Disclaimer: If I could, I'd stuff the cast members of CSI in my closet and feign innocence to all forms of lawsuits. But I don't own CSI. And I can't stuff Eric, George or Doug in my closet. It's not big enough. More's the pity.

Warrick looked up. "Hey Sara?"

"Mmm?"

He gestured with his coffee mug. "You know who she is?"

Sara frowned and peered through the glass at the woman walking with Nick through the lab. "I don't know. I've never seen her before."

Warrick downed the last of his coffee and grinned. "I bet that's the transfer that Greg is so in love with." He smirked. "He was right, though."

Sara raised an eyebrow but decided not to comment.

As Nick and the woman passed by the break room, Warrick called out. "Hey Nick, why don't you introduce us to your new girlfriend?"

Both Nick and the red-head stopped walking at once matching expressions on their face.

"Not funny, man," Nick growled, coming towards Warrick. Somehow, holding an evidence bag with a pair of stilettos didn't exactly make him seem very intimidating. The fixed smile on the red-head seemed much scarier. Sara coughed, hiding a laugh.

It had been on the tip of Warrick's tongue to say 'I knew you liked girls with red hair, Nick, but flirting on the job isn't such a good idea', but he decided against it.

"This is Valerie Wilks," Nick said, forcing himself to remain calm. "She's Catherine's temporary replacement from Seattle."

Val's fixed smile became somewhat amused. "I know who I am, thankyou, Mr Stokes."

Sara grinned, then held her hand out to Valerie, "Sara Sidle. Welcome to Vegas."

"Whoa, hold up!" Nick warned, and both women froze. "I wouldn't shake hands with her if I were you. She bites."

Sara and Val both glowered.

"Which one were you talking about, Nick?" Warrick asked dryly, and chuckled.

"Nice to meet you, Sara," Val ignored both men and shook Sara's hand. "At least you're not listening in on private phone calls."

Warrick and Sara both looked at Nick.

"It wasn't intentional," he said plaintively.

Val just rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Sure."

Warrick laughed. "You put your foot in it big time, bro."

"I hear that." Val folded her arms and looked miffed.

"I apologised already," Nick stared at Val. "And you're still mad?"

Val fought with her lips, then finally gave up and grinned. "No, I just wanted to how long I could make you squirm."

Warrick laughed, Sara bit her lip to hide a smile, and Nick just stared at Val. The red-head shrugged, grinning smugly.

"From Seattle, huh?" Warrick grinned. "Welcome to the desert, Valerie."

"Call me Val," She grinned at him, "And you are?"

"Warrick Brown."

"Nice to meet you, Warrick." She nodded. "I've finally met just about everyone in the famous Vegas team."

Sara frowned, "We're not… famous."

"Sure you are." Val grinned. "Number one in the country? You're famous."

"But we're not number one," Nick interrupted.

Valerie snorted. "Quantico doesn't count. It's run by the Fibbies."

Sara laughed. "Fibbies. Have to remember that one." Val grinned back.

Nick cleared his throat. "Ok, we really have to get back to work now…"

Warrick grinned at his friend. "Yeah, the trophy hunter case. How's that going?"

"We're stumped." Val sighed. Then she brightened. "What cases do you guys have?"

"Oh we've finished ours." Warrick sighed. "I had an accidental overdose, and Sara was dealing with a murder-suicide."

Val looked to Sara, her interest perked. "Murder-suicide?"

Sara whacked Warrick on the arm before answering. "A suicide that looked like a murder."

"Oh." Val tried not to look disappointed.

"Well, you got the trophy-hunter case," Sara said, "So… did the animals fight back?"

Val rolled his eyes. "I fail to see how a rhino could fit into a pair of these," she took the evidence bag with the shoes inside from Nick and examined them again, "But we're pretty sure it was some kind of animal."

"In other words," Nick said with a smile, "We're stuck. All the evidence we have is… confusing. At best."

"Didn't Grissom say something once about how 'if you're not confused, you're not doing your job'?"

Valerie raised an eyebrow. "He says things like that?"

"I do, actually."

The four CSI's turned to find Grissom standing in the doorway, a manila folder in his hands.

"Hey," Sara smiled, then frowned. "I thought you were interviewing Gina Thompson."

Grissom paused a beat. "It was a false alarm."

Warrick snorted. "Sure. Picture that." Sara just shook her head, as though it were something she had expected him to do.

Val looked from Grissom to Sara, and back again, but said nothing.

"So," Grissom came over, "Are you done with your case yet?"

"Not yet," Val said with all seriousness, "But if we don't crack it before 3am, Nick owes some security guards 20 bucks."

Warrick sniggered. Grissom looked at Nick for an explanation.

"One guard, actually." Nick smiled, trying to redeem himself.

Grissom didn't say a word.

Nick cleared his throat and put the evidence on the table. "Right now, we have a wig fibre, evidence from the coroner, site photos…"

"And XY DNA on this lovely pair of shoes." Val placed the bag on the table next to everything else. "Which," she added, "Doesn't match up with the victim."

"We also have this." Nick held up the card.

