The Ides of Metropolis - Matchmaker Style
Rated PG-13
* * denotes emphasis
< > denotes thoughts
As always comments are welcome. (ken.janney@kjanney.com)
Previously:
Clark's interest was instantly piqued, "He worked for Lex Luthor?"
Nodding as he replied, Eugene said, "For twenty years. He was fired a month before he was eligible to retire with a full pension." Again he looked back and forth between them, assessing how his next statement would be received, "His company wasn't making it. That's what I think drove Henry crazy."
Lois questioned, "What do you mean, crazy?"
Shaking his head he said, "You have to understand, he was a loose cannon. One day I found a program he was working on ... the Ides Of Metropolis. When he discovered that I'd seen it he went berserk, threatening me, threatening Lena."
Clark challenged, "Why did Lena testify as a witness for the prosecution?"
Eugene replied, "She was subpoenaed. She had to tell the truth. And the truth was there was no way she could prove I
didn't kill her husband."
Clark replied, "She thinks you did it. She said so, today."
Eugene was shocked, "You saw Lena?"
Lois nodded as she replied, "She came to the Planet." She looked at Clark before she continued, "It's a good thing you didn't go to her house last night -- she's being tailed by the police."
It was as if Eugene had been struck with a baseball bat he was so shocked.
Lois stood and headed for the kitchen, "I'll make us some coffee."
Clark followed Lois into the kitchen. He had a troubled expression as he paced the floor. Finally he grabbed the phone and handed it to Lois. He said, "Make the call."
Lois was startled by this. She whispered, "Your super senses tell you he's lying?"
"Well, no. I can't be sure. His elevated pulse could be simply from fear. It's hard to tell."
"Then I can't call. If you can't be sure then he could very well
be innocent."
Clark still held the phone as he said, "Lois! We had a deal. I haven't heard a single thing that makes me feel he's less guilty or less of a threat to you."
Lois took the phone and hung it back up. "Clark. Please. I'm sure about this."
"Lois, you're always sure."
"Yes, I am and I'm usually right, too. Two days. Give me forty-eight hours. The man's going to prison for life."
Suddenly a noise from the side drew their attention and they both turned to see Eugene standing there, watching. The expression on his face could only be described as one of pain.
Lois noted his expression and asked, "Eugene, what is it?"
When he answered, his tone was one of disbelief, "Lena told you that I killed Henry?"
"She said you did it for her."
Eugene's expression was a mixture of disbelief and hurt as he turned away and made his way back to the living room.
Lois and Clark exchanged a look and then followed him. Lois watched as Eugene moved to the sofa and sat down. She moved over in front of him and said, "Eugene, I think you better tell us the truth."
In a dispirited tone, Eugene said, "Lena was right about one thing. I did do it for her."
Shocked, Lois blurted out, "You killed Harrison?"
Eugene looked up, but now his expression was that of a whipped puppy. "No. I originally confessed, then later, refused to take the stand to protect her." He put his head in his hands.
Disbelievingly, Clark asked, "Lena?"
Looking up again, Eugene said, "Yes. She's the one who did it. She killed her husband."
Lois and Clark were both startled at this declaration. Neither had expected anything like this.
"Eugene, are you saying that you were covering for Lena? That she was really the murderer?"
His expression was sad as he replied, "Yes. At least I think so. I didn't actually see it, but I believe that Lena was responsible. I thought that the case against me would be so weak that they wouldn't convict me. I didn't want to see Lena go to jail."
Clark had been listening to Eugene's heart rate to see if he was lying. Though some of his statements were subjective there was no indication that he was in fact lying. He could be a very practiced liar which would invalidate his conclusion, but Eugene didn't appear to be one of that ilk.
Lois looked at Clark. He nodded his head.
"Eugene, Clark and I are going to have to look into this. You realize that she is throwing you to the wolves by accusing you of the murder. Would she do that if she loved you? That's something that you have to think about."
Lois started to gather her things. "We have to get to the Planet. It'd probably be best if you didn't go out."
And now:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 6
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Lois and Clark had left Eugene some time earlier and as soon as they had arrived at the Planet had put Jimmy to work doing research on the trial.
