[enigmatic music playing]
[water stops running]
[brisk jazz music playing]
[music slows, fades]
[Didier sighs]
- [muffled speech] - [Didier gasps]
[music resumes]
[muffled speech]
[shouts] You have something on your back!
[music continues]
["Hold On to Now" by Kylie Minogue playing]
♪ Yeah We'll figure it out somehow-ow-ow ♪
♪ Keep holding on… ♪
- [Rausch] I need you to come with me. - [Haney] Why?
[Rausch] Now. You need to come now.
♪ We're all just going, going 'round ♪
♪ So where we going, going now? ♪
♪ The world could all be falling down ♪
♪ But we'll be… ♪
You're a killer, Swiss.
What?
I saw you and A.B.
He's plucking those big kangaroos off, and you're putting 'em back on.
That shit is cold. Don't nobody go up against A.B. like that.
Except Marvella, but she's crazy.
- [glass smashes] - There's broken glass!
You just cold, Swiss. Cold!
A killer!
[guests applauding and whooping]
[Rollie] Hey, you got something on your…
back.
[applause continues]
[unsettling string music playing]
[music becomes tense]
[Didier sighs]
[tense music continues]
[approaching footsteps]
[distant chattering]
[chattering becomes louder]
[Haney] …the Secret Service. All they have to do is show ID.
Once past the preliminary checkpoint, there's a Secret Service checkpoint,
bag searches and magnetometer screenings.
[tense, dramatic music playing]
[music ends]
And there are no security cameras in the Residence?
There are no security cameras in the Residence.
[sighs deeply]
["The Washington Post March" playing]
[music continues]
- [Wynter] You can actually eat this? - You've never had it?
- [music stops abruptly] - [Wynter] No.
All these years?
No. I… I don't really care for gingerbread.
I'd feel bad about eating the chimney.
No, no. It has to be redone. It's burnt.
- It… It's a chimney. - No.
It has to be redone.
So, uh,
when can I move it all upstairs?
- Today. - Ah.
This is what I wanted to show you.
Come here.
Right there.
[puzzled] Okay.
Great.
[Didier] That's you.
- That's me? - Mm-hmm.
It is a gingerbread.
Oh.
[hesitates] Yes, of course.
Your feet are licorice.
Thank you.
For all that you have done for me and…
and for the house.
For these many years, Mr. Wynter.
[Wynter inhales]
Your head is gummy.
Ah.
Anyway, I think this is maybe the best one yet. This one?
It's perfect, Didier.
Thank you.
[light jazz music playing]
[breathes deeply]
- Where is he? - In the Library.
- Which was back there. - I need to talk to Emily Mackil.
- Who? - The White House Gardener.
- Do we have the toxicology back on Wynter? - No.
- What about the blood? - No.
- What about a coffee? - You're asking me to get you a coffee?
- Yes. - I'm not your assistant.
- You're not? - What about Didier Gotthard?
He's our suspect.
- We don't have a suspect. - You have a suspect!
Agent Park told me you have a suspect. You told me she had a suspect.
- Yes. - No.
Agent Park did tell me that.
Are you telling me Agent Park did not tell me that?
I don't know what Agent Park told you. I don't have a suspect.
The pastry chef.
Is that a question? 'Cause you just said the words "the pastry chef."
- Is he a suspect? - No.
Is he not a suspect because he's not a suspect
or because you don't believe in suspects?
- Yes. - It's 2:30 in the morning--
Which means you shouldn't waste my time. I will tell you all when I have something.
[Filkins] She said that to the Director of the FBI?
That's not the worst thing she said to the Director of the FBI.
Was Mr. Gotthard a suspect?
It really depends on what you mean by "suspect."
I mean, did Detective Cupp believe that Mr. Gotthard might be responsible
for Mr. Wynter's death?
Detective Cupp had uncovered evidence
that suggested Mr. Gotthard was in the Game Room
at the same time Mr. Wynter was found dead.
She said she found that interesting, but she said she needed more context.
What do you mean "context"?
Let me explain this to you in the simplest way I know how:
If I asked you to find a Yellow-throated Longclaw,
what would you do?
