Disclaimer: I don't own CSI. I own this laptop and I called it Ichabod, which means 'Without Glory' in Hebrew, but I don't own the Hebrew language, Sleepy Hollow, Johnny Depp… or CSI.

Back at Matthew Hunter's trophy-studded apartment, Nick was trying to keep his mind on the case. It wasn't working. He couldn't help keep staring at Valerie.

"What?" She asked, catching him glancing at her again.

Nick shook his head. "It's nothing." He looked away.

Valerie smiled back, sheepishly. "It's the suit, isn't it." She sighed. "I come dressed to impress and all I do is intimidate people."

"No," Nick shrugged, fumbling for an answer. "That's not what I was thinking. And it suits you."

Valerie raised an eyebrow. "Is that meant to be a joke?" To Nick's blank look she grinned and added, "Y'know, suit suits… the suit suits you…" She chuckled, then sighed again. "I don't normally dress like this, but hey, first impressions count."

"Well, you made an impression on Greg."

Valerie's smile faded a little. "And what does that mean?"

"Nothing," Nick looked away again, pretending to look around the apartment for evidence. "It just doesn't seem right that a girl who already has a boyfriend gives out her phone number to the first guy who asks."

Val was silent for a moment. "FYI, I haven't had anyone ask me for my number in a long time. OK? I didn't know what else to do. I got flustered." She frowned. "And secondly, what makes you think I have a boyfriend?"

Nick turned back to face his partner. "I heard you talking to…" He fell silent at the look on Valerie's face.

"You were listening in on a private conversation?" Val stared, incredulous and angry. She shook her head. "Nick, I was talking to my mother! She's an ex-judge from Seattle, has helped me through a lot of difficult stages in my life, and is currently my best and only friend. I call her every day." Val's eyes glittered dangerously. "And you thought I got a call from my boyfriend?" Her face twisted bitterly. "I don't even have one! I've been single since Y2K."

"… Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh'." Val scowled. "For a CSI you make a lot of assumptions. You don't know me at all, Mr Stokes." She pushed past him and headed for the door.

"I'd like to… to get to know you…"

Valerie turned, slowly, her face unreadable. She said nothing, just stared at him.

Nick shrugged, feeling a little put out. "But then that's up to you to decide, right?"

"Right." Val said. She nodded a second later, and looked down at her feet. "Right." She turned back to face him, a chill smile on her face. "And that's why you're jealous of Greg. Jealous enough to invade my privacy."

Nick felt it was time to defend himself. "Hey, when a pretty face walks into the lab, Greg's bound to do something like that. That's just the kind of guy he is."

Valerie raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? So you're not jealous I gave my phone number to the labrat with the puppy-dog eyes?"

"I… Well… No, it's just… You gave him your number…" I sound like a whiny two-year-old, Nick cursed himself silently.

Val smirked. "I'll give my phone number to anyone who's cute enough, providing I know him… and he asks nicely."

Oh. "Well… Can I have your phone number? Please?"

She looked at him for a good minute, her smile a trifle frosty. Finally, she raised an eyebrow. "What do you need my phone number for? We're partners on the same case… Speaking of which, perhaps we should interview the security guards. They might have seen something." She turned and strode out of the door, her head held high.

That's a no, Nick. Nick sighed and followed after Valerie, feeling a bit of an idiot.

--

"Matt? Bring a girl home? You gotta be kidding me!" The guard chuckled wryly. "I mean, Matthew was a player, sure, but he never brought girls back to his place. Ever."

Nick frowned. "And why would that be?"

Val answered the question. "The animals, right?"

The security guard nodded. "Right. Matt was one of those guys who was always lucky with the ladies. Made a lot of the other fellas jealous. But he never brought his birds home. Always took 'em to hotels or back to their place. My guess is it was easier to score that way." The guard winked at Val.

"Mr Johnson," Val cleared her throat, "Is there any reason why Matthew would bring someone up to his apartment?"

The guard shook his head. "No. The man wasn't much of an entertainer. And as far as I know, he didn't even bring any other hunting enthusiasts home to show off his collection. Ask the other guards here, we'll all tell you the same thing."

"So no guests? Ever?" Val snorted, and shook her head.

