Synopsis  

At her birthday party, Lois O’Neill, a former Vegas show girl and ex of one of Vegas’ founders, is having a bash. Dancing with handsome men and dolling out advice to the younger set. So it’s surprising when one of her waiters, Tim Duke, is found dead by her assistant later that night and Lois is nowhere to be seen. When the assistant, Eve Girard, is asked to open the closet/safe, Lois is found cowering within, and evidence points to her being shot at as she went to hide.

Lois admits she often comes up to change during parties (one dress for greeting, one for diner and dancing, and one for desert). She’d offered Tim the job because he needed the money. When she came up to change, someone shot him and tried to shoot her, so she locked herself in the closet. Lois claims she’s a suspect because of the tell-all book she wrote. Greg is smitten and asks for her autograph. Lois’ driver, Bob Jensen, used to drive for her boyfriend, Tony C. (who vanished ala Jimmy Hoffa), refuses to talk about anything.

Sara and David Phillips check out the body. Two shots and a lot of money in his pocket, as well as an empty crack vial. Sara goes to tell Catherine, who explains that her mother was a back-up dancer for Lois. Nick collects the security cameras and information about all the people at the party, which includes the Sheriff and Sam Braun, Catherine’s father.

In attendance also is pop star Li’l Cherry, who left the room when the killing happened. The Sheriff orders Grissom to let everyone who didn’t leave the room to be let go. Cherry makes a scene and tries to run off before grissom can search her bag. Of course they do and find a crack pipe. At the interrogation, the point out that the victim had a crack pipe, and so did Cherry. Cherry denies involvement with the shooting.

Sara and Greg find millions in cash under the floor. Lois says she didn’t know it was there, but Eve says she knew about it. The coroner determines that Tim was shot and killed by a bullet through the heart, dying instantly, and then shot again ten minutes later in the head, contrary to what Lois said.

Sara, Greg and Warrick discuss possibilities for the murder of ex boxer and petty thief, Tim Duke. Greg speculates the money is stolen from a ‘famous’ Pan-Am heist in 1965, and that Tony C. left the money for Lois. One possibility for the murder is that he was a hit man, hired to kill Lois. Another is that Tony hired Tim to protect Lois because of the book. A third is that Lois herself was the killer. Catherine and Sara go to check her dinner dress for GSR but the dress is missing. Sara finds the ring instead and it is, indeed, positive for GSR, and the gun used to kill Tim matches the one from the Pan-Am flight.

When Brass and Grissom go to check on Lois about the mater, they find her dead, shot in her own bed. Lois was already dying of tumors, and Bob confesses the rest. Lois had tried to cover up Tim’s death. She’d hired him to plan this last bash and then kill her, so she could die pretty at the party, instead of a dried up old bag in the hospital. But Tim had tried to steal from her, and she shot him with Tony’s gun, the same gun he’d used to steal from Pan-Am years ago. With Tim dead, Lois asked Bob to kill her so she could die with a little dignity.

Review  

Sara is highly amused by Greg’s obsession with Lois and her history. She’s only spot on the mark, picking out the ring after she and Catherine find the dress is missing.

Notes  

• Sara likes men with a little grey hair.

Quotes  

Greg: The Benjamins took the bullet!
Sara: In God We Trust.

Hodges: I like my grey hairs. What two I have.
Sidles Hodges, don’t you know that grey hair can be very attractive?