Sources close to the principals, the investigation, and the events and locales described—some 88 people in all—say the story goes like this:

He came into the House of Blues that night through the wrong door—characteristic of someone who built a legend by breaking rules.

The big blonde on hostess duty in the V.I.P. room was about to throw him out when a waitress said, "Don't you know who that is? That's Phil Spector."

Lana Clarkson, six feet tall and a still-stunning 40, gazed down on the wispy man in trademark black. The three-inch Cuban heels, the shades, the wavy, shoulder-length wig—how could she not have recognized the creator of the fabled Wall of Sound? She was a fan...