High Potential

Official LAPD business. Keep my baby close. This won't take long.

Detectives.

-Where's my better half? -Bathroom.

Hmm.

Good morning, Morgan.

So, what do you think happened?

Well, I think we can rule out nothing.

And we're off.

Melted candles, empty glass, clothes thrown everywhere.

It looks like a wild night that went south.

But was it murder?

A hundred percent. What, you don't think so?

I think it was murder and a cover-up,

but I wanna know how you know.

Sounds like a challenge.

How fun. See these hand towels?

You may remember that I used to be a professional cleaner.

-Hmm. Vaguely, yeah. -Yes.

The way that these towels are folded are a disgrace.

Look, the bottom two have two edges,

the top one has three edges.

That means the killer used this top towel to clean up after himself,

-cover his tracks. -Hmm.

Now, get down here and see what I'm seeing.

I can see just fine from up here, thanks. But what do you see?

You see these streaks?

Any self-respecting housekeeper is gonna use a microfiber mop on a bathroom floor.

Our murderer used that towel to wipe up this area.

Which suggests a cover-up.

Exactly. Now, our vic... Is it okay if I call him vic? It's happening.

Our vic was not alone,

because no man's gonna spend money on a hotel room this fancy

unless he's planning on entertaining.

And my guess: a sexy brunette.

Why? Did you find a hair sample?

Nah, but blonde seems too obvious, so I'm going with brunette for now.

Either way, she had to be pretty attractive because--

I don't mean to be disrespectful,

but the dead guy in the tub is super hot.

Morgan, please don't ever comment on the hotness of a victim ever again.

Okay. The manager opened the safe for us, and we found the victim's wallet.

Inside: $80 cash and an ID.

Ernest Lozano, Mexico City.

Do a deep dive.

Anything, everything you can find on the guy.

Stop by the security center downstairs. Look at last night's footage.

-Got it. -Yep.

-Wonder what he was drugged with. -How do you know he was drugged?

Well, 'cause who does their dishes in a hotel room? Except you, maybe.

Anyway, this glass was rinsed out and wiped clean.

Why do that unless you were trying to get rid of white residue?

-Notice anything else about the glass? -That's a whiskey tumbler.

Lead-free, crystal-cut, which is harder and more durable than glass.

Withstands most scratches. Also refracts light beautifully.

You want me to know you drink whiskey so bad.

Point being this piece of glassware

is far more expensive than the others.

It must have been brought up to the room.

Lozano and his sexy brunette stopped at the hotel bar before coming to the room.

-But you already knew that. -Mm-hmm.

The tumbler was rinsed out, leaving little to zero trace of whiskey,

which strongly suggests a cover-up.

And why cover it up unless it was murder? Now, let's go hit the hotel bar.

I recognize him.

He had a drink at the start of my shift around 7:00 p.m.

Was he with anyone?

A sexy brunette, maybe?

I'd say medium sexy.

-Also, she was a blonde. -Really?

-Did it seem like business or pleasure? -Maybe both.

The guy was definitely tying one on.

Made sure to leave a generous tip before they bounced.

Catch the name of his guest by any chance?

We were slammed, so I couldn't really hear their convo.

But I wanna say that her name sounded like, uh, Candice or Gladys or Janice.

-Thank you. -Thank you.

So, we scrubbed through last night's footage, and we found this at 8:02 p.m.

Lozano and his mystery woman got on the fourth floor, into the room.

And then at 8:33 p.m., right there, she leaves.

No one else used a key card to enter the suite until this morning

when the cleaners discovered Ernest Lozano's body.

That must be our killer.

I showed a photo of our mystery woman to the hotel doorman.

He said she parked her red Kia out front in a no-parking zone around 7:00 p.m.

Shortly after, LADOT arrived and started writing tickets.

So call LADOT, see if we can ID the red car.

I already called.

They didn't issue a ticket to a red Kia out front of this hotel last night.

Well, the only cars that don't get ticketed belong to cops and doctors.

-Cops aren't issued red cars. -Right. So it must be vehicle code 21058.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, it must be. Yeah. Remind Oz about vehicle code 21058.

It's an emblem allowing physicians responding to emergencies

to be exempt from laws governing parking.

There's a hospital less than a mile from here.

