Part Twenty-One
Lois came in that morning in full Mad Dog Lane mode, wearing a smart brown jacket and skirt set edged in electric blue piping – one of her favorite power suits. After her out-of-the-ordinary conversation with Superman the previous night she was more determined than ever to get her partner cleared of all charges and eliminate the threat of embroiling The Daily Planet in a nasty legal fight.
Lois couldn’t help but smile secretively. Who would believe that Superman had taken her flying! Talk about impressing a gal! Nobody had a snowball’s chance in a volcano of topping that stunt! Reliving those precious minutes made her knees go weak ….
The incessant rattle and hum of the newsroom fell away as the previous night’s memory came to mind. Superman, at first he hadn’t seemed real that frightful night in the Metro tunnel, more like a fantasy. He had tried to play himself off as remote and untouchable, like a man of steel. But personally conversing with him gradually wore the fantasy and shield away. He had abilities which allowed him to help a friend, which made him real.
The see-saw of last night’s emotions was … perhaps all too real? There was something about him which tugged at her in a way that was oddly familiar yet dissimilar. Something …
A decidedly familiar voice invaded her thoughts. “Lois! You look like some star stuck teen-ager Elvis just kissed! What’ve you got for your ol’ editor today?” Since Perry had received news that Clark’s story might have been stolen and his sources railroaded, he was in a more optimistic mood, but that didn’t mean he could let Lois stop being a working reporter.
“Uh, there’s the arson report follow-up on the Doolittle building fire that the networks don’t have and ‘something else’ that I’ll run by you later today.”
The tone in her voice caused Perry to look at her closely. He opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it and instead walked towards the coffee station instead, searching for a fresh glazed donut. In the years of working with Lois he knew the inflections of her voice as if she had been his own daughter. If there was ‘something else’ to run by him and shouldn’t be discussed in the bullpen, he could afford to wait.
After grabbing a chocolate donut and coffee, Lois started her morning work routine, beginning with contacting her acquaintance in the District Attorney’s office, Mayson Drake perhaps she could –covertly of course – provide information about the first person on her short list to interview; Todd Sylvester.
“Good Morning Mayson. How’s that cute boyfriend of yours?”
{Dan’s fine. I’m so glad you set us up! Unfortunately, he’s going to be stationed in DC for a couple of weeks. So Lane, to what do I owe the honor of this call?}
Lois could tell by her tone that Mayson was busy, with no time to spare on idle chitchat. So without hesitation she plunged into the reason for the call. “What can you tell me about Sylvia Nygaard, did she really fabricate this whole story that she told to Clark?”
{Ha! So the rumors are true, that well-dressed snake Sebastian Kell is planning on representing TresAx in legal action against the Planet! Listen, take my advice – not that you will of course - but stay away from this story. It has big money and big legal written all over it.}
“Mayson, this is important! Yesterday we were able to unearth proof that my partner is innocent of all charges. Look, I know Nygaard is being investigated by your office for illegal stock trades which makes her testimony with a certain reporter about her former employer moot. If my suspicions are correct, this could open up an investigation that’s right up your alley. Who knows, maybe the suits in Washington will send Dan back to help the DA’s office clean up the mess?”
Several seconds crawled by as she waited for Mayson’s response. She could envision the woman sitting back in her chair, head cocked and twirling a lock of wavy blonde hair between her fingers.
***
Emma Tremayne was sitting at a desk in her office as she spoke to Stephanie, {TresAx means business. They hired Sebastian Kell, one of the best lawyers in Metropolis.} Stephanie could imagine the leggy blond pointing to herself as she continued. {I’m what they call a legal shark. Sebastian is the guy I call when something needs to be done that’s beyond my sphere of influence.} She hesitated and then added, {He’s also is not afraid to take steps that are ‘not exactly’ legal.}
Stephanie heard in her old friend’s voice respect for the other lawyer and with a touch of trepidation said, “If he’s so good, why haven’t I ever heard of him?”
There was heavy silence on the other end of the phone before Emma responded, {A shark never tells the prey it’s about to attack.}
“Oh, yes that does make sense. Where do we go from here?”
{You still need to retire and hold onto that folder. Currently, getting out of DMG is your number one concern. Tell Daae your intentions immediately!}
After her friend hung up, Stephanie sat contemplating the discussion in her kitchen, quietly sipping an espresso which was now lukewarm. She decided it was time to have a little chat with Bonesteel; perhaps together they could work on a strategy.
***
Jack and Stacy, who up to that point did not know that Ken Janney had, through his computer sleuthing, uncovered who had gotten into Clark’s workstation, were determined to do what they could to assist in getting their friend’s name cleared of wrongdoing and back onto The Daily Planet’s roster of reporters.
According to Clark, only he and Perry knew about the TresAx story. He had kept the article notes, interviews, and the names and addresses of the three people who were his sources in his home computer. It was not until the day he had uploaded the story from a floppy diskette onto the work machine - the day of Superman’s debut - was the identity of those sources revealed. Clark was certain there had been no illegal entries into his home so that left only his work computer.
Surreptitiously the duo discussed the evening in question with the entire night shift staff. They all admitted to either watching the monitors which showed Superman taking the unconscious trainman to the hospital or chatting in the break area.
