This post contains spoilers from The Residence episode 6 from this point forward.
The ending of episode 5 asked where in the world Cordelia Cupp is while the congressional hearings about A.B. Wynter's death are taking place. Well, the opening of The Residence episode 6 reveals she's in Ecuador birding for the Giant Antpitta. Someone arrives to her treehouse in the forest to deliver more resources for Cordelia.
Meanwhile, Harry Hollinger approaches senior senator Aaron Filkins (Al Franken) about his name coming up in the hearings by Margery Bay Bix and allowing everyone to turn it into a murder mystery. Filkins assuages Hollinger by suggesting he'll make a deal with Bix. Well, Bix later turns the deal down.
In the White House on the night of the murder, Kylie Minogue runs to Cordelia screaming about finding blood on the floor of the Lincoln Bedroom. Now she's investigating the second floor after being focused on the third floor. The pop doors come into play, especially one that covers a secret staircase between the second and third floors. All of this lends credence to Cordelia's theory that A.B. was moved.
Trask reveals that Elliott asked everyone to stay off the second floor. He denies any such request, but the Secret Service says otherwise. Another agent heard the Morgans' dog Shirley barking, and she only barks at strangers. The agent went back up to the second floor in spite of orders because of the barking, but the barking stopped and she returned to her post downstairs.
The Residence episode 6 recap
In Ecuador, Cordelia's suspicious of her visitor Nohelia, fearing that she's interested in her work at the White House and was sent by someone. She worries she also delivered technology, but she only brought what Cordelia asked for. However, when Nohelia leaves, Cordelia checks the pack and finds books, food, lollipos, and a letter. "You're going to want to watch." She looks back down on the ground and spots a black case. Inside there's a tablet, a ViaSat, and a phone.
After asking earlier for the team to match everyone on the guest list, Edwin brings Cordelia a photo of "The Third Man," a third person that wasn't on the guest list. Nick (Matt Oberg) the struggling calligrapher identifies him as Larry, though that's not what his name card says. Sheila reveals she rode the elevator with him to the second floor. The Third Man was later discovered to have sat by Walpole Bing at dinner.
Margery Bay Bix has her own theory and sticks to her guns about Hollinger leading a deal with North Korea, A.B. reporting it, and the three men hiring an assassin to take out A.B. during the state dinner. She believes that assassin is the Third Man. If she had been on the scene, she would have agreed to Cordelia's request to find the Third Man. Cordelia again turned to Rylance for help with twisting arms, but he doesn't play ball. She outs his affair with Marvella as promised.
No one wants to extend the investigation to find the Third Man. When asked by the FBI director Wally Glick (Spencer Garrett) about what he has, Edwin turns on Cordelia and says there's nothing definitive the suggests it's a homicide. He agrees with them that it's a suicide, which effectively shuts down the investigation. When Cordelia learns that Police Chief Dokes (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) would be fired if they continued, she agrees to stop.
The Third Man takes the stand at the hearing
Senator Bix demands to Filkins that they need to locate the Third Man and question him in the hearings. After his denial, she goes rogue and holds a press conference speaking directly to the Third Man and promising immunity. Hollinger isn't happy with Filkins for letting Bix slip through the cracks. Filkins doesn't believe the Third Man can actually be found. Well... He's found, on the stand, and has immunity.
The Third Man is Patrick Doumbe (Timothy Hornor), a medical sales manager. While he's taking the stand, curiosity gets the best of Cordelia and she turns on the tablet to watch the hearings. Doumbe reveals that he was attending a medical sales gala in D.C. and happened to join a group of Australian men in black tie into a van. He didn't know where they were going but ended up at the White House.
On the way to using the bathroom, he took the elevator to the second floor, where he encountered Shirley and her barking. He claims that he called his mom and then just left the party, walked right out of the front door of the White House. Bix loudly refutes his story and his identity. But Cordelia puts in a call to her pal Vusi, who didn't see anyone leave the front door. She then calls Edwin, who sent her the letter and tablet, to deliver questions for Filkins to ask Doumbe.
He asks, via Cordelia, about the validity of his exit from the White House. Using Vusi's information, Doumbe confesses that he didn't leave through the front door. He admits that he saw a "big guy" on the second floor who told him to leave and guided him to the staff elevator to leave through the basement. Finally, when Filkins pressures him with silence (Cordelia's trick), Doumbe reveals the big guy was dragging a body out of the Yellow Oval Room. Bingo!
Ironically, Cordelia deserts her treehouse in Ecuador as the bird she was searching for trots around the tablet, which is still playing the hearing that just burst the case wide open.
Watch The Residence only on Netflix.