- Is that a bird? - Yes.
- I thought it sounded like one. - It is a bird.
I'd probably ask you to spell it again. You said Longjaw? Is it L-O-N--
I'll tell you what you'd do. You'd take the lazy route.
You'd Google it and read the Wikipedia entry,
which is mostly right, but not terribly detailed or precise.
You'd be better off using something like this,
which would tell you that the Yellow-throated Longclaw,
Longclaw, C-L-A-W, claw,
is a stout and sturdy, largely solitary songbird
that has a very distinctive black V across its otherwise bright yellow chest
that largely lives in grasslands
and eats spiders and insects and other invertebrates.
You've been carrying that book around all night?
- Yes. - It is so big.
You'd learn all about it. Right?
That's what you'd do. Or should do. So you'd know where to look for one,
so that if you saw one, you'd know if you actually did.
Otherwise, how would you ever find one?
This was the simplest way she could explain this to you?
Yes. So.
This is the Yellow-throated Longclaw.
Now… this is a picture I took of a bird
I saw on Sunday in Maryland.
- I don't see a bird. - You don't see a bird?
Nope. That does not appear to be a bird.
Oh, right. That's my nephew.
Now tell me, Agent Park,
did I see a Yellow-throated Longclaw in Maryland on Sunday?
Yes. You saw a Yellow-throated Longclaw in Maryland on Sunday.
And that is exactly my point.
What was her point exactly?
My point is you got it wrong.
- Oh, really? - Yes.
I knew your nephew wasn't a bird.
The Yellow-throated Longclaw lives in Africa.
The bird I saw is an Eastern Meadowlark, an American bird.
The two have striking similarities,
indistinguishable in behavior and appearance,
but they are completely different species that live on different continents
and are only related by the concept of convergent evolution.
On the one hand, it's easy to confuse them, just as you did.
On the other hand, if you knew anything about these birds,
this type of mistake is completely preposterous.
Do you understand?
I think so?
I do understand.
Okay. Well, I… I might be explaining it better than she did.
She's so smart.
Did Didier Gotthard kill A.B. Wynter?
Maybe.
We know he was in the Game Room, or we think we do.
Looks compelling. But what else do we know?
And is there something we don't know that makes what we do know irrelevant?
That's what we need to find out. That is the context.
Did you call me lazy?
[brisk music playing]
[indistinct chattering]
Jasmine.
[soft lounge music playing]
[indistinct chattering]
Uh… Excuse me just a moment.
[man] This is our room?
Are they just holding things in here for now?
I… Let me figure this out.
Ms. Schumacher? Mr…
Oh, good! A.B.! How are you? So, listen, what is that?
- That? - [Lilly] Yes.
- It's a gingerbread house. - It's going in here?
- Yes. - In this room?
- Yes. We spoke about it last week. - Did we?
- We did. Many times. - It shouldn't be here.
- Sorry? - No, I agree.
[hesitates] Who is this? Who are you?
- If you want the IV drip station-- - The what?
Honestly, this whole room…
I know. I know. I think maybe we don't need it.
Y… you think maybe we don't need what?
The gingerbread house.
He's been working on this since June.
On a gingerbread house? [laughs]
- Oh. - [Cupp] Hold on.
- Yes? - The guy Wynter was asking about.
- [Haney] Him? - [Cupp] Yes. Who is he?
- St. Pierre. - Say it again?
St. Pierre.
Just "St. Pierre"?
He's an energy medium.
We're told the Social Secretary met him at a retreat on Lanai last year.
They were sleeping together.
Uh, not like that. It was a sleep retreat.
- [Cupp] A sleep retreat? - [Haney] Yes.
[Cupp] How do you meet at a sleep retreat?
[whispers] Hey.
Hey.
- Yes? - Do you have a podcast?
Yes.
"Aware With Pierre?"
Yes.
Oh my God! I listen all the time. I love it.
Do you want to go get a functional smoothie?
He's apparently become something of an adviser to her.
He reads energy fields and helps with planning.
He's also certified in vibrational therapy.
