High Potential

-Hey, good morning. -Good morning.

-How you doing? You good? -Yeah.

Morning. What can I get you?

Miss? Are you okay?

Oh, my gosh! Help!

Help! Somebody, please!

Good morning.

Can't believe I worked on that stupid thing for two weeks.

Paul Cezanne hated everything he ever painted,

and he's considered one of the greats.

Yeah, after he died.

Well, he worked on The Large Bathers for seven years.

I don't have years.

I have art school reps coming to my showcase soon

and I've literally got nothing.

You've got a couple days.

Plus, I really like what you've done so far.

You're my mom. You're supposed to love it.

That is not true. That textile thing you did was boring.

And a little derivative.

Okay, uh, why don't you go and pack your bag for your dad's house?

- Okay. -

Art isn't like your job, Mom.

I don't just get to look around and, like, notice things.

It's a little more than that. But okay.

I have to come up with something completely original,

something so undeniable it stands out.

Because if I don't, then I might not get another shot at being noticed

or getting a scholarship.

Hey, listen. I lived with an artist before you came along, remember?

Your dad used to fill up so many garbage cans

with some really beautiful stuff that he thought was trash.

You know, the points where he was the most frustrated

and he was about to give up,

that's usually when he would come up with something very special.

And you will too.

But you can't give up.

Okay, okay, I got it.

What if your final showcase piece is the trash can full of your art?

Okey doke. Uh...

I've got an idea.

How about over the next couple of days, you wanna talk to your sister,

-you run it by me first? -Rosenberg would've called that

-a finished piece. -I know. Have a wonderful day.

-I love you. -I love you too.

-No, I'm saying... -

...if you wanna judge my lavender oat milk latte,

-you should at least try it first. -No, I don't think so.

-Lavender is for soap, not for sipping. - Oh, my gosh.

You know, you really didn't have to drive me.

-You were on the way. -Mmm.

-Thank you. -You're welcome.

Yeah.

Yeah, I can head right over. Just, uh, shoot me the address.

Oh. I'm already there.

Thank you. Okay. Excuse me.

Oh. What's going on here? Bring your girlfriend to work day?

Lucia's one of the managers here. She handles all their VIP guests.

-She want to comp me a room sometime? -I'll ask her.

Really?

Everyone's on fire this morning.

Major Crimes got the call because she's high profile.

-She is? Who is she? -Mm-hmm.

Vera Hensley from The Big Fix with Vera and Frank.

-I've never seen it. -Yeah, it's a husband and wife team.

They repair houses, do renovations, things like that.

Well, I've got three kids.

I don't really have time to build my own deck.

She's not exactly dressed for a pool day. What's she doing out here?

A few hotel guests said she was already laying here when they came up this morning.

-Think she's been here all night? -Maybe she stumbled out drunk,

-fell in the pool and hit her head. -No.

Look at her hair, it's styled.

Ah!

I mean, it's frizzy.

I agree it got wet, but you ever seen a woman come out of the water?

It'd be all plastered to the side of her face,

not round and bouncy.

-It didn't rain last night. -So how'd she get wet?

Sprinklers.

Yeah, they probably run at night when the guests aren't around.

Which means there was no one here to witness her attack.

That's assuming that it happened here.

Well, if she was killed somewhere else, we'd better find out where

before Vera's killer has time to clean it up.

-Vera Hensley? -Yes, anything you can tell us.

Her room number, when she checked in.

Oh, she's not staying here,

but her husband, Frank Hensley, is a DNA guest.

Do not announce. Very high profile.

Only essential staff have access.

He's been staying in the penthouse, checked in a few days ago.

Okay, give us one of those master key cards.

We're gonna go snoop around his room.

We'll knock. Can you access cameras?

Uh, we only have cameras by the pool, the elevator, and the lobby, but I... Huh.

That's weird.

These cameras were, uh, turned off last night.

Off or erased?

I wouldn't know. I'm guest relations.

I'll put our IT team on it.

Let's go talk to your VIP.

Vera and I were never apart.

We lived together. We worked together.

Our show is our life.

Is it true you guys met at a hardware store?

You watch the show?

My girlfriend and I are moving into a place that needs a bit of work

and, uh, The Big Fix taught me a lot.

Our first place together was a two-bedroom house off Van Ness.

Crooked floors, no storage, no light.

Every project started as a problem that Vera and I couldn't afford to ignore.

Can I ask what time the two of you went to bed last night?

Vera wasn't staying here.

So this isn't her bra?

I invited some friends over last night.

I guess it got kind of wild.

Mr. Hensley, if Vera wasn't here with you last night,

why was she at the hotel?

I wish I knew.

Okay, so where's the lamp?

And the brass candle holders, and the stone bookend?

I don't know.

So, his wife dies in the same hotel he's staying in and he never saw her?

Please.

Sounds like Vera found out that Frank was here partying,

confronted him and things got out of hand.

-Okay, so why aren't we bringing him in? -Cause we need evidence.

Right now, we can't even prove that Vera came up to this floor.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Uh, that'll do it.

Yeah, they're taking me in right now.

-Where'd you park? -On the street like a sane person.

You think I'm paying hotel prices?

-We reimburse. -You do?

Yeah, you save the receipt, fill out an expense report--

Oh, God. No, forget it. You lost me. Bye.

- I said it's over. It's done. -It's not too late.

We can be together. No cities.

Just seasons. And frosty trees.

W-Why?

I know. It's terrible. Try not to worry too much.

I love you. Bye.

-Everything okay? -Hmm? Yeah.

Lucia's just having a hard time.

-With what? -Uh, with the murder at her hotel.

Most people don't show up to work expecting to see a dead body.

Right.

Just last week, I was watching Vera and Frank put together a banquette

and now we're trying to find out if he killed her.

This is new.

Oh.

Yeah, it's a gift from Lucia.

It's, uh, gypsum sand.

She said it's rare.

Like what we have.

She's right. It is rare.

I loved Vera.

The kind of love where you rent out the penthouse suite

-to hook up with other women, right? -No.

-So the bra was yours? - We checked your records, Frank.

This wasn't the first time you wanted to fly solo, was it?

But you thought what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

Only she did find out about the women, the lies, the partying.

You went behind her back

while telling the world that you loved her.

I did. Vera and I were always honest with each other, okay?

I don't know what she was doing in that hotel.

I didn't even see her.

Okay, so you're cheating on your wife in the same hotel...

I heard Lucia works at that hotel.

-Small world. -Yeah.

I guess.

Being the happy couple that you see on TV fixing houses,

that was our brand, okay?

That wasn't who we were, not always.

Sometimes...

Look, we like to do our own thing.

I mean, as far as I know, having a good time is not a crime.

No, it is not.

But knocking your wife out

when she walks in on you with another woman

and then moving her dead body so you can clean up the evidence,

-that would be a crime. -My client's said enough.

Call us when you actually have something.

The bloody fingerprint on the elevator button matches

Vera's blood imprint.

Mmm. So, we know Vera went up to the penthouse.

That means Frank either wasn't there at the same time

-or he's lying about not having seen her. -I checked the hotel records.

Frank and Vera had a joint account at the Blackwell Hotel.

So if one of them booked a hotel room,

the other would receive a digital key on their phone automatically.

Then maybe Vera saw where Frank was and wasn't as happy

about his partying as he wants us to believe.

Okay, and what about the items that were missing from the hotel room?