Lois was at Clark's desk for a change, sitting in his guest chair. They each had a cup of coffee in hand. Lois had just taken a sip and was grimacing. "I'll never be satisfied with the coffee from that machine again. You, Mr. Kent, husband mine, have spoiled me."
Just then, Jimmy came by and dropped a pile of papers on Clark's desk. As he did he said, in an apologetic tone, "Transcripts from the trial, DA's depositions, forensic reports ... more to come, computer's on the blink."
As she grabbed the top sheet, Lois said, "Thanks, Jimmy. Nice work." She hesitated and then added, "Stay on Lena today, all right? The police say that they are following her, but the more eyes the better."
Jimmy nodded and headed off. Lois looked at Clark and was surprised by his stern expression and his arms folded across his chest, Superman fashion. She asked, "What's eating you?" Then she added in a whisper, "Unfold your arms. You look too much like Superman."
With a shake of his head, he unfolded his arms and said, "I'm sorry. I can't help the way I feel. Just because Eugene
said Lena killed her husband, doesn't mean she
did the deed."
After looking around to make sure no one was within hearing distance, Lois whispered, "But your super senses said he was telling the truth."
With a shake of his head, he said, "That doesn't prove anything. A skilled liar can fool a polygraph. The same thing can happen with me."
Lois sat back and asked, "Clark, when did you become so cynical? I'm usually the one saying 'hogwash.' What happened to that bright-eyed bushy-tailed Kansas boy I married?"
Clark replied, "Maybe he's been hanging around ‘Mad Dog Lane' too much."
Jimmy was walking by Clark's desk on his way out and caught the tail end of the conversation and laughed at Clark's remark.
Lois gave him a look; he stopped laughing and high-tailed it out of there.
Once Jimmy had left, she said, "Or, maybe ... he found out that his perfect little world isn't so perfect. That's something about your mom, but I still don't think that it is what it looks like. I'm sure there's a logical explanation."
"I sure hope so."
Lois tried to comfort him, "I'm sure nothing'll come of it. You know my Mom and Dad got divorced when I was a teenager."
"How'd you take it?"
Lois tried to pass it off as nothing, but Clark could hear the pain in her voice as she said, "I pretended that it didn't bother me. A lot of the girls I went to school with came from broken homes. But, it did. It bothered me; it affected me ... more than I thought. I guess we really owe a big debt of gratitude to Herb. If not for these memories we might not have ever gotten together. I had several relationships that would qualify as federal disasters. I had basically sworn off men in general and relationships with them in particular … until then. Now I know what a loving relationship is because of you and I see the same thing with your parents. It'll work out."
"You know, we could continue to work on this if he was back in jail. As long as he's in our apartment, we are aiding and abetting."
"Clark, I'm not going to turn him in. At least not yet. I believe him. He said that Lena Harrison is guilty and I intend to prove it."
Clark was less than enthusiastic as he replied, "Okay, I'm with you, partner."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
While Jimmy went to find and follow Lena Harrington, Lois and Clark went to the HarriTech facility on the outskirts of Metropolis. That was where the body had been found and it was where the dead man had worked.
When they had arrived they had identified themselves, had done some on the spot interviews with random people and been sent back to Harrison's personal assistant. The nameplate on the desk proclaimed the inhabitant to be Miss Bird. When they started talking to her, Lois decided that the name was apt, but that she was a specific bird. She certainly wasn't an owl because she wasn't that bright. Nor was she a dove, peaceful and quiet. She was more like a raptor, fierce and loyal to her former boss.
In response to Lois's question, Miss Bird said, "No one knew Mr. Harrison better than I did. I was his personal secretary for fifteen years." She huffed and folded her arms across her chest before she finished, "He was a genius, you know."
Lois said, "That may be, but we've interviewed several people who also say he was a tyrant."
Lois could see that she had metaphorically ruffled Miss Bird's feathers because her posture and attitude changed as she answered, "He had a company to run. It wasn't easy, starting his own line of software. And then, to find out that Lena and Eugene were ... he didn't deserve to be two-timed."