[Cupp groans]
Nancy Reagan had an astrologer who set the presidential schedule.
The Gorbachev-Reagan nuclear summit in Iceland? Planned by the astrologer.
People think the Cold War ended because of containment,
but really it was just a New Moon in Libra.
[Cupp] This is supposed to make me feel better?
Just information.
Where was the gingerbread house before?
- In the China Room. - Why don't we put it back there?
- "We"? - Them. I have an inflamed torso.
No.
Why not?
The gingerbread house has been displayed in the State Dining Room for 50 years.
Okay, so you can put it back downstairs? You just don't want to?
The First Gentleman is coming down here
and I'd like us all to be on the same page.
But we're not on the same page.
[gasps] Elliott! Great!
This is going to be incredible.
So, what we were all thinking is that what we really want to emphasize is
wellness this season.
- Wellness? - Yes.
Holidays are so stressful for everyone. Right?
- You're fighting with your family. - You spend too much.
- You eat too much. - You drink too much.
- You don't exercise. - You put on weight.
It's the most wonderful time of the year, but you feel horrible.
Horrible.
Then comes the first of the year, and you're trying to undo all that.
So we want to lean into that now.
Don't rewind. Unwind.
Take care of yourself now.
[St. Pierre] Be here now.
[Lilly] Okay, listen. Listen.
Do you remember that feeling you had
the first time you went to Tulum?
Are you okay?
No.
- I'm just telling you what she said. - [Cupp groans]
So instead of garish colors and 400 pounds of frosting,
there will be different stations where we will highlight balance and hydration
and meditation and vibration.
[hesitates] I… um, like that.
When you say "vibration…"?
Oh, Elliott, it's… amazing.
As long as you don't have any recent dental work.
Oh, it's just like… [chatters]
Okay. That's… that's great. I trust you.
Aw!
I do think that people are going to want to see some Christmas decorations.
Oh my God. Elliott, yes!
[chuckles] Of course! Of course.
That's all going out there.
The tree and the lights.
And our pastry chef made this incredible gingerbread house.
But we'll keep that downstairs. It'll have its own room.
But up here? Up here
is our chance to put our mark on this place, Elliott,
like we've been wanting to do.
To really
reinvent the White House
and what it means today.
We don't have to live in a small 19th-century Austrian village
where people blow glass, drink mulled wine, and smell like wood.
This is America.
[Lilly and Elliott chuckle]
[Lilly] Okay, guys.
You can take this whole thing away.
Thank you.
[sharp string music playing]
- [Cupp] I feel like this is a sad story. - [Haney] It is.
- [Cupp] I really don't like sad things. - [Haney] You investigate murder.
- That's different. Those people are dead. - That's the way this ends too, isn't it?
[knocking at door]
[Wynter sighs] Come in.
[door opens]
- It's not the same. - [Haney] No.
- As it was. - [Haney] I know what you mean.
I never wanted to be the person who complained about change.
Well, this is different.
That's what everyone says who starts to complain about change.
- How do you know, though? - You want me to talk to him?
I'll talk to him.
You can push back on this.
We're not here to "push back." We're here to execute.
You have to understand how difficult this was for A.B.
Why?
Because of how important the holidays were for Didier.
This was his moment. He loved it. He lived for it.
[festive music playing]
[cameras clicking]
[Haney] For him to have this taken away?
And for A.B. to be the one that had to do it?
[music halts]
[despondent music playing]
- [Haney] The Wellness Room was a disaster. - [Park] I recall.
[Haney] Everybody blamed everybody else.
But Lilly took the biggest public hit.
She was also the one who worked the hardest
to tell everyone it actually wasn't her fault.
[inaudible]
She was also the most bitter.
Convinced that everyone had conspired to make her look bad.
But as disastrous as the holidays were upstairs,
nobody found the gingerbread house either.
[despondent music continues]
[Haney] That almost made it worse for Didier.
He just… gave up on it.
Left it.
- Please stop. - Okay.
[sighs] Why are you telling me this sad story?
You asked me if I knew of anything in Didier's past
that might explain his role in what happened tonight.
And I'm telling you. This is it. He felt betrayed.
