Alleyway behind the Pussycat Strip Bar
(few days later)
"Jane Doe, mid-twenties," Detective Alex Eames reads the general victim information for Goren, "Was found by a jogger at six-thirty this morning."
Detective Bobby Goren steps around a pile of trash bags in the alley. He cranes his neck to get a better look at the body that lies before him as he crouches.
Jane Doe is wearing sweats and sneakers. The back of her head has been brutally smashed in by a two-by-four, which lies a few feet away.
"The killer didn't care about hiding the weapon," Goren says, carefully examining the wound at the back of the woman's head, as well a bruise near her temple.
"He didn't care about finding a very discreet place, either," Eames says, looking around at the street outside of the alley, "The body was just left behind some trash bags. Perp had to know it would be found quick."
Goren squints at something just behind the mystery woman's earlobe. He turns to one of the Crime Scene Unit guys who are collecting evidence, "Could I have a swab and a bag, please?"
Carefully, Goren swabs the green substance and sniffs at it, "Makeup." He turns to Eames, "She has green makeup behind her ear."
"Green makeup?"
"Performer, maybe?" Goren stands up and continues to stare at the body lying before him.
"Well, she's not a stripper, that's for sure. Green skin isn't exactly the normal protocol for strippers, is it?"
"No..." Goren looks around, "But we're next to several strip clubs..."
Goren quickly kneels next to the woman's feet. Although the sneakers are fairly new with little wear, the heels at the back are severely scraped.
"He moved her. He stunned her," Goren indicates the bruise on her temple, " And dragged her to a more covenant place..." Goren trails off, lost in thought.
Eames begins to walk back to the car, "Let's wait and see if the ME can find anything."
Detective Headquarters
(next day)
"You were right about the girl," Eames says, walking to Goren's desk, "Just got a hit on the ID. Sophia McDowell, age twenty-nine, understudy for the part of Elphaba in the musical Wicked, currently on Broadway."
"Well, that explains the makeup."
A man walks up to Eames and hands her the report from the medical examiner.
"ME says it's death by severe blunt force trauma to the base of the skull," Eames reads the ME report out loud, "Makeup found behind right ear... Bobby, look at this."
Eames sets the file down on Goren's desk and points to one particular spot.
"The ME found traces of oil on her forehead in the shape of a cross."