But Elsie from re-write, the grandmotherly woman who looked after many on the bullpen staff, especially Clark, did remember hearing Ralph complain rather loudly that he had spilled coffee on the floor, near Clark’s desk. “It struck me as odd at the time because he sits on the other side of the newsroom, there was no reason for him to have been there.”
After a few moments debate, the two approached a rather glum looking Lois and asked for a brief chat in the conference room.
“What’s up,” she asked once Jack closed the door.
After informing Lois of their investigations, Lois informed her two young colleagues about what Ken had discovered. Her expression became thoughtful. “This just might be the additional proof Human Resources needs to get Ralph fired. But the question still remains; what’s the motivation behind it?”
“Yeah, it’s not like Ralph has a fan club ready to defend him. Spilling coffee near Clark’s desk is a flimsy excuse to accuse him of breaking into his computer and stealing a story. Although its water cooler gossip that his productivity has been down even more than usual…” Jack mused.
Stacy joined in. “No way could that untalented excuse for a writer even alter the article to fit his own style. Between what Mr. Janney has discovered and this information which places him in the newsroom at the time of the break-in; that might be all the proof he could want to fire Ralph immediately?”
Lois rubbed her chin considering the intern’s words and then her face lit up. “Stacy! That’s it, alteration to the story!”
Stacy, confused, looked at Lois and then Jack who nodded, his lips quirked into a smirk, “Messing with the media!”
“Who do we know that is the ‘King’ of changing stories to suit his needs?”
“Mr. Gregory Daae.” Jack responded with a shoulder shrug.
“Right! We’ve got a lot of research to do. Stacy, dig around and find out who really owns TresAx? This caper has his slick fingerprints all over it … media manipulation on a large scale.”
“But wait! What about Ralph? If he did give this story to Daae then we can’t have him running around the newsroom causing all kinds of havoc! Who will his next victim be? We … ah, that is to say Perry has to fire this guy.
Jack chimed in, “Stacy’s right. If Ralph is a mole, we can’t have him here.” Jack responded hotly. “Who knows what other computers he plans on hacking into?”
Lois thought back to Bobby Bigmouth’s warning years before, had Ralph been Daae’s mole all this time?
“Agreed Jack, but we need irrefutable evidence; the kind that will satisfy Perry, Human Resources … and a judge. We gotta catch him in the act.” Her eyes gleamed wickedly as a plan began to form. “I know just ‘The Sting’ operation to do it.”
***
The work day was at an end, but Stephanie remained behind, she had finally finished composing her official resignation/retirement letter for Mr. Daae. It was a sobering correspondence to write, yet one that had to be done. Should matters escalate in the near future, Emma’s words would become a reality and the Feds would be crawling all over DMG.
It was time for a little affirmative action for both herself and Bonesteel. With a slightly trembling hand she picked up the phone and punched in a few numbers.
A familiar voice came over the line, “Jasper Templar’s office. May I be of assistance?”
She took in a breath and said, “Yes Mr. Bonesteel you can. My copier is acting up! All my color copies have been coming in black and white! This temperamental machine seems to respond to your attention better than anyone else’s.”
This was their code for when they needed to speak with one another. Neither Bonesteel nor Stephanie could be sure the phone lines were not bugged. Without a moment’s hesitation he said. “Certainly, I will be upstairs in a few minutes.”
“Thank you,” Stephanie said and put the receiver back in its cradle.
Fifteen minutes later Bonesteel was sitting in Stephanie’s visitor’s chair, eager to hear what his business acquaintance had to say.
“Tristan, are you aware that Mr. Kent has been placed on suspension from the Daily Planet? They are saying his sources are incorrect and reported the company’s tax situation falsely. Because Lois Lane is his partner anything we give them might be considered tainted and held in contempt.” She looked at him sharply, “Please be candid with me; is this part of Templar’s or Daae’s plan?”
“I … I don’t know what to say in regards to this,” Bonesteel said, staunchly holding onto his composure. “Templar and Daae both wanted Kent out of the way to get at Lois Lane. Miss Lane has been a thorn in Daae’s side for years, but until recently he considered her more annoying than a threat. But now he’s looking at her with a different eye. Templar, for whatever reason cannot abide the woman.”
“But why go after Clark Kent? Despite his success he’s still a relative neophyte to Metropolis. Lois Lane on the other hand is definitely the more influential of the two.”
He shrugged his shoulder and said, “True. But Mr. Kent is a newcomer who used to be intimately involved with the new Mrs. Daae. Mr. Templar might have an agenda all his own.”
Bonesteel allowed that to sink in and when Stephanie did not answered he continued, “I see your friends – the backchannels - didn’t provide that bit of information?”
Stephanie shook her head. “No. No they did not. But this no longer involves them, what happens now is up to us.”
***
Dusk was falling when Clark stepped out of a cab in front of the pleasant colonial style home of Todd and Tara Sylvester in the quiet suburbs of Brookside Heights just outside of Metropolis. He wanted to talk with Todd because he was the one who first put him onto the illicit tax situation at TresAx.
He knocked twice on the red wooden door; inside he heard a