hated the White House, its traditions, values, the Presidency, and A.B. Wynter, who represented all of those things. On the night of his murder, Lilly had a fight with him in his office, which is the argument Eddie Gomez heard from the bottom of the stairs. During the fight, Wynter told Lilly that he was going to expose her secrets. What secrets? She had been embezzling money from the White House to fund her schemes. Wynter had written it all down in his journal in the form of detailed ledger notes. When Lilly and Wynter got into a fight, the former ripped a page from his journal by accident – the page seemed to read like a suicide note, which sparked the idea in her head of killing Wynter and staging it as a suicide.
Lilly collected the paraquat from the greenhouse and called Wynter to meet her in the Yellow Oval Room. The Chief Usher decided to give her another chance and met with her. During the exchange, he sipped the drink she gave him, laced with paraquat, and realized he had been poisoned. In that brief moment, Lilly used the vase and the Franklin clock to finish him off. However, once the deed was complete, she had no idea what to do with the Clock. So, she hid it in the passageway. However, she did not know that a series of misunderstandings from other people within the White House would lead to the dead body being dragged into another part of the building. That part confused her just as much as any other person. This is why she was going around the White House asking about Wynter in a genuinely worried manner.
When news arrived that Wynter’s body had been found in the game room, Lilly felt immensely relieved. It assured her that she would not be implicated in the crime. However, Cordelia figured it out because of the journal notes left behind by Wynter and also the disdain she saw in Lilly’s actions once she gained full control over the White House’s aesthetics. Before Lilly is taken away, Cordelia takes one final moment to pay respects to the victim, A.B. Wynter. Meanwhile, in the congressional meeting, Cordelia finishes summarizing the case to Senator Bix and Filkins. Before Cordelia leaves for her flight, she stops by the White House again. She meets Nan Cox, who guesses that the murderer is Lilly before the detective can tell her. Cordelia then stops by the game room once more. The camera zooms out of the room and shows the White House one last time.
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