- Betrayed by whom? - A.B. Wynter.
[Park] But Wynter defended him.
Shouldn't he feel betrayed by Lilly or… [inhales] …the Saint?
You can't be betrayed by someone who was never on your side.
May I? I'm gonna tell you how it is here, okay?
You have all these departments in the house.
Painting. Engineering. Gardening. Housekeeping. Plumbing.
All of these departments and all of the people that work in them
report to exactly one person.
The Chief Usher.
Now, sometimes people are mad at the Chief Usher.
There's a lot of conflict in this group. Or can be.
But these people also count on the Chief Usher
to protect and defend them. It's like a family.
- You haven't met my family. - Defend them against who?
Everybody else.
Literally. Everybody else.
The President. The First Gentleman.
The Social Secretary. The West Wing. The Secret Service. The media.
The whole of the known universe. That is the thinking here.
If you want to understand the White House Residence,
you have to understand this.
Us
versus them.
This is us. This is the house.
We are the house.
All these other people, they are not part of the house.
They might live here for a while.
They might work here for a while.
They might come into the house and try to influence and change things.
But then they leave.
And we are here.
So Didier blamed Wynter for not protecting him against Lilly.
[Haney] Well, yes and no.
For Didier, it actually really wasn't about Lilly. He didn't care about her.
It was about… her.
[Cupp] The White House Chef?
Marvella didn't steal his gingerbread house.
- Well, yes and no. - It's a lot with the "yes and no."
Well, hear me out on this.
Marvella was involved with the Wellness center.
- She did a whole thing on kelp. - [Park] Kelp?
I don't know. I don't get it, either. I eat at Arby's like four nights a week.
But she was into this kind of thing. But it was bigger than that. For Didier,
everything that's happened over the last few years has been about her.
They were the two chefs with big egos just fighting for space.
These two… they are not from the same place.
Didier Gotthard. He's Swiss.
- I thought he was German. - Swiss-German.
I don't understand Switzerland.
There's Swiss-German and Swiss-Italian and Swiss-French.
- But is there anything that's just Swiss? - Roger Federer.
[Haney] Didier was recruited here by the Reagans,
who wanted a classically trained European chef.
He was working at Badrutt's Palace in St. Moritz at the time,
so the White House was, in some ways, a step down.
Marvella was different.
- She's from Texas. - I thought she was from Portland.
She's from Oklahoma. [chuckles] She has a tattoo…
Just trust me, she's from Oklahoma.
Marvella started at a food truck in Seattle,
then opened her eponymous restaurant in Ballard, where she met the Morgans.
She was into fermentation and smoke and wild quail eggs
and all kinds of other crazy shit.
That is definitely true.
Didier is not into crazy shit.
Didier likes fondant.
Marvella's a genius and a mess.
Didier is highly organized and not a genius.
It was difficult from the start.
They argued about menus and vendors and mealtimes and sugar.
[tense music playing]
Pretty soon, they stopped talking to each other.
They wouldn't even coordinate on meals.
He'd simply write down what he was gonna make
and give it to her on a piece of paper, which she'd ignore.
It was bad.
And then she got involved with dessert.
- What do you mean "got involved"? - I mean, she'd, like, make dessert.
She didn't, "like, make dessert."
- She didn't make dessert? - It wasn't dessert.
[Elliott] What is this?
- What is that? - Exactly.
- A pluot. - A what?
- This is what I'm saying. - A pluot. It's lovely. It's ripe.
You just eat it with a spoon.
- This is dessert? - I try to avoid fruit sugar too.
No, it is not dessert.
Marvella came in here wanting to make a mark,
to reinvent America's kitchen.
- That word again. - Kitchen?
Reinvent.
Because that's what the Morgans told her they wanted her to do.
Didier wanted to make desserts that Calvin Coolidge would be excited about.
- [light jazz playing] - Ooh!
Didier and Wynter had always got along well. For years.
Didier was a perfectionist, and so was Wynter.
But Wynter was caught in the middle of a battle
between Marvella and Didier,
which was really a battle between the old guard and the new.
Us… versus them.
