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Nick sqatted down, frowning at the small trail of fluid near the edge of the pool. No blood, that much he figured. It was far too... runny to be blood, and the colour was off, too. Not the right kind of red. And it looked too fresh to be blood from the scene, anyway.
"Hey, Warrick?"
"Yeah?" Warrick, standing a few feet away looking for evidence on the ground, took a couple of steps towards Nick.
"Check this out," Nick said, shining his flashlight on the watery trail of red fluid. He put down a yellow evidence marker and then pointed to the fluid as Warrick squatted down in front of him. "It's a little thin for blood, isn't it?"
"Yeah." Warrick frowned at the substance, changing his flashlight from the right into the left hand. He dipped his pinky finger into the liquid.
He's not even wearing gloves! The alarm bells in Nick's head started shrilling immediately. "What do you--?" Too late...
Warrick brought his finger to his mouth and, before Nick could stop him, tasted the substance. He made a face and looked at the incredulous Nick.
"Tastes like sugar," he commented.
"Huh," was all Nick could say at that moment. Inside, however, he was preparing the big safety lecture Warrick was sure to receive once shift was over. Sticking unknown substances into his mouth! Really, hadn't his grandma ever told him not to eat stuff he picked up from the ground? Damnit, Warrick!
"Erythrosine."
Nick and Warrick turned at the voice, a little startled because neither of them had heard their boss coming up behind them. Gil Grissom was holding his silver evidence kit and a flashlight, pointing its beam at a hummingbird feeder suspended between two lantern poles. [1] It held a red liquid the same colour as was on the ground.
"Red dye number three," he explained.
"Hummingbirds do love the colour red," Nick added. He'd seen that on the Discovery Channel just a couple of weeks ago. Gris had been fascinated by it, too, even forgetting about the article he wanted to read in new issue of Forensics Monthly.
"You've been watching way too much Discovery Channel," Warrick said, shaking his head at Nick. He rubbed his fingers together to get rid of the sticky red liquid, without much success though.
Grissom turned his gaze from the hummingbird feeder to the two men, his flashlight travelling with him.
Warrick looked up at his boss. "This guy," he indicated Nick, "needs a girl."
Nick and Warrick both stood up, and Grissom looked at them expressionless. Nick grinned as Warrick backed off several steps and pointed to the other side fo the pool. "I'm going to check out the cabana," he said, before leaving into just that direction.
Grissom looked back at Nick, a small smile playing on his lips. "I could tell Warrick that I already have a 'girl' but he's a geek, too, so... not much of a help in that direction," he said with a wink.
"Who are you calling a geek?" Grissom asked with mock outrage in his voice. "I just happen to be a highly informed and academic person. That doesn't automatically make me a geek."
Nick raised his eyebrows. "The fact that you have the Documentary Channel's programme memorised while you miss every single staff meeting with the Sheriff or that you store live insects in your fridge - as food, nonetheless - does indicate to a higher-than-usual level of geekiness though."
"Okay, I concede. I am a geek."
"Love you anyway, Gil, love you anyway," Nick said, laughing. He kept his voice low, shooting a quick glance at Warrick who was far enough away not to hear anything.
"I know." Grissom looked suspiciously like he wanted to say something else, but instead, he shook his head. "Now back to work, Nicky."
Nick rolled his eyes and sighed, but obediently let his gaze trail over the ground. "No visible footprints," he commented.
"Doesn't mean someone wasn't out here." Grissom shone his flashlight over the ground. "Grab the ALS," he added.
End
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[1] I know the thing was not suspended between the two lanterns, but I only noticed that after I'd already written the scene and re-watched the episode to go through it again. Just ignore it.