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In order to tell you how the episode starts, permit me to provide some background:
Last week, I took a vacation day, and the husband and I went to Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure. Although the latter part is in no way the California Adventure -- for one, there's no roller coaster called The Real Estate Market, in which hordes of people would fight for eight tiny, cramped seats on a ride that goes up and up and up -- it does feature a very nice ride in which you and the seven people you are sitting with are suspended in mid-air and jostled around so as to get the feeling of flying while a huge panoramic screen shows you the parts of California not plagued by apocalyptic traffic jams or smog.
There we are, "flying" over the Pacific coastline, and the four nice Japanese tourist ladies next to me are excitedly whispering comments to each other in their native tongue. And then we're "flying" over Lake Tahoe during winter, and they murmur appreciatively. And then we're "flying" over an orange grove as Disney's Surround Smell wafts cool citrusy breezes around us, and my seatmates are positively chattering. And then for the big finale, we swoop over Disneyland, lit up at night in anticipation of Christmas. And my four cross-cultural seatmates delightedly exclaim in unison, "LAS VEGAS!"
So you understand why, with the first shot of tonight's episode, I sat on my couch and bellowed delightedly, "DISNEYLAND!"
Anyway, we have an establishing shot, and then we're at the Four Aces, a hotel that seems to cater more to business and professional travelers than to your typical tracksuit-wearing tourist. Norman Bates, Jr. is manning the reception desk. He tells one of a long line of flight attendants, "Welcome back, Mrs. Krell." She smiles at him and says, "I keep telling you, it's Martha." That Martha is not recoiling and making the sign of the cross every time Norman Bates, Jr., fixes his creepy gaze upon her is proof that she is clearly the ne plus ultra of people persons. She tells the rest of her crew she's wiped out, and she'll see them in the morning. As she gets into the miraculously empty elevator right next to the reception desk, Norman Bates, Jr., moons, "Call me if you need anything, Martha."
We then see Martha get out onto what is the most poorly-lit hotel corridor I've ever seen outside a horror movie, and then the perspective shifts to serial-killer view. We see him (it's clearly a him, by the pants-and-sneakers shot we get of him racing down the hall), and right as Martha's opening her door, he catches up to her, claps a hand over her mouth, and drags her inside the room.
Cut to Brass entering the hotel room and telling us the decedent's name was Martha Krell, and she's been stabbed to death. Martha's laid on the bed in posed position: on her side, hands tucked up around her head. She's also wearing only her lingerie. At least she was killed with her nice underwear on; there's nothing sadder than a woman with raggedy drawers.