Didier thought he could count on Wynter.
But when Wynter kept that gingerbread house downstairs,
that was it.
Everything that had been building…
He felt like Wynter had stabbed him in the back.
Which is exactly what he did to Wynter.
Well. Not exactly…
Yes. Exactly.
What does that mean?
It was two days before Christmas.
I went to turn off the lights in the China Room like I did every night.
And… I'm not sure why,
but I took a second to look inside that night.
I guess because what Mr. Gotthard did with those gingerbread houses,
it really was incredible.
Most years, I'd bring my family to see it in the State Dining Room,
but they weren't doing that this year.
I did get the hydration treatment, which was okay,
uh, but it really wasn't the same.
Anyway, I felt bad this thing he worked so hard on
was being ignored,
so I just wanted to take a second and really check it out.
When I looked inside, that's when I saw it.
[Cupp] Saw what?
[bell tolls]
Did you tell Mr. Wynter?
Did I tell my boss I found him stabbed in a gingerbread house?
- Yes. - No, I did not.
[Duane] But I did keep it.
Where did you get that? It is very upsetting.
- [Cupp] Is it? - Yes.
- [Cupp] You don't seem upset. - I am German.
I thought you were Swiss.
Swiss-German.
Are you suggesting that I had something to do with that?
Did you?
I didn't have anything to do with that.
I didn't have anything to do with Mr. Wynter's death.
Please put that away.
- Why were you in the Game Room tonight? - I wasn't.
How'd you get that blue chalk on your back?
[curious music playing]
[shouts] You have something…
…on your… back.
I have no idea.
No, uh-uh, no. I'll take that.
Potential evidence.
Potential evidence of… of what?
Murder.
If you murdered A.B. Wynter, this might be evidence for us.
That's all.
[Cupp clears throat]
- What were you doing between 9 and 10? - I was in the pastry kitchen.
- The whole time? - Yes.
- Was anyone with you? - No.
So nobody saw you leave the pastry kitchen and murder A.B. Wynter in the Game Room?
[scoffs quietly]
- Do you know who I am? - No.
You know I have a reputation for solving unsolvable crimes?
No.
Now that you know I have a reputation for solving unsolvable crimes,
does it make you feel any differently about any of the questions I've asked you?
[Cupp] Oops.
[quirky music playing]
Yikes!
It's so hard with this huge knife in the back.
The balance.
I mean, I guess I could lean it up against something,
but this knife is so big.
Do you mind if I just… leave it down like that?
[chuckles softly]
I stayed at Badrutt's Palace once.
Two nights.
I took that train from, um, St. Moritz to Zermatt.
What is… what's it called?
I can't remember either. It'll come to me. Anyway, Badrutt's Palace is, uh…
Meh.
Fine.
[Cupp inhales deeply]
Not like this.
This is gonna be difficult.
- Why? - Why?
I don't mean that. You know what I mean. Why?
Because he's not giving anything away. He's Swiss.
- I thought he was Austrian. - Swiss.
Either way, I understand.
[sighs] What's the mood down there?
[Dokes] Restless. Tired.
Resigned. Even the Australians are grumpy.
Even Hugh Jackman?
[Hugh] You are tap-dancing at the White House!
No, no, come on. We're not there yet.
Since when do you care about the mood?
How long do you think I have?
I think we'll be shot together at sunrise.
- You ever been to Switzerland? - No. You?
No.
I've heard good things.
[groans] I need a break here.
They always come just when you need them.
- [door opens] - Detective Cupp.
- Yes? - I have something for you.
Double shot oat milk latte.
No on the oat milk? Uh, okay--
No, it's not that.
- Agent Park said you wanted coffee. - Thank you. I appreciate it.
- [Cupp gasps] - [Sheila yelps]
I warned you, I'm still drunk.
- [Sheila] I'm really sorry. - [Cupp] It's okay.
- [Sheila] You could have my shirt. - [Cupp] Really, it's fine.
I'm such a mess.
- Sheila? - Uh, I'll be right out.
Just give me a second. Is that okay?
- Mm-hmm. - I never come in here.