"Let me se that," Warrick said, holding his hand out for it. "It looks like a calling card, but none I've ever seen."

"So, what, a bounty hunter killed your trophy hunter?" Sara raised an eyebrow.

Warrick handed the card back to Nick. "Yeah, well, good luck catching him. Hitmen have a way if disappearing."

"We know that," Nick sighed, "But this hitman left a lot of evidence behind. We may be able to narrow it down and actually find the guy."

"Or this could end up on Grissom's fish board. What do you think, Grissom?"

Grissom folded his arms and considered the evidence. He looked up at Val. Valerie had been watching the exchange, a sadly wistful expression on her face as she looked from CSI to CSI. But as Grissom looked at her, she smiled hopefully.

"Well, you're our boss. Maybe you'll see the piece we've missed from our puzzle."

"I think you have all the pieces," Grissom said, blank-faced. "You just have to put them together."

Valerie frowned. "But we have male DNA on the shoes, shoes which belong to a woman, wig fibres, and a woman seen fleeing the scene." She sighed, "Well, not fleeing, but I digress."

Grissom shrugged, but couldn't help but be a little smug. "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Valerie stared at Grissom, the realisation dawning. Nick laughed and brought his hands up to his face.

Sara hid a smile at the look on Valerie's face. "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle." Grissom nodded, pleased that Sara had accurately cited his source.

"Improbable?" Valerie looked like she was having a hard time swallowing what Grissom had just proposed. Nick looked like he was about to laugh and smash his head on the glass doors at the same time.

The man walked past the guards, determined not to draw any further attention to himself. He'd have to be quick. He located the bathrooms. He slid into the women's bathroom, pulled the clothes out of his bag. He changed quickly in one of the stalls, hiding the bag, then primped and primed in the mirror. A little blush, a little lipstick, a little mascara and eyeliner… And you wouldn't recognise the man who came in. A quick adjustment of the wig, making sure it was on securely, then he slipped on the stilettos. He hated these things. Stupid things gave him blisters. But beauty is pain, and tonight, he'd have to be the most beautiful girl on earth to kill a man… hell, it was worth the paycheck. And it wasn't like this was his first time.

The hitman slipped the gun into his purse, checked his makeup one more time, then tottered out the door and headed for Matthew's apartment. The Knave of Hearts was about to strike again.

"A cross-dressing hitman?!" She shook her head. "You know, never mind. This is Vegas."

Grissom frowned. "You're making a lot of assumptions, Valerie, for a CSI."

Valerie smiled. "I'm fresh from Seattle; cut me some slack."

Grissom shrugged. "You'll get used to it." His pager started beeping. "Well, they found Ms Thompson for real now. I'm going to go have a talk to her." He left as quietly as he had come.

Nick put a hand on Val's shoulder, trying to reassure her. "I don't think you assumed too much."

Val snorted. "Four years, Nick. I should have at least considered it." She shrugged, and smiled. "Ah well, at least there's tomorrow."

Well, at least she's not calling me 'Mister Stokes' anymore.

"You sound like a workaholic," Warrick grinned. "Like Sara here."

Sara hit Warrick again. "There's nothing wrong with loving the job you're in!"

Nick laughed and started gathering up the evidence. "Yeah, but you love it more than life itself."

Warrick laughed as Nick got Sara's empty polystyrene cup in the face. "Nice shot! You should join a basketball team or something!"

Val looked from CSI to CSI again, that wistful expression on her face again. This time, only Sara noticed.

"What about you, Valerie?" She asked the red-head. "You like being a CSI?"

Val smiled, but looked down at her feet. "Yeah," she smiled. "I love my job." She met Sara's eyes. "It's easier than watching people die."

The three CSI's looked at Val. Before any of them could question her further, Brass knocked on the door.

"Morning all." He said cheerily. "Sara, you're not busy, are you?"

Sara rose to her feet. "No, why?"

"Well, Gina Thompson is here, and Grissom thought it would be a good idea if you came and helped wrap up the case with him. Y'know, you two worked this case together and everything. So. Yeah." He smiled.

Sara raised an eyebrow. "And the real reason he invited me is…?"

Brass grinned. "Gina's being a bitch and Grissom can't handle it. He wants moral support… and for you to bring a cup."

Nick, Warrick and Val all laughed. Sara barely hid a smile.

"Grissom can do this on his own, Brass. Why does he need me there?"

"Because he trusts you."

Sara didn't even bother to try hiding the pleased expression on her face. "Alright. I'm on my way." She waved goodbye to the three CSI's and followed after Brass.

Valerie watched her go, and looked thoughtful. "Does Grissom quote things like… like what he said before… a lot?"

Nick and Warrick nodded. "Yup."

"And Sara always seems to know where they're from?"

Again, the nod and answer in sync. "Yup."

She turned to face the boys. "Did anyone notice that Grissom and Sara seem to have this… thing?"

"Yup."

"Oh," Val nodded. "Good. So I'm not losing my CSI edge after all."

A/N: One more chapter to go. Thanks to Nerwen and Tinuviel for their never-ending support. I lub youse guys.