Nick stepped in. "So you didn't see anyone coming into the apartment with Mr Hunter at all?"

"No," the guard shrugged, "I didn't. But then, it wasn't my shift."

"Whose shift was it, then?"

"Bernie's. I'll get him for you, if you like." The man went back into his booth and spoke into his walkie-talkie.

Val looked over her notes. "An animal-collecting player who didn't bring girls home, no friends, no hobbies other than scoring." She smiled a tight lipped smile into the distance. "Only in Vegas."

"Are you still mad at me?"

Val's smile didn't waver. "What gives you that idea, Mr Stokes?"

Nick sighed. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to eavesdrop. Are you happy now?"

Valerie paused, her dark sunglasses hiding the emotion in her eyes. After a while she smiled at Nick. "No, not really. But it's a start."

"Val, I…"

"Bernie's coming now," the guard stepped out of his booth. "He's just finishing off his coffee."

"Thankyou," Valerie nodded at the security guard. "While we're waiting, is there anything else you could tell us about Mr Hunter?"

The guard shrugged. "He gambled. A lot. And didn't care whether he won or lost. Whether he came home five grand in the red or five grand in the black, it didn't matter. It wasn't about the money for Matt."

"The thrill of the hunt," Val smiled wryly. "Hunter by name and profession, no matter what jungle he's in."

"Got it in one, ma'am." The guard nodded. "But Matt's 'hunting' was bound to get him in trouble. The casinos like people who throw money at them, but not people who don't care whether they win or lose. Matt had big gambling debts, and some of them didn't involve money."

Val raised an eyebrow. "I see." She paused for a moment, then added, "Do you know what casinos Mr Hunter frequented the most?"

"All of them." The guard shrugged. "He went for the big ones on weekends and the obscure ones on weekdays." The guard lowered his voice. "Don't spread the word, but all of us working here had a pot of money riding on when the casinos would come visit Matt. I had from June 10 until June 30."

Nick and Val both raised eyebrows.

The guard held up his hands, defensively. "Hey, it was just a lucky pot, y'know? And we were only betting on the fact that the casinos would come to collect, not that Matt really get bumped off. Hey," he added, as though the thought just struck him, "Since Matt was murdered, does that mean the bet is off?"

Nick nodded. "Sure," he said dryly, "Murder constitutes that all bets must be annulled. You and all your friends can get your money back."

The guard nodded and grinned, not getting the sarcasm, "Great, coz I had a fifty in there."

Val said nothing, but her lips twisted.

A cheery ringtone started, one that Nick recognised, and Val fumbled for her phone quickly. "Excuse me." She took a few steps away before answering. "Hello?"

Nick wisely decided to ignore Val's conversation. Luckily for him, the second security guard appeared.

"Hey, I'm Bernie."

Nick shook the man's hand. "I'm Nick Stokes, I'm with the Crime Lab. I'd like to ask you a few questions."

"Shoot."

Nick took out his notes. "It was your shift last night when Matthew Hunter had a visitor, correct?"

Bernie nodded. "Yeah, but they didn't come in together."

The first security guard interrupted. "Listen, I've got to get back to work, I'll see you later."

Bernie waved. "Sure. Bye." The first guard sauntered off.

Nick frowned. "What do you mean, they didn't come in together?"

"Ten-thirty seven, a cab pulls in. This guy gets out, tells me he's meeting a friend at the condo, asks where the bathroom is. Ten minutes later, Mat pulls in, rolls down the window, tells me he's got a girl coming over later tonight and doesn't want to be disturbed 'if I know what he means'. No other people came to the apartment that night."

"What about anyone leaving?"

Bernie shrugged. "About half an hour later, this chick in a little black dress comes out, waves goodnight to me, stands on the curb and flags down a taxi. Aside from that, three other guests made late night trips out, but they all went out after the time I heard Matt was murdered."

Suspect! Woman calling taxi! Nick made a note. "Anything distinguishing about this lady?"

"She was blonde." Bernie snorted. "And she was barefoot."

Barefoot! Strike two! Nick barely contained a grin, then realised his predicament. He frowned as he asked, "Did you see that woman coming into the condo before?"

