A.B. Wynter (Giancarlo Esposito), the chief usher of the White House, was in charge of overseeing the entire staff, ranging from chefs to technicians. On the night of a U.S. state dinner for Australia, he was discovered dead in the game room with his wrists slashed and what appeared to be a suicide note in his pocket.
However, Detective Cupp’s investigation uncovered evidence of poison, minor cuts on his face, head injuries, and blood on his shirt, which didn’t seem to belong to him. Behind the White House’s grand facade lies a tale of corruption and revenge
When tradition collides with ambition, tragedy strikes (Photo: The Residence/Shondaland)The Killer
Detective Cupp’s inquiry into the case began during that night at the White House but was left incomplete. Months later, she returned to continue her investigation. It was revealed that Lilly Schumacher (Molly Griggs), the White House social secretary in charge of event planning, was the murderer.
Though other staff members had disagreements with A.B., Lilly had particularly clashed with him in her efforts to modernize the White House while he stood firm in his commitment to tradition. She wanted to change holiday decorations, furniture, and menus—changes A.B. strongly opposed.
The Motive
Workplace conflicts alone couldn’t have pushed Lilly to commit murder. The turning point came when A.B. found out she had been misappropriating funds, breaking ethical codes, and violating contracts concerning projects, vendors, and guests she invited to the White House.
This included an “energy healer” named St. Pierre (Taran Killam), who got involved in the seating arrangements for the state dinner. When A.B. threatened to expose her actions, she feared the consequences and decided to eliminate him.
During a confrontation in A.B.’s office, she tried to seize his journal, where he had documented her misdeeds, but she only managed to rip a page. Realizing that the contents of the page could be construed as a suicide note, she hatched a plan.
The Murder
Detective Cupp revealed that Lilly took paraquat, a deadly herbicide, from the White House nursery, hiding it in a small pot. She invited A.B. to meet her in the Yellow Oval Room, pretending to make peace, but she had other intentions.
She even used an impersonation of First Gentleman Elliot Morgan’s (Barrett Foa) voice to clear the second floor of the building. Lilly prepared a drink of scotch laced with paraquat for A.B. and waited in another room while A.B. and housekeeper Elsyie (Julieth Restrepo) argued.
After Elsyie left, Lilly entered and handed A.B. the poisoned drink. A.B. quickly realized the betrayal, poured the rest of the drink onto a pot of roses, but Lilly wasn’t done yet. She missed with a vase and then used a heavy clock from the mantle to beat him to death.
To conceal the crime, she hid the clock in a secret passageway within the Yellow Oval Room wall. Months later, she sealed the door to keep the clock hidden and fabricated a story, claiming that Elsyie and White House engineer Bruce (Mel Rodriguez) were the ones responsible for A.B.’s death.
However, her slip-ups, such as mentioning the location of the suicide note and describing a fight between Elsyie and A.B. that only she had witnessed, gave her away as the murderer.
The Body’s Location(s)
The situation gets even more baffling here. A.B. was murdered in the Yellow Oval Room, so why was his body found in the game room? It turns out that two people moved his body after he had already died.
A social secretary’s hidden agenda turns deadly (Photo: The Residence/Shondaland)I find it strange that no one reported finding a deceased staff member, let alone moving the body without informing anyone. Bruce was the first to move the body, shifting it from the Yellow Oval Room to the Lincoln Bedroom and then to Room 301.
He suspected Elsyie, the woman he loved, might have killed A.B., but he didn’t want her to face any repercussions, so he moved the body to protect her. Later, Tripp Morgan (Jason Lee), the president’s rebellious brother, woke up in Room 301 to find A.B.’s body beside him.
Instead of seeking help or fleeing, he feared he might have accidentally killed A.B. while drunk. In an attempt to cover up his own mistake, he moved the body to the game room, found the suicide note in A.B.’s pocket, and used a pastry chef’s knife to slit A.B.’s wrists, hoping to make the suicide appear genuine.
He also cleaned up the bloodstains in Room 301. How is it that no one in the White House knows the proper procedure when dealing with a dead body? As for the bloody shirt, it belonged to Foreign Minister David Rylance (Brett Tucker), who had been involved in a romantic encounter with the White House chef outside.
After she sustained a bloody nose, they continued their affair, and upon returning to the dinner, A.B. found them and offered to swap shirts with David. A.B. was the kind of person who would go out of his way to help others, even in the most unfortunate of circumstances.
After everything that happened to him that night, A.B. still managed to show kindness.
