'Woman's been killed,' Romero said.
'Couple Mex cleaning workers found her body in a vacant lot this morning when they got off work.'
'You know who she is?' I said.
'No, we thought we'd bring you over, see if you knew.'
'Sure,' I said, 'let's go.'
The vacant lot was a half mile down the Strip behind an out-of business restaurant. There were half a dozen cop cars parked there, a fire department rescue truck, a vehicle from the coroner's office, and a couple of civilian vehicles. They took me to the body.
'This is how we found her,' Romero said.
She was naked, lying on her back with the desert sun baking down on her. There were a couple of bruises on her face, and one eye had swollen half shut. There was bruising on her throat. And the tip of her tongue protruded slightly between her swollen lips.
But the damage didn't disguise her. It was Shirley Ventura Meeker, her white body dimpled and pudgy in the comfortless sunlight.
'Know her?' Cooper said.
'Name's Shirley Ventura. She's married to a guy named Anthony Meeker. I don't know which name she used.'
'Coop,' Romero said.
'Start checking the hotels. Try the MGM Grand first.'
Cooper had a small notebook.
'Meeker with two e's?' Cooper said.
'Yes.'
Cooper scribbled in his notebook for a moment.
'Got a next of kin?' he said.
I told him and he wrote it down and headed for the car.
'How you know her?' Romero said.
'Her father hired me to find her missing husband.'
'You find him?'
'Not yet.'
'And you think he's out here?'
'Yeah.'
'So you came out looking for him.'
'Yeah.'
'She come out here with you?'
'No.'
'So what's she doing here?'
'Maybe she came out to look on her own.'
'You know where she was staying?'
'No.'
'Think she found her husband and he killed her?'
'I doubt it,' I said.
'He doesn't seem like that type, what I hear.
And I'm pretty sure she was too dumb to find him anyway.'
'You know, the husband?'
'No.'
'Got a picture?'
'Yeah.'
'Might want to borrow it.'
'Sure.'
'Got any thoughts on this?'
I shrugged.
'Maybe if you told me what you know so far.'
A police photographer appeared. Romero took my arm and steered me carefully away from the crime scene, so