Lois tried to throw her a curve, "There was some evidence that indicated Harrison was abusive toward his wife."
Miss Bird became smug as she replied, "Nonsense. He loved her. He would never touch a hair on her head. In his will, he left her everything. All the stock ..."
Lois finished for her, "The debts …"
Miss Bird didn't miss a beat as she replied, "That's not fair. All these accusations against Mr. Harrison. He's not here to defend himself."
Clark tried to defuse the situation. He gave Lois a warning look as he said, "No, no he's not."
Taking the cue from Clark, Miss Bird said, "Henry Harrison had a heart of gold; one morning he found a homeless man sleeping in the utility room. He got him a cot. Brought him food. Does that sound like a monster to you?"
Lois was still not to be put off, even by Clark, she asked, "Where is this homeless man now? We'd like to talk to him."
At a loss for an answer, Miss Bird finally said, "I don't know. Since the murder ... I suppose I can't blame him for not wanting to sleep in that room anymore."
Lois was disappointed, but she still said, "Well, thank you for your time."
Miss Bird, was disappointed as she replied, "You're welcome ... I'm just straightening up ... we're closing the doors tonight. Look, I know it's part of your job to dig around looking for new angles on stories, but ... Eugene Laderman killed Mr. Harrison. That's the real truth."
Lois and Clark exchanged a look. Lois's was one of disbelief, Clark's was questioning.
They headed back to the Daily Planet.
Lois suggested, "Harrison worked for Lex Luthor …"
Clark interrupted, "Why am I not surprised? I wonder what nefarious schemes he was working on."
"Hopefully we can find out and add it to our file on Luthor. I think we should call and ask for his employment record."
"Most of the time, those things are confidential."
"Lex apparently is still interested in me. Maybe we can use that to get the information. Let me make a phone call."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A few hours later.
Lex Luthor was on his balcony holding an over/under two-barrel 12 gauge shotgun. He was wearing a nattily tailored shooter's vest in beige with a leather shoulder pad.
Nigel St. John had clamped a clay pigeon launcher to the balustrade and at Luthor's shouted command of "Pull!" launched the clay into the air out over the street.
With apparent ease Luthor brought up the gun, sighted and fired, blasting the clay pigeon into small fragments.
Seeing the pigeon explode, Nigel complimented his employer, "Excellent shot, Sir."
As he finished speaking and before he had a chance to load another clay the intercom on Lex's desk inside the office buzzed. Nigel moved inside to answer it.
When he returned, he announced, "Ms. Lane and Mr. Kent are here, Sir."
"The … sanitized version of Harrisons file …"
"On your desk, Sir."
Nodding, Luthor commanded, "Have them come in."
Nigel moved across the office to the inner door and opened it to allow them to enter. Nigel closed the door and escorted the couple to the balcony.
While Lois and Clark watched, Nigel launched another clay pigeon, Luthor brought up the gun and shot. As they all watched the clay pigeon exploded into small fragments.
Clark walked to the edge and looked down. He asked, "What happens if you miss?"
Luthor pondered for a second before he replied, "Interesting question, Mr. Kent. Let's see …" He picked up a clay pigeon and hefted it before continuing, "This clay pigeon weighs two ounces. We are on the one hundred and twentieth floor, approximately fifteen hundred feet above street level. Considering the G force and the speed ... if the object hit the pavement, or some hapless passer-by, it would make contact at about two hundred miles per hour. My guess is that it would, unfortunately, kill him or her, instantly." Before he continued, Luthor smiled and added, "I never miss."
He effectively dismissed Clark as he turned to Lois and said, "So nice to see
you again, Lois." He was reaching for Lois's hand, presumably to kiss it. She started to raise it, but Clark reached for her hand and pushed it back down. Luthor gave Clark a look of anger at being thwarted, but he recovered his veneer of urbanity quickly and motioned for them to join him in his office as he moved in that direction, "Please, join me."
Luthor, ever the gracious host indicated a couple of chairs, offering for them to be seated.