We're not allowed in these bathrooms, but everything's different tonight, right?
[door closes]
[water running]
I saw something.
[suspenseful music playing]
I saw something.
What did you see?
I don't want to get him in trouble.
I have issues with some people in this house. I do, but he is not one.
- Who? - Mr. Gotthard, the pastry chef.
You followed him out of the Grand Foyer a few minutes ago.
[suspenseful music playing]
[indistinct chatter]
Is he a suspect?
We don't have a suspect. What did you see?
He came in through here and went that way.
- He had something in his hand. - [Cupp] What?
I don't know. A box.
Why were you in the basement?
We live in the basement. We're mole people.
What did he do with the box?
I didn't see.
I just know he didn't have it when he turned and came back by.
[brisk jazz music playing]
[music softens]
[Sheila] It doesn't work.
What?
The incinerator. It don't work. It hasn't worked for a year.
He wouldn't know that. [scoffs] He doesn't come down here very much.
The Glacier Express!
What?
The train from St. Moritz to Zermatt.
The Glacier Express.
They say "express," but it's really not that fast.
But the view?
Mmm!
Oh, thank you.
They have those huge windows on that train.
You know, it's funny. I remember sitting at one point and realizing that,
just like all of us inside the train were looking out,
enjoying the view,
there were all those people outside the train
looking in at us.
You know? Watching us. We were their view.
Eh.
Just a good reminder that whenever you're watching something,
something or someone is probably watching you.
[chuckles] Right?
[curious music playing]
[curious music continues]
Is it safe to say that, at this point, Detective Cupp had identified a suspect?
It's safe to say that Detective Cupp found Mr. Gotthard's story very interesting.
You
want to know?
Oh, do I want to know.
Well, I finished cleaning up the kitchen at a little before 10,
and then I went up the stairs to the third floor.
Why?
I have an office on the third floor, as you know,
and it's where I go first thing when I come in,
and it's the last place that I go when I leave for the night.
Were you leaving for the night?
[sighs] It had been a long day.
Mmm, so I… got off the stairwell
on the third-floor hallway…
…and there's Mr. Wynter
on the ground of the Game Room.
- Was he alive? - No, of course not.
And then I, uh, walk over to him,
and I see my knife next to him.
I'm not proud of what I did next.
Where was the knife?
- On the ground. - In his hand?
No, I don't think so.
You don't think so?
- How did you know it was your knife? - I know my knives.
Was the knife near his right hand or left hand?
Left hand.
- Are you sure? - Yes, I am sure.
If it had been near his left hand,
you would've been between Wynter and the door,
away from the table.
When you picked up the knife, you wouldn't have hit the table,
and the chalk wouldn't have rolled off your back,
and I wouldn't have found it on the floor, and we wouldn't be sitting here right now.
Right hand.
- Why did you take the knife? - I don't know.
Do you really prefer Badrutt's Palace?
- What? - To the White House.
[Didier hesitates]
- Why are you asking me that? - Do you not like it here?
I don't want to talk about that.
What would you like to talk about? I have all the time in the world.
I took the knife
because I didn't want to be accused of killing him.
I know how that sounds.
- Do you really? - Yes.
[Cupp] Were you worried because of what happened over the holidays?
- No. No. - [Cupp] No?
- Because of the bananas foster? - No.
- There's something else? - Yes.
- I understand why you took the knife. - What else?
The kangaroos.
[Wynter] The what?
- [Haney] Kangaroos. - What do you mean, "kanga…"
Rollie served the first one when the Australian Foreign Minister saw it
and complained to our Chief of Protocol, who complained to the Chief of Staff,
who complained to Marvella, who said she had nothing to do with it
and that this was all Didier.
So they went to the staging area to see Didier,
and now he's gone completely ballistic.
- [Didier] Ignorant idiot! - We can tell you what to do!
If I don't want you to fucking serve--
This is my dessert, and it is going to be served my way!
- You're taking credit for that? - That is not going out there.
You have already taken one away from me.
And you are not going to take away my kangaroos!
What are you talking about? I haven't taken anything away from you.
Not you.
Him!
What's the problem?
