Sara had been going through the Vargas' financial records for what seemed to her an eternity. So far she had come up with nothing. Dr. Vargas had been extremely helpful on providing receipts. He was as meticulous at keeping records as Delia Herrera was at cleaning house. At the moment, Sara wasn't feeling too thankful for this since she was only about half way through the records.

Nick had taken the list of people that Dr. Vargas had provided who had regular access to the home, as well as those who had done odd jobs, and had begun the process of doing background checks. So far Rick the pool man and Randy the landscaper and their respective crews had come back clean. Not surprising since Dr. Vargas said that he had done a background check on them himself before hiring them. Nick was having a bit more difficulty with those who had performed odd jobs for Dr. Vargas. He had placed a phone call to the agency that they had been employed through, but since it was the middle of the night, he didn't expect to get a return call until sometime toward the end of shift. So far every angle they had taken to find a suspect had turned into a dead end. Dr. Vargas had a solid alibi, as he was in surgery all day. Delia Vargas was an unlikely suspect, and her story had checked out as well, but it didn't completely eliminate her from suspicion.

Nick truly felt like they were looking for a needle in a haystack. He and Sara were up to the task though. They were both meticulous about the evidence. If there was a trace of the killer to be found, they would find it. Grissom had placed his confidence in them and Nick was not one to let someone down. Besides, Sara was impressed. That thought caused him to smile. It was so funny to him how defensive she got at times when she tried to compliment someone. And he thoroughly enjoyed teasing her. He knew exactly which buttons to push with her and she seemed to fall for it every time. There was just something about her when she was mad that made Nick melt.

Nick was still smiling when Warrick sauntered into the computer lab Nick was working in and leaned against the inside of the doorframe. "Hey, man, how's the case going?" Warrick inquired.

Nick looked up, "Slow."

Warrick winced when he saw the knot on Nick's forehead, "Nick, what did you do to your head?"

Nick crossed his arms in front of himself and leaned back in his chair. With a slight grin he answered Warrick, "Sara gave me a concussion."

Warrick chuckled, "What did you do to piss her off?"

Nick chuckled in return, "Why do you assume that I must have done something? I was merely trying to be a gentleman and help her up off the ground."

Warrick raised an eyebrow.

While Nick and Warrick were talking, Sara had come searching for Nick to how his end of the investigation was coming. As she poked her head into the lab, she interjected, "If it wasn't for you, Stokes, I wouldn't have been on the ground in the first place."

Warrick turned look at Sara and noticed the knot on her forehead. He had to contain a chuckle as he asked her, "What happened to your head, Sidle?"

She glared at Nick and then turned to answer Warrick, "Nick gave me a concussion."

Warrick raised an eyebrow at her and teased, "Hmm, that's interesting. Nick claims you gave him one."

Nick raised his hands in surrender and with a thicker than normal drawl stated, "Hey, I was just trying to be a gentleman and help you up, Sara."

She rolled her eyes at Nick, "If I had needed your help, Nick, I would have asked."

Nick's eyebrows shot up in amusement. He turned to look at Warrick, who was trying to suppress a smile and then turned back to Sara. "The Sara Sidle I know wouldn't ask for help whether she needed it or not. Besides, a gentleman is a gentleman regardless of the situation." Nick just smiled.

Sara felt a faint blush creeping into her cheeks. She decided she needed to change the subject to something she had a little more control over. "How are the background checks going?"

Nick and Warrick exchanged a brief knowing glance before Nick answered, "Slow. So far everyone has come up clean and I'm waiting to get a call back from the agency that Dr. Vargas hired his day laborers through." He looked at his watch, "Since it's three in the morning, I'm not expecting a call anytime soon. What about you? Have any luck with any of those receipts?"

Sara shook her head, "Nothing so far. Dr. Vargas doesn't remember his wife owning one, and he claims he didn't buy her one. The housekeeper says she doesn't recall seeing one in the house either. I'm about halfway through and my eyes needed a break." Sara looked from Nick to Warrick and back at Nick, "Do you guys want to grab a cup of coffee in the break room? I think Greg just brewed a new batch."

Warrick replied, "Don't have to ask me twice." With that he exited the lab and headed down the hall toward the break room.

Nick stood up and walked toward Sara who was still standing by the door. He brushed a lock of hair off her forehead and tucked it behind her ear as he looked closely at the knot on her forehead and winked, "Does mine look as bad as that?"

Sara narrowed her eyes at him and smacked him on the arm, "If you're not careful, Stokes, it's going to look worse than it already does."

Nick dodged Sara's second attempt to hit him and chuckled to himself as he walked past Sara toward the break room. He could hear her walking behind him, but he didn't dare turn around. It was fortunate for Sara that he didn't because she was blushing from Nick's fingers touching her face as he had brushed the hair behind her ear.