Bernie shook his head. "No. Truth be told, I have no idea where she came from. She wasn't a guest, and none of the other guys had seen her before."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "You talked about her, huh?"

Bernie grinned. "Sure, why not? You see a pretty face, you want to find out all you can about her, yeah?"

Val came over, her sunglasses still on. "That was Greg. He called about that information he didn't share with us before… and to have something of a chat with me." She looked pointedly at Nick. "Have you got a suspect yet?"

Nick held up his notes. "We do now."

Val gave him a tight smile. "Good." She paused, then added, "I saw something up at Mr Hunter's apartment that might help us. I didn't think too much of it before, but it might be the case-breaker."

"I'll come with you."

"I'm perfectly capable of doing this myself, Mr Stokes." She smiled that false smile again. "It shouldn't take more than a minute. Hold your breath."

Nick sighed as Val walked away.

Bernie smirked. "Having girl troubles, huh?"

"It's not like that."

"But she's mad at you, right?"

Nick sighed, and nodded.

Bernie slapped Nick on the back. "Buck up. She'll come around. Just don't take 'no' for an answer."

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Nick argued. "She's… she's not going to be staying here long."

"All the more reason to get on her good side."

Nick looked up, towards the apartment, where Val had disappeared to. "Yeah. Good point."

"So what are you waiting for?" Bernie grinned. "Get her before someone else does!"

Nick grinned back, then added wryly, "Any suggestions for stopping a girl from being mad?"

"Apologising helps."

"Done that."

Bernie nodded. "Flowers and chocolates. Maybe even something sparkly, if she's THAT mad."

"I don't know her that well."

"No time like the present!"

Nick shrugged. "I guess so."

"Here she comes." Bernie warned, wiping the smile off his face.

The red-head came towards Nick with a business-like stride. Valerie held up an evidence bag, a hint of a mocking smile on her lips. "Here. What do you make of this?" She passed it to Nick and took off her sunglasses.

It was a card, a playing card. Nick turned the bag over, looking at both sides of it. The back was a plain green background, the front…

Well, it was… unusual. Where most cards had a mirror image, so that the picture could be seen right-way-up, no matter how it was held, this card was split in half. It was a Queen and a Jack - two cards in one. The Queen of Hearts smirked sedately from the top, but when Nick turned the card upside down, the Jack of Hearts glowered sternly out at him. The queen was holding a rose; the knave was holding a gun.

"Could be a calling-card," Nick hazarded. He looked up at Val - she was watching him impassively. "The casinos did want Matt to pay up; maybe they got tired of him not paying his debts."

Val pursed her lips and nodded. "Sounds good so far… but why the Queen and the Jack on one card?"

Nick shrugged. "I have no idea." He saw a sparkle in Valerie's eyes. "What?"

"You know how I said Greg called me before?" She said slowly, gauging Nick's reaction. Nick wisely decided to keep his face blank when he nodded. "Well," Val continued, "The DNA on the shoe came back. XY."

Nick's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "Matthew Hunter was wearing the stiletto heels?"

"No way," Bernie broke in, shaking his head. "Matt wouldn't wear no stiletto heels. He wasn't like that. At all. If he had a girl over…" The guard frowned. "Shouldn't the girl be wearing the heels?"

Val smirked, then shrugged. "I'm as stumped as you are, sir." She took the card back from Nick and stared through the bag at it. "Maybe we should go back to the lab. I don't think there's anything more here at the scene of the crime." She sighed, a little resigned, "Now we just try and put our 'pretty fuzzy story' into focus."

Bernie grinned, first at Val, then at Nick. "I've got twenty bucks that says you couldn't solve it before 3am tomorrow."

The Texan grinned. "You're on."

Val slipped her sunglasses back on, but not before Nick saw her rolling her eyes in mock-despair. And there was no hiding that smile of hers.

A/N: Would you believe it, two more chapters to go! (Wow that's bad grammer) Anyhoo… suggestions and comments are lovely and always welcome. I especially thank Nerwen and Tinuviel for helping me with this… and scififreakmi to for the constant comment…ation… ness…dom. Yeah. And to all my other fans, you ROCK! whoooo!