Elizabeth Wolff

44889
Brittany Biesiada
10/1/14
Mr. President
William Applegate had recently won the 1959 election and was giving a speech to
his new staff. And for those reasons I am grateful to have you all on my service, he
said as he stood aside his wife, Shelia, and his two children Bobby and Susan. As they
walked back upstairs and entered the Oval Office Shelia noticed her father Robert
Jackson standing there.
Father, what are you doing here? asked Shelia.
Grandpa! Bobby and Susan yelled as they ran up and hugged him.
I came to congratulate your husband on his new Presidency, replied Robert with
stringency in his voice.
Bobby and Susan please go to your room, and father, you need to leave, you are
not welcome here, Shelia scolded.
Shelia, I practically won this election for your husband! I paid off all his other
women to be quiet! To protect you and his campaign! Please do not tell me to leave,
replied Robert a bit louder then before. You could tell he was beginning to get angry by
the vein protruding in his forehead.
You did not win this election for me! I won it with no help from you and
certainly none from your daughter, screamed William as he slammed his fist onto the
table.

Dont start with me William, I only stuck with you throughout your presidency
to uphold your family man image so I could get my money! Shelia said with anger in
her voice but tears in her eyes.
I will not discuss this with you again and especially not in front of your father.
Get out of my office Shelia, said William trying to remain calm.
William had a difficult upbringing and watched his father abuse his mother, but
instead of changing his ways, he continued the cycle of abuse. He and Shelia had been
having marriage problems; William had cheated on her many times and just like his
father he became abusive with her whenever he got drunk. Yet, Shelia continued to stay
with him he because he had promised her a lot of money to stick by him throughout his
election. Shelia also had issues with her father causing her to need a mans love. Shelias
father paid a lot of money to Williams women he had affairs with and the police, who
Shelia had called once when William had become too violent. William was a well
respected man in the country, but there a few people at the D.C. police station, who were
paid to be quiet, and did not share the mutual respect for him.
After she left the room, Robert and William angrily argued over politics and what
to do next in terms of his presidency. Shelia hurried off into to the kitchen to call Samuel,
her secret lover. She stood there twirling the phone cord waiting for Samuel to pick up.
Hello, Samuel answered in a groggy voice.
Samuel, hello its me, whispered Shelia.
Shelia! I did not think I would hear from you today, did you get the test results?
The line was silent.
You have to tell me, I can support us, he pleaded.

But Samuel, you are only nineteen and I am a grown woman with a husband and
family, replied Shelia tearing up for the second time today.
Mr. President will never know, I am just the gardener! retorted Samuel.
He will hit me, Shelia answered worriedly.
If he lays a hand on you, I, will make sure he never does again. You could say it
is his baby. Then you and I can be a secret family, suggested Samuel.
I do not want to be a secret I can not deal with this sneaking around we do, I am
not a teenager like you! Plus, you are dark, he will know it is not his baby, stampeded
Shelia.
Age is but a number, added Samuel.
Shelia heard footsteps approaching; I must go Samuel, good bye we will talk when you
come to take care of the lawn.
Shelia, SHELIA where are you, William screamed. Shelia could smell the
alcohol on his breath; she gasped and walked out the pantry.
I was just looking for a snack to make you, darling. Susan answered sweetly.
Shelia I cannot believe you would talk to me like that in front of your father, I
will not stand for this! William began to raise his hand,
Stop! Im pregnant! Screamed Shelia. William lowered his hand and asked
angrily, What! Youre pregnant? Are you kidding me, Shelia?!
William, I am sorry but I have wanted out of this marriage for awhile now. I
have tried leaving you, but every time you deny me a divorce. I am only staying with you
to get my money.
I didnt expect you to have an affair! screamed William