Rather than taking the offered seat, Clark started to ask, "About Henry Harrison …"
Luthor cut him off, "Yes, when I received Lois's call, I requested that the head of LexComp personnel pull his file." He turned to his desk, picked up a manila folder and pointedly handed it to Lois, "I'm afraid there's not much there to help you."
Seeing how the wind was blowing, Lois asked, sweetly, "Did you know him personally?"
Responding to Lois, Luthor said, "Oh, yes. He was quite an ambitious and talented man when I hired him. Great thinker. Ahead of his time."
Pressing her advantage, Lois asked, "Is it true he was fired only a month before he was eligible to retire on a full pension?"
Luthor was his most conciliatory as he replied, "Yes. When we downsized the company during the recession, hundreds of employees were forced out." He paused as if searching his memory before continuing, "We made every effort to relocate them. But Henry decided he wanted to be his own boss. Shame about the murder ... have they caught the man yet?"
Lois replied, "No, not yet."
Luthor picked up on Lois's tone of voice and asked, "Lois... is there some doubt in your mind as to the man's guilt?"
Lois nodded and replied, "Yes. A great deal of doubt."
Both Lois and Clark could see the metaphorical wheels turning in Luthor's mind until Lois spoke up.
"Thanks for your help." Lois and Clark started for the door, but Lois stopped and turned back. She had decided to try for a reaction, "Lex, have you ever heard of a software program called 'The Ides of Metropolis?' Something Harrison was working on."
Lex might have hesitated a second, but Lois couldn't be sure as he answered, "Ides of Metropolis? No, I haven't." He smiled and finished, "Sorry I couldn't have been of greater assistance."
As soon as Lois and Clark had left, Lex turned to Nigel and asked, "Are our technicians at LexComp still having those same problems ... the computers running slow?"
"I believe so, Sir."
Luthor thought for a second and then said, "Hmmmm. You'd better get me LexComp internal security." As Nigel turned away to comply, Lex stopped him and asked, "Nigel, do you think it would be possible to have Kent shot and blame it on Laderman?"
"Highly unlikely, Sir."
"Well, it was a thought. Lacking enough evidence of Lois's straying so that Kent will divorce her, I need to eliminate Kent and a direct confrontation is out of the question."
Nigel thoughtfully rubbed his jaw as he said, "Yes, Sir. Direct confrontation would be ill advised."
Luthor rubbed his jaw, the same way as Nigel, as he said, "I too have felt the consequences of direct confrontation of the mild mannered Mr. Kent. You are right. All those years, growing up on a farm has given him more strength than is apparent under those loose suits. Let's pursue the ‘mugging'."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
When they returned to the Planet they went through the scant information contained in Harrison's personnel jacket from LexComp.
Lois voiced her frustration, "Nothing! There's nothing here. It lists his credentials, but there's nothing about his personality at all. No complaints from co-workers. That was all we heard about at HarriTech."
Just then, Jimmy came in. He was grinning like the Cheshire cat and waving a videocassette in the air. He shouted, "Wait till you guys see this!" He led the way to the conference room while Lois and Clark followed. Once they were inside, Jimmy closed the blinds and popped the cassette into the player.
On the screen, Lena Harrison, wearing a scarf and sun glasses, was seen crossing the lobby of a hotel. Suddenly the scene shifted to a shapely pair of legs revealed by a mini-skirt traveling in the opposite direction. After a couple of seconds of tracking the legs the scene shifted back to Lena Harrison and picked up the trail once again.
Lois asked, "How'd you get this? And what about Reed? Weren't her men tailing Lena as well?"
Jimmy nodded and smirked, "Two guys in a car in front of the hotel. Some stakeout."
As they watched the screen, Lena approached an elevator. Suddenly, almost blocking the view of Lena, a man in a trench coat and hat moved up behind and then next to her. Just before the elevator doors opened the man leaned down and they exchanged an intimate kiss.
Lois was jubilant as she chortled, "So much for the grieving widow!"
Jimmy hit rewind and when it finished ejected the tape and handed it to Lois. As he did he asked, "What now?"
Lois replied, "For the time being, go back there and see if you can trail one or the other of them when they leave the hotel. Don't waste too much time though. It is late."
"You got it."
comments go here. TBC