Swing by, see if anyone recognizes the woman from our hotel security footage,

and we'll circle back at the precinct.

That sounds like a city council issue, not a major crimes issue.

Of course. Keep me posted. Bye.

How's the hotel case lookin'?

Daphne and Oz ID'd our suspect as a physician who works in the neighborhood.

They're bringing her in for questioning as we speak.

-You like her for it? -Oh, very much.

We have her on hotel security footage entering and exiting the victim's room

-around the time of the murder. -Yes.

It's open-and-shut.

-The file you requested, Lieutenant. -Thank you.

Uh-oh.

You good with that? Need some help?

No one can help me with this.

I'm gonna have to rely on someone I'd rather not deal with.

Hmm.

Welcome to my world.

Dr. Iris Bowman, tell us about your relationship with Ernest Lozano.

I wouldn't call it a relationship.

What would you call it?

Harmless fun.

We met three months ago in a hotel bar and hit it off.

I... I can't believe he's dead.

When you say "hit it off"--

It's exactly what you think it means.

Ernest would reach out whenever he was in town.

It was no-strings-attached fun between two adults.

Hmm. Well, what did you know about him?

Ernest was a curator in Mexico City.

He wasn't like most LA guys. He was fun, charming, cultured.

What's your husband think about this casual fling?

My husband died in a car accident nine months ago.

What Ernest and I had was temporary.

He was meant to be a-- a Band-Aid on my life.

So what happened last night?

Nothing. He was in town, I met him at our spot.

We had a drink or two, went up to our room, drew a bath.

But then Ernest fell asleep, so I left.

Well, see, the thing is, Dr. Bowman,

we have you on security footage entering Lozano's room

and then exiting 30 minutes later.

After that, not a soul enters or exits that room, and now Ernest Lozano is dead.

I told you everything. - Mm-hmm.

He was alive when I left.

- Do I need a lawyer? - That would be wise.

You have the right to remain silent

-and refuse to answer questions-- -She didn't do it.

The candles. There were candles lining the bathtub.

I have the same ones at home. I got 'em on clearance.

They smell like laundry. But the problem is they only burn for about four hours.

I'm sorry, I-I don't know. Is that, uh, a long time?

For a candle? What? No. A tea light burns longer. No.

All of the candles were melted down all the way except for this one.

Something put out this candle, and you know what puts out fire?

Uh, water.

- Yes, Doctor. Water. - Water. Water.

Water puts out fire. In this case, bathwater.

Bathwater put out this lone candle.

So that means there was a tub fight.

There was thrashing around, bathwater splashed out and extinguished the flame.

The candle looked like it had been burning

for about an hour and a half.

Okay. So you are saying that when Dr. Bowman left the room,

all the candles were burning, and an hour after that,

something happened in that room.

And someone was in that room.

Can I leave now?

Yeah. Free to go.

Speaking of good, huh?

And our only suspect walks out the door.

Mahomes, under on passing yards, over on rushing yards.

Uh, next, WNBA Finals. Aces, moneyline, Wilson.

Ah.

Fifteen years ago, Roman Sinquerra painted a mural downtown.

You wrote the citation and the report, but both are illegible.

What does this say?

Look, if you're so interested, give me 2K.

Fine, 1K. No? 500?

I don't care how low you go. I'm not gonna pay you for information.

Oh, yeah. Um.

Whatever thing is happening in NASCAR, 1,000 on numbers ten through 19.

And that's it. I love you, Mom. Bye.

-Read this address out loud now. -Hmm.

"14641 Willington Street."

No such place.

There's a Washington Boulevard and a Billington Street,

but neither has a 14641.

Well, this is definitely 14641 Billington Street.

Again, no such place.

-Fifty bucks says there is. -There isn't.

But if you wanna give me your money like that, sure, I'll check it out.

I'll drive.

Wow.

There used to be nothing but chop shops and stash houses on this street.

Now they got a CrossFit gym,

vegan Nashville hot chicken restaurant and a third-wave coffee shop.

It's beautiful.

Wait. This was the street, right?

I could have sworn the mural was here.

Maybe I didn't write this.

Turn around, Melon.

14614 Billington.

Looks like a sign protected a part of that mural.

It's a cool fish tail.