Its not like you dont have other hoes William, Susan blurted.
Dont start with me, you are pregnant! Who is the father?
It is Samuel Shelia responded quietly.
Samuel Johnson? The gardener? William questioned.
Shelia paused, Yes, as she walked away quietly.
Williams whole body was filled with anger and alcohol when he heard the lawn
mower outside. He peaked out the window and saw that Samuel had come to mow the
lawn. William started pacing the black and white tiled floor of the kitchen becoming
angrier with each step. All he could think about was the fact that his gardener got his wife
pregnant. Standing there, without a doubt in his mind, William grabbed the serrated knife
out of the drawer and stumbled outside.
Samuel saw William approaching and assuming he was coming out to talk he
stopped the lawn mower and waved to the President. William noticed how happy Samuel
looked that he was coming to talk to him and thought about turning around, but then
realized what Samuel had done and started walking faster. Samuel had not noticed the
knife in Williams hand, but as soon as he started walking faster Samuel saw it. However,
by that time it was already to late. William had already stabbed Samuel right in his
carotid artery. Samuel let out a quiet scream then immediately fell to the ground and bled
to death. William stood there motionless unable to come to terms with what he had just
done when he heard a rustling in the bushes.
He sprinted into the servants bathroom on the side of the house, and stood there
shaking. He cleaned himself and the knife up, then threw the knife into the colossal
garbage can next to the servants quarters. Checking himself in the mirror one more time

to make sure there was no blood on him, he ascended up the stairs and went back into the
kitchen. Still panting, William peered underneath the curtain to look out the giant
window and saw the other servants from the house had swarmed Samuels body. They
all looked panicked and were trying to apply pressure to try and stop the bleeding.
William could hear the sirens coming from the front of the house and realized he had to
quickly compose himself.
He walked down the front steps and approached the officers, Good Evening
officers, what seems to be the problem?
Mr. President, hello, I do not want to alarm you but an accident has occurred in
your backyard we have to go, the officer said quickly as he ran to the back of the house.
Oh my goodness, what?! William said pretending to be astonished as he took
off running behind the officer.
When they approached the backyard the police immediately began to mark the
scene of the crime. William started crying and yelling partly out of guilt and partly to put
on a show, because by now everyone was outside.
William spoke, I cannot believe this! Samuel was a prized servant, who would
do this to him? I would like everyone to take a few days to grieve him and I ensure you
the security around here will be taken much more seriously to make sure something like
this does not happen again.
Everyone felt reassured from his words but the tears in their eyes were still there.
All of the employees and servants were there, except for Shelia, who was hiding in the
bushes quietly sobbing to herself.

The next day the president woke up startled by a knock on his door, as he got out
of bed he noticed Shelia was not there, he had not seen her since yesterday evening right
before he stabbed Samuel.
When he answered the door he saw the detective standing there in a black suit
Good morning Mr. President, I am sorry to wake up but I need to talk to you about the
murder of your gardener, Samuel Johnson.
Yes, of course, and you did not wake me I was not able to sleep that well last
night, this whole thing has torn me up, Samuel was like family.
I am sure this is a very tough time for you, so I will make this brief, I just want to
know what you were doing when Samuel was killed and if you noticed anything
suspicious.
Just as William was about to answer, Shelia walked in puffy eyed, you could tell
shed been up all night crying. The detective repeated the same thing to Shelia and she
fell into William crying.
I can not believe he is dead, cried Shelia.
It is nice to see you two care so much about your staff, the detective responded
proudly.
William secretly rolled his eyes and the detective continued,
So, where were you two last night at 8 p.m., and what were you doing?
Shelia spoke first, I was sitting in the study, when I heard the sirens out front, I
looked outside the window and saw everyone rushed to the backyard so I went out as
well, described Shelia.
And what about you William? asked the detective.