It looks like a kangaroo Rocky dancing on a loaf of shit.
I mean, what's the problem?
The problem is that Uluru is sacred.
You can't have some goofy fucking kangaroo on top of it. No way. It's offensive.
What's the chef's name again?
[frantic jazz playing]
She seems sad.
You can have the kangaroos. Or you can have the rock.
You can't have both.
[tense music playing]
Don't do this, Mr. Wynter.
What's it gonna be?
[Wynter sighs]
[purposeful string music playing]
[music intensifies]
Has anybody talked to the calligrapher? I mean, I can't read this.
What the fuck is that?
People sometimes think that I am angry when I am not.
Were you angry?
[sighs heavily] Yes.
Do you prefer Badrutt's Palace?
Will you stop asking me that?
- I'll take that as a yes. - No, that is not a yes.
That is a "Will you stop asking me that?"
I don't know!
I… I… I… [hesitates]
Maybe.
I used to be happy here, and then I made some mistakes…
[angrily] …and I want you to take that thing off the table, please.
Are you angry now?
- [yells] Yes! - I'd like to see your kitchen.
[calmly] Well, of course. Let me show you.
You're saying someone comes in your very small kitchen,
takes this very large knife off the wall, and walks up to the third floor?
- No. - That is what you said.
No, that is not what I said.
That knife wasn't kept down here.
I brought it down here after I found it, but that's not where it was before.
Where was it?
- This is your office? - Yes. The Chefs' office.
It is for that other person and me.
- Marvella? - You two share an office?
It is not an enjoyable arrangement.
And you keep knives up here?
- Yes, I keep these knives up here. Yes. - Why?
I don't want anyone to use them. They are good knives.
- [Cupp] Where was this last night? - [Didier] Right here, on this desk.
Did you come to this room
after you left the Game Room with the knife?
Yes.
- Why not put the knife back in the case? - I don't know.
Why didn't you take the case back downstairs?
I don't know. I don't keep the case downstairs.
I… thought it would look suspicious.
More suspicious than walking through the house with a bloody knife?
[Trask] Detective Cupp!
[Cupp] Oat milk is fine.
No, it's not that.
Emily Mackil.
[Filkins] And what is your position at the White House?
I am the White House Gardener.
And you were interviewed by Detective Cordelia Cupp
on the night A.B. Wynter died?
Yes. A few times.
I talked to her after Mr. Wynter's body was found. And then later.
Tell us about that second time.
I was in the East Room,
just sitting there, waiting, like everyone else…
♪ Carefree highway ♪
♪ You've seen better days ♪
♪ The morning-after bl… ♪
[sings nervously]
What did Detective Cupp want to talk about?
The Redwoods.
The Redwoods?
[Cupp] If you wanted to work in the Redwoods,
how did you end up in the middle of Washington, D.C.?
[switch clicks]
[Emily] There were no openings when I applied to the Park Service.
[Cupp] In the Redwoods?
[Emily] Yes. Redwood National Park. That was my first choice.
I also applied to Sequoia. And Yosemite.
And Muir Woods. And Joshua Tree.
You like trees.
I really do.
And California.
I'm from Rhode Island.
Why the Redwoods?
- Have you seen the Redwoods? - I have.
I understand. [chuckles]
You'll get there.
I hope so.
I like it here okay. But I hope I make it out there someday.
You will.
[inhales sharply]
Okay.
I think we're all set.
Th… that was it?
[Park] Did you want to ask her anything else?
Like, about the case?
No. Do you?
I asked her what I wanted to ask her, and I learned what I needed to learn.
You don't usually lock the door to this shed.
I could tell because you didn't try it before opening it.
Someone has been in here tonight who probably hasn't ever been in here before.
Not at night, because you turned on the lights
on this side and turned off that light, which isn't normally turned on
because it's an old switch that doesn't do anything,
and you were surprised to see it flipped up.
Telling me that whoever came in here turned it on,
thinking it was the main light, and then used the light from their phone.
That phone was clearly moved. You moved it back.
And there's something off about that shelf back there.
You don't know what it is, but it's bothering you.
There's something different. Is that true?
