Sin City

Conroy sighed and nodded. 'I'm sorry to report that Jenna Patrick died last night.'

Tera's hand shot to her mouth, her teeth closing on a knuckle as tears took the path over her high cheekbones down her face. 'Oh, my God. But…she was in perfect health!'

'I'm afraid she was killed, at work, last night.'

'What do you mean, 'killed'? An accident of some-'

'Murdered.'

Tera covered her face with her fingers and began to sob.

Conroy eased forward, a hand rising to settle soothingly on the dancer's shoulder. 'Ms. Jameson, I'm very sorry.'

Now a certain anger seemed stirred into the sorrow. 'What…what in hell happened to her?'

'Jenna was in one of the private rooms…and she was strangled.'

'I told Ty those lap-dance rooms were dangerous. Goddamnit! I wouldn't work them…I refused. Goddamnit.'

Catherine asked, 'You did work at Dream Dolls, at one time, Ms. Jameson?'

'Yes…I've been at Showgirl World for, I don't know…three months?' Tera pulled a tissue out of a box on the coffee table and dabbed at her eyes. 'Did you get him?'

Conroy, still on her haunches, blinked. 'Excuse me?'

'That asshole Ray Lipton. It was him, wasn't it? It must have been.'

Sitting forward, Catherine asked, 'Why would you think that? He was her fiance; he loved her.'

She sneered, her lip damp with tears. 'He's a fucking nutcase. He hated that she danced…and he hated that she lived with me, another dancer…I was a 'bad influence'! He fucking met her at the club! Jesus.'

Catherine tilted her head. 'Mr. Lipton said they were going to be married, soon. Was he lying?'

'Yes. No…I mean, yeah, that was the plan-they were getting married. Jenna was barely even my roommate anymore. To keep Ray happy, she moved out of here about a month ago.'

Sara asked, 'Was she quitting dancing for him?'

'Eventually, she planned to. I mean, most of us plan to get out, sooner or later. I have a nursing degree, you know. But she wanted to keep dancing for a couple of years, after they got married, to help build a nest egg. I mean, do you have any idea what those tits of hers cost?'

'Around ten thousand,' Catherine said.

Conroy asked, 'Well, was she living here, or not?'

'Her name's still on the lease, but she'd pretty much moved in with Ray. She still had a few things here, but it was mostly just stuff she hadn't picked up yet.'

Conroy-squatting must have been getting to her-moved to sit down on the other side of Tera. She asked, 'And why do you think Ray would kill her?'

'Probably over the dancing. That she hadn't quit, that she wanted to keep going with it…. He hated that she danced even more than he hated her living with me. I mean, she liked it here-our hours were similar, it was close to work-but she moved in with him, to…what's the word? Placate the prick.'

Conroy asked, 'You think Ray hates you?'

Tera looked uncomfortable. 'I know he does. You know about the restraining order Ty had against him, and what caused it?'

'We know that he tried to choke a customer,' Catherine said.

'Well, that was just one particularly juicy time. It was me pulled his ass off that poor nerdy guy he jumped. More than once, when I was still at the club, he started trouble over our friendship, Jenna and me. He'd see us sitting together, or standing at the bar, laughing, and get all paranoid we were laughing at him. He'd start screaming at me. He probably yelled at me as much as he did Jenna.'

'Why was that?' Conroy asked.

'You know how guys can be-jealous over their girlfriend's best friend. It's stupid, such a guy thing. He thought I had some…I don't know, kinda power over her. That I was this wicked witch trying to keep them apart.'

'Why would he think that?'

Tera pulled her knees up under her, sat that way. Her chin was up. 'Because I told her not to take any crap off him. If they were gonna be married, she still had to be her own person, and stand up for her rights, like dancing if she wanted to. I just generally encouraged her to do what she wanted to do.'

'And Ray didn't like that.'

'Oh, hell no. Ray's a typical control freak. He thought getting her away from me would make her fall in line with his plans. Get her to live with him, stop dancing, do whatever he said.'

'Ray ever try to get physical with you?'

'No.' She sat up straighter. 'He's a coward, too-he knows I trained in tae kwan do. He figured, lay a hand on me and I'da sent his balls up to live in his throat…and he figured right.'

'Okay,' Conroy said, an uncomfortable tone creeping into her voice. 'You mind if we look around?'

'Not at all. Anything that'll help.' Tera shook her head, the dark locks shimmering. 'Her bedroom's the one on the left, opposite the bathroom. Or it used to be.'

Suddenly Tera's tough talk dissolved into another round of tears, and that quickly built into racking sobs.

Conroy stayed and held the dancer, tried to comfort her as Catherine and Sara moved to the bedroom. They slipped on latex gloves and entered.

Tera hadn't been kidding-Jenna had moved out, all right: no bed, no dresser, no furniture of any kind, just a few stray clothes hanging in the closet and a small pile of CDs sitting inside the door, the final artifacts remaining of Jenna Patrick's life in this tiny apartment.

The two criminalists went back to the living room where Conroy still sat on the couch next to Tera Jameson, holding the woman's hand-something she doubted Jim Brass would have done, and which would have mystified Grissom. Catherine caught Conroy's gaze and shook her head-they hadn't found anything.

Conroy rose, looking down at the young woman with a somber smile. 'Ms. Jameson, we're sorry for your loss.'

Tera, who was drying her eyes with a handkerchief, nodded bravely.

Conroy joined the CSIs at the door. 'If we have more questions,' she said to Tera, 'we'll get back to you…. You have my card, if you think of something you consider important.'

'I do, yes-I will…and thank you.'

'Have you ever been back to Dream Dolls,' Catherine asked suddenly, 'since you quit?'

Tera shook her head, her long dark hair swinging. 'No way. Good riddance to that hellhole.'

Catherine knew the feeling.

'Thanks,' Catherine said, and exchanged polite smiles with the woman.

Soon the trio from LVMPD were standing next to Conroy's car.

Catherine asked, 'You didn't search Lipton's place yet?'

'No,' Conroy said, 'just picked him up and brought him in. We should get to that.'

'Since he's in custody,' Sara said, 'maybe it could wait till tonight-we're way past the end of shift, and I'd hate to get the day shift's sticky fingers in this.'

Conroy said, 'That should work out fine. Meantime, I'll ask Lipton if he'll give us the go-ahead, and see if we have to get a search warrant or not.'

'You think he'll stop cooperating?' Catherine asked.

Conroy arched an eyebrow. 'Wouldn't you, if you were about to go down for murder?'

'Yeah, I suppose I would…unless I was innocent.'

'Which you think he is?'

'Well, he's cooperated with us so far-hasn't hidden a thing.'

Sara asked, 'Tera didn't paint a very pretty picture of him.'

'She also didn't paint that violent a picture of him,' Catherine pointed out. 'Lipton and Tera hated each other, but it never went past shouting matches, didn't come to blows.'

The three traded expressions that were made up of equal parts exhaustion and perplexity.