FOUR

"Hey" Catherine came around the corner into Grissom's office. "Warrick's back. You're going to love this one."

"What?" Grissom looked up from the folder. "I thought he was supposed to report to me. Have I missed you getting a promotion or something?"

"Yeah...well, I just saw him in the hall. Evidently it was a real party out in Henderson."

Grissom sighed and decided he should hunt down Warrick to get the story. He and O'Reilly had spent most of the shift out there so it was probably a good one.

"How did it go in Henderson?" asked Grissom as he entered the break room. Warrick was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee.

Warrick finished swallowing and looked at Grissom. His friend looked tired. "I was just going to find you and tell you about it."

"So?..." Grissom looked inquiringly.

"I met O'Reilly out there at a residence….the, ah" Warrick looked at his notes "the Grady residence. Seems they were having a birthday party for one of their kids. They hired a cowboy to come ….you know like a clown or something…...and he showed up, horse and all."

Grissom was looking at him with his 'get to the point' smirk.

"A little while later another character showed up and said he was the ramrod...he had a couple of extra cowboys and horses.. Anyway, the cowboys got into a fight and Mr. Grady got in the middle and threw the latecomers out. Chishom stayed and finished his gig at the party and everybody was happy. But when everyone in the neighborhood started getting back to their houses…"

" Let me guess…."said Grissom. "All the houses had been broken into?"

"Yes. Apparently the late comers were actually the James/Younger gang."

"They were bank robbers, Warrick, not burglars" Grissom said sarcastically.

"Yeah, well….they've changed their MO. After gathering as much loot as they could carry they hopped on their horses tried to get the heck out of Dodge. The dogs in the area were going crazy and spooked the horses and they took off in all directions. One guy got thrown and one of the dogs got a piece of him. Had to print five houses, interview all the residents, and collected horse poop all up and down the street ….. Not to mention collecting the doggie bite evidence. There were cops, ambulances and even animal control was on the scene. It was a three ring circus for awhile. O'Reilly and his guys rounded up all the characters ...one was found in the middle of a cactus …..and their animals and took them to booking."

"Horses too?" Grissom asked with a smile. "A horse is dangerous at both ends and uncomfortable in the middle."

Warrick gave Grissom a puzzled look. "Okay," he said…."I give. Who said it?"

"Ian Fleming," Gris responded proudly.

"Yeah … okay….Well….animal control took them to horse jail."

"Take the evidence to the lab rats for processing and then get a prelim report written. Then you can head out if you want. You've had a rough day. You can do the rest of it tomorrow."

Warrick couldn't believe what he was hearing. Grissom never suggested that anyone should leave early. Wow, Sara had changed him! But he wasn't going to argue. Tina was off and he could actually spend some time with her.

Grissom turned to walk out and paused at the door. "Maybe I should have sent...Glyn?...with you. Sort of a welcome to Vegas ….

Glyn had heard the story from Catherine and had walked up behind him. "Horse poop and outlaws …..sounds like Texas to me…" she chuckled.

Grissom couldn't help himself. He turned and smiled as he walked back to his office.