I was sitting in the kitchen eating a snack Shelia had prepared for me
Did you prepare him a snack Shelia? questioned the detective.
Yes I did, answered Shelia.
Did either of you see or hear anything suspicious that night? questioned the
detective.
I heard a commotion in the servants quarters but it gets noisy down there
occasionally, answered Shelia you could hear the sadness in her voice. William thought
to himself, Was I loud? Oh no, I blew it.
Well thank you so much for time, I will keep you updated as the case develops
Mr. President, the detective responded.
Please and thank you, replied the president trying to look sincere.
The detective walked out the door and went to examine the study and kitchen to
see what could be seen from the windows. The study seemed normal but when the he
looked out the kitchen window he noticed the top was open and when he tried to close it,
he could not. The window was broken which made the detective begin to question the
Presidents story.
If the window was open he would have had to hear the screams right? The
detective kept questioning this in his head and he did not like the fact that he was
questioning the President.
The detective camped out under the Presidents room that night to see if he could
hear anything. The President and his wife were arguing,
Shelia stop crying, you should not have been with Samuel, he was nineteen for
Christ sakes, screamed William with a scowl on his forehead.

You treated me awfully William, you hit me and talked down me, I needed love
from someone! And since it was not going to be from you, I went out and found it, you
know the only reason I stayed with you was because of our deal.
Yeah, well Shelia the deal ended the minute you got pregnant with Samuels
baby! yelled William loudly enough that the detective could clearly hear him.
William, you promised that if I supported you throughout your presidency, you
would give me a divorce.
Shelia, Samuel is dead you have no one, you need my love! You know you need
a mans love, because of the way your dad treated you!
Do not bring my dad into this! I am leaving you, because I saw you stab Samuel!
You will give me a divorce and a hefty sum on money to keep my mouth shut.
I did not stab Samuel and you can not prove it. And if I did why did you defend
me in front of the detective? Youre making this up right now.
I saw you from the window in the god damn study William. I lied to the
detective to get my divorce and money.
Neither of them realized how loud they were yelling when the police officers and
detective busted down the door.
William Applegate, you are under arrest, anything you say can and will be used
against you in a court of law, yelled the officer.
What is going on? screamed Shelia, solely thinking about her money and
divorce.
William Applegate is under arrest for the murder of Samuel Johnson, as proved
tonight by Shelia Applegate, we have evidence, explained the officer.

You were outside my window, this is an invasion of privacy! screamed

William.
Sir, you just killed someone, I suggest you keep quiet, demanded the officer.
William Applegate was sentenced to life in prison, the vice president stepped up
but the country was truly scarred from this horrific act. Shelia became severely depressed
by the death of Samuel and the fact that her husband killed him. So much so that it lead
her to substance abuse resulting in the rest of her life at a mental hospital. Shelias
parents ended up raising Susan and Bobby, along with Shelias love child that she would
never come to know.

Works Cited:
"Miranda Rights." Miranda Rights. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.

In the beginning of my brainstorming I had no idea what to write about but

somehow thought of a story. I didnt have too many ideas I just knew that I wanted to
write about the murder of someones wife and a detective who had an interesting thought
process. I also wanted my story to be set in the 1900s. I wanted the murder to involve

someone with a lot of power, so who better then the President. I changed my ideas a lot
and got rid of ideas too; like the fact that I was going to have the Presidents wife get
murdered by the detective. I also bounced around other ideas like possibly having the
Presidents wife and detective be romantically involved and kill the President. I also
changed the murder weapon from a gun to a knife. I did not have the detective have as
interesting of a thought process as I planned and wanted to. I love Sherlock Holmes
thought process, in the movies, but found it very hard to think of and write about. I also
discovered that my beginning ideas were too hard to write about for a short story because
of how much explaining it would require.
From draft to draft my main problem was formatting. My first draft was very
general and did not include a lot of description. I mainly just wanted to get all of my
ideas out there and finish the story. Which I am happy I did because I had more to go off
of for my next draft. The main thing I added was description and more details about the
President and Shelias marriage problems. After my second draft, I realized from peer
review and your comments that I needed to develop the Presidents character more. This
narrative is detective and crime fiction because it is a mystery that involves a crime
solved by a detective. When we were first assigned this paper I was very nervous and did
not want to it, but I ended up enjoying it. I also enjoyed the peer review process and
comments because it made me feel more confident about my writing.