Herzog’s report gave Sharp sufficient cause to search the spa’s trash, and on November 14 and 19, his team found semen among the refuse. Herzog noted an “excessive amount of food in the refrigerator.” She also noted bedding, clothing, and a flatiron. “As the inspection progressed, I began to feel more and more uneasy,” she recalled. Herzog later testified that the spa workers appeared agitated by her visit and failed to make eye contact. Sharp asked Herzog if she could survey the parlor, and on November 14, she complied. “At that point I understood this was not just a regular massage parlor but one that was an illicit massage business,” Sharp later testified. One day, a group of eight men who arrived in a golf cart made touchdown gestures before entering, their arms flung up to indicate that they were about to score. Almost everyone they saw enter was a man.
For seven days in early November 2018, Sharp and his team staked out the spa.