- It is. - We'll see if that's important.
For now, we know that the person that made that call to Wynter in his office
didn't need a key,
probably hasn't been in here before, and took something from that shelf.
Thank you, Emily.
Sure. Anytime.
[Cupp] Okay. You're up.
You said you have some questions about the case.
Yes, uh, thank you.
Uh, I was just wondering about…
uh, in terms of the, uh… switch,
flipping the, uh, switch--
Actually, Emily, I did have one more question.
Uh, unless…
No, no, go ahead.
[Cupp] Do you recognize
this?
- [Emily] It was a leaf. - [Filkins] A leaf? What leaf?
[Emily] From the Cedar of Lebanon.
- Is that a tree? - Yes.
- There's only one? - Yes.
Where is it?
Right there.
[quiet, curious music playing]
[Park sighs]
What are we doing?
- We have it. We have it. Right? - Have what?
Him! Fucking creepy, homicidal pastry chef
with the big knives and sublimated rage and blue chalk on his back.
He's mad because Wynter took away his gingerbread house,
which Wynter didn't even do, but so what?
You stab me in the back. I stab you in the back.
He's mad because Wynter wouldn't let him serve a volcano
inside of a 200-year-old house that once burned down.
And he's really, really, really mad because Wynter took away his kangaroos.
He's mad.
He decides he's going to kill Wynter, but he needs to get him alone,
so he comes and makes the call from the shed there, which is unlocked,
and he asks Wynter to meet him in the Game Room,
which is conveniently right next to his office.
With knives in it.
The good knives.
He walks through here on his way to the house, picking up the leaf.
He goes up to his office, gets a knife,
meets Wynter in the Game Room, kills him.
[Wynter grunts]
And then he tries to destroy the evidence in an incinerator.
This is what might be called "context,"
and it tells us that the Didier Gotthard, who looks like a murderer,
is, in fact, a murderer.
Same guy! And do not tell me that this is all just… interesting!
I'll admit, it is interesting.
[Park groans angrily]
Rylance said he saw two people.
What?
Foreign Minister Rylance said he saw two people.
Someone smoking under the tree. Someone walking to the shed.
Foreign Minister Rylance was having sex!
He's not focused on how many people are out here.
Well, I generally keep track of the number of people watching me have sex.
- Isn't that true for you? - No.
No?
I mean, yes…
Yes, you do keep track of the number?
- No! - Yes or no?
- [sighs] What I'm saying is-- - Ooh.
What?
Mm-mm. I don't think this changes anything. I really don't, okay?
Because here's the thing. That man probably smokes.
Doesn't every German smoke?
Or Swiss-German? Or whatever the hell he is?
I've never seen Roger Federer smoke.
Okay, the point is:
The person who was smoking here, that person was up in the Game Room.
- Same person. I am convinced of it. - I am too.
- What? - I think you're right.
- Say it again please? - You're right.
- Let's do it then! - Let's do it!
[Park chuckles]
[quirky music playing]
He's in the Library…
which is right back there…
- Thank you for waiting. - Oh, of course.
[Cupp] I want to ask you one more question.
Oh, fire away.
I'm less drunk now, so that should help.
You never know.
Fair enough.
What kind of cigarettes do you smoke?
- Sorry? - What kind of cigarettes do you smoke?
[chuckles]
Oh, I don't smoke, Ms. Cupp.
Detective.
If you did smoke, what would you smoke?
I don't smoke, so how would I know what "kind" I would smoke?
What is this? What's going on?
If I guess and I get it right, you'll pull the pack out of your pocket. Deal?
What? No! Seriously.
What is going on? This is fucking crazy.
No "deal." I don't smoke.
I don't have a kind I would smoke because I don't smoke,
and I don't have cigarettes in my pocket because I don't smoke.
Mammoth.
- What? - You smoke Mammoth.
Blue pack. White mountain.
Recessed filter. "No bigger flavor."
Mammoth.
[mellow jazz music playing]
Fuck it.
Why were you in the Game Room tonight, Ms. Cannon?
[music continues]
[music fades]
[solemn instrumental music playing]