"Just to let you know Warrick, her being strangled was a cover up." Robbins
said as he looked over the body.
"But there is perimortem bruising, Doc." Warrick exclaimed.
"True. She was strangled shortly after her death to make it look like she hung herself. The rope marks left impressions, the person that killed her, knew exactly what he was doing." Robbins spoke.
"A pro?" Warrick asked.
"Maybe. She has extensive bruising on her body, possibly from abuse. I gave a sample of her blood to Greg. He's running it now. But she did die of asphyxiation, but here's where it gets even more weird. She had internal bleeding, but there are no physical signs showing that a blow to some part of her body caused it. There is none."
"So, she just bled out, internally. Can you find out how?" Warrick questioned the coroner.
"I can try, but it's going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack. I'll let you know when I find whatever, I'm looking for." Robbins gave a small smile and went about preparing his instruments for incision.
"Did Miss LaCross have a boyfriend?" Sara asked the strikingly beautiful woman sitting across from her in the dressing room.
"She mentioned she had a guy, but never gave a name. She would always mention how nice he treated her. Lobster dinner, flowers, candy, jewelry, the whole nine yards. She said he worked in real estate. Owned his own business, very successful. I guess you have to be to give your woman a lot of bling-bling." Cassie Anderson told Sara.
"Did she have any enemies? Anyone that had a grudge against her, or someone she may have angered?"
"No. Tina was friends with everyone. Her co-workers loved her, even her fans."
"Her fans?" Sara questioned.
"Yea. Tina was the main dancer in the show. Very pretty, took very good care of herself, made sure her routine was flawless. The public adored her. She got tons of fan mail. The manager here was very proud of her. She pulled in tons of people to every single show." Cassie smiled as she reminisced about her best friend and co-worker.
"Do you know where she kept her fan mail Miss Anderson?"
"Sure do. She took it home with her every night after the show. Here's her address." Cassie said as she scribbled down an address.
"Wow. That's the posh part of Vegas. I know Miss LaCross was the headliner, but how could she afford a house like that with her salary? These houses start at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars." Sara questioned with a puzzled look.
"Her boyfriend. Like I said. He took very good care of her." Cassie smiled.
"I'm sure she did." Sara said smugly.
"Well, these prints I lifted are not all Mr. Warren's. These could be prints of any guest that has stayed here in the past." Nick said as he sat in front of the computer, running the prints through AFIS.
"We still have to run them through Nicky." Catherine sighed.
"I know what killed her." Warrick said as he walked into the lab holding a brown file folder.
"And that would be?" Nick asked.
"Cyanide. Now, Doc Robbins also said she bled out. He pinpointed it. She, Christina Henderson, got her prints from a work card, has been suffering from ulcers. She's been taking medication, but they weren't helping. The ulcers, created a hole in her lining of her stomach, and continued to bleed. Now that have could been from the food she ate, to the acid in her stomach hidering the bleeding." Warrick rambled off.
"How does the cyanide fall into key?" Catherine asked.
"The cyanide was ingested. I took two coffee mugs from the suite. One came back with trace amounts of cyanide." Warrick began to explain. "There was coffee in her mug, we matched her lip prints with the lipstick on the rim back to her, and in the coffee was the coffee powder. It's easy for cyanide to go un noticed. It's a powder, odorless, tasteless, she just thought she was drinking some good java. Doc Robbins mentioned that she did die of asphyxiation, which cyanide does. It prevents oxygen getting to the tissues."
"So the bleeding out, that was caused by natural circumstances. But the asphyxiation was caused by cyanide. So then that means, the killer knew exactly what he was doing. Gave her trace amounts of cyanide, then staged her murder to look like she hung herself because we'd find the cause of death by lack of oxygen." Catherine smirked.
"Exactly." Nick said. "I think we need to speak with Mr. Warren and..." Nick couldn't even finish his sentence when the computer began to beep. "We have a match on one of the prints I lifted."
"Who is it?" Warrick questioned.
"Son of a bitch." Nick shouted. "You've got to be kidding me!"
"Nick! Who is it?" Catherine demanded.
"Carl Spencer."
"But there is perimortem bruising, Doc." Warrick exclaimed.
"True. She was strangled shortly after her death to make it look like she hung herself. The rope marks left impressions, the person that killed her, knew exactly what he was doing." Robbins spoke.
"A pro?" Warrick asked.
"Maybe. She has extensive bruising on her body, possibly from abuse. I gave a sample of her blood to Greg. He's running it now. But she did die of asphyxiation, but here's where it gets even more weird. She had internal bleeding, but there are no physical signs showing that a blow to some part of her body caused it. There is none."
"So, she just bled out, internally. Can you find out how?" Warrick questioned the coroner.
"I can try, but it's going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack. I'll let you know when I find whatever, I'm looking for." Robbins gave a small smile and went about preparing his instruments for incision.
"Did Miss LaCross have a boyfriend?" Sara asked the strikingly beautiful woman sitting across from her in the dressing room.
"She mentioned she had a guy, but never gave a name. She would always mention how nice he treated her. Lobster dinner, flowers, candy, jewelry, the whole nine yards. She said he worked in real estate. Owned his own business, very successful. I guess you have to be to give your woman a lot of bling-bling." Cassie Anderson told Sara.
"Did she have any enemies? Anyone that had a grudge against her, or someone she may have angered?"
"No. Tina was friends with everyone. Her co-workers loved her, even her fans."
"Her fans?" Sara questioned.
"Yea. Tina was the main dancer in the show. Very pretty, took very good care of herself, made sure her routine was flawless. The public adored her. She got tons of fan mail. The manager here was very proud of her. She pulled in tons of people to every single show." Cassie smiled as she reminisced about her best friend and co-worker.
"Do you know where she kept her fan mail Miss Anderson?"
"Sure do. She took it home with her every night after the show. Here's her address." Cassie said as she scribbled down an address.
"Wow. That's the posh part of Vegas. I know Miss LaCross was the headliner, but how could she afford a house like that with her salary? These houses start at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars." Sara questioned with a puzzled look.
"Her boyfriend. Like I said. He took very good care of her." Cassie smiled.
"I'm sure she did." Sara said smugly.
"Well, these prints I lifted are not all Mr. Warren's. These could be prints of any guest that has stayed here in the past." Nick said as he sat in front of the computer, running the prints through AFIS.
"We still have to run them through Nicky." Catherine sighed.
"I know what killed her." Warrick said as he walked into the lab holding a brown file folder.
"And that would be?" Nick asked.
"Cyanide. Now, Doc Robbins also said she bled out. He pinpointed it. She, Christina Henderson, got her prints from a work card, has been suffering from ulcers. She's been taking medication, but they weren't helping. The ulcers, created a hole in her lining of her stomach, and continued to bleed. Now that have could been from the food she ate, to the acid in her stomach hidering the bleeding." Warrick rambled off.
"How does the cyanide fall into key?" Catherine asked.
"The cyanide was ingested. I took two coffee mugs from the suite. One came back with trace amounts of cyanide." Warrick began to explain. "There was coffee in her mug, we matched her lip prints with the lipstick on the rim back to her, and in the coffee was the coffee powder. It's easy for cyanide to go un noticed. It's a powder, odorless, tasteless, she just thought she was drinking some good java. Doc Robbins mentioned that she did die of asphyxiation, which cyanide does. It prevents oxygen getting to the tissues."
"So the bleeding out, that was caused by natural circumstances. But the asphyxiation was caused by cyanide. So then that means, the killer knew exactly what he was doing. Gave her trace amounts of cyanide, then staged her murder to look like she hung herself because we'd find the cause of death by lack of oxygen." Catherine smirked.
"Exactly." Nick said. "I think we need to speak with Mr. Warren and..." Nick couldn't even finish his sentence when the computer began to beep. "We have a match on one of the prints I lifted."
"Who is it?" Warrick questioned.
"Son of a bitch." Nick shouted. "You've got to be kidding me!"
"Nick! Who is it?" Catherine demanded.
"Carl Spencer."
