D.C. Dead

30

Stone and Dino sat in a borrowed office in the West Wing of the White House and gazed at the middle-aged Filipino woman who sat across the desk from them. She was fidgeting a little, and there was a film of perspiration on her forehead. She was the fourth of the four White House maids who cleaned the family quarters, the first three having been a waste of time to question.

“Mrs. Feliciano,” Stone said, “we’d like to talk with you for a few minutes about your work.”

“I try very hard to do the best job I can,” the woman said. “I hope there haven’t been any complaints.”

“Oh, no,” Stone said, “nothing like that. We’re just interested in some of the visitors you may have encountered in the family quarters.”

“Does the president know you’re talking to me?” the woman asked.

“Yes, he does. We’re speaking to you at his request.”

“The president told you to talk to me?” Now she looked more nervous than ever.

“No, Mrs. Feliciano, not just you. We’re talking to all the maids who work in the family quarters to get a few questions answered.”

Her shoulders slumped in relief. “Well, I don’t know anything,” she said. “I just clean.”

Stone smiled and tried again to put her at ease. “How long have you worked at the White House?” he asked.

“Twelve and a half years,” she replied.

“And how long have you cleaned the family quarters?”

“A little over three years.”

“Good. Now think back over the past two years or so. Have you, when you were cleaning upstairs, ever seen anyone in the quarters who did not belong there?”

“Oh, no, sir, the Secret Service people would never allow any unauthorized persons in the quarters.”

“How about authorized persons, like the cooks and repairmen?”

“Oh, yes, I see them all the time.”

“How about Mr. Kendrick? Did you ever see him in the quarters?”

“Mr. Brix? Oh, yes, many times.”

“What would he be doing when you saw him?”

“Well, he would sometimes bring in people from the outside, like to install new carpets or curtains, or he would supervise when they put in a new TV, or once, a new ice machine.”

“Did you ever see Mr. Brix in the quarters with a lady?”

“Sometimes the people he brought in would be a lady.”

“Did you ever see Mr. Brix and a lady go into or come out of one of the upstairs bedrooms?”

The woman looked more thoughtful. “Sometimes.”

“Do you remember who any of the ladies were?”

h ked more dth="1em">“He sometimes brought the White House decorator upstairs.”

“And what is the decorator’s name?”

“Miss Charles,” she replied. “I don’t know her first name.”

“Did you ever see Mr. Brix take Miss Charles into one of the bedrooms?”

“I guess … I’m not sure.” Then her face changed, as she seemed to remember something. “Oh,” she said, “do you mean go into a bedroom and close the door?”

“Did you ever see Mr. Brix and Miss Charles go into a bedroom and close the door?”

“No,” she replied, “but once I…” She flushed a little.

“Go on, Mrs. Feliciano.”

“I don’t want to get anybody in trouble,” she said.

“Don’t worry, no one will get into trouble.”

“Well, once I saw that happen, but it wasn’t Miss Charles.”

“Who was the lady?”

“I don’t know. I went upstairs once to bring some linens that had come back from the laundry. It was early in the afternoon, when I’m not usually in the quarters. I clean in the mornings.”

“Go on.”

“Well, I was in the linen closet, putting away some sheets, and I heard some voices-a man and a woman. They were laughing. I stepped out of the closet just in time to see two people go into the Lincoln Bedroom. One of them, the man, was Mr. Brix.”

“And the other?”

“I couldn’t tell. I just saw her back for a second before Mr. Brix closed the door.”

“Think back. Is there anything at all you can remember about the woman? Tall or short? Heavy or slim? Blonde or brunette?”

She closed her eyes for a long moment, then she opened them. “No,” she said.

“What did you do then?”

She looked a little embarrassed. “I won’t get into trouble?”

“No, Mrs. Feliciano, you won’t get into trouble. Please be honest with us, this is very important.”

“Well . . . I went into the bedroom next door, into the bathroom that’s just next to the Lincoln Bedroom, and I . . .”

“Go on.”

“Well . . . I picked up the tooth glass and put it against the wall and put my ear to it. I could hear them talking.”

“And what were they saying?”

She flushed even more. “They … it was sexy talk.”

“Can you repeat exactly what they said? Don’t be embarrassed, it’s important.”

“I heard her say, ‘I want it,’ and he said, ‘Don’t worry, I’m going to give it to you.’ And then they were on the bed. I could hear the bed squeaking. I think they were … doing it.”

“What do you think they were doing?”

“What a man and a woman do in the bedroom.”

“Did you hear them say anything else?”

“No, just noises, like. Happy noises.”

“What did you do then?”

“I cleaned the glass, then I got out of the quarters. I didn’t want to be there when they came out of the bedroom.”

“Did you see them after that?”

“No, sir, I didn’t. But the next morning, I changed the sheets in the Lincoln Bedroom. They were … stained, sort of.”

“Can you remember anything else, Mrs. Feliciano?”

She looked down. “I took something,” she said. “From the Lincoln Bedroom bathroom.”

“What did you take?”

Mrs. Feliciano’s purse was in her lap, and she opened it and rummaged around for a moment, then she held out something.

Stone took it from her and examined it. It was a lipstick tube, and the name “Pagan Spring” was printed on it.

“I didn’t think she would be coming back for it,” Mrs. Feliciano said.

“No, I suppose not,” Stone replied. “Do you mind if I keep this?”

“No, please do,” she replied. “It isn’t mine, anyway, but I liked the color.”

“One more thing, Mrs. Feliciano,” Stone said. “Can you put a date to when this happened? Estimate when it was?”

“I know exactly when it was,” she said. “It was the day Mrs. Kendrick and Mr. Brix died. It was the last time I saw Mr. Brix.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Feliciano,” Stone said. “You’ve been a very big help.”

The woman gratefully fled the room.

“Okay,” Dino said, “your theory is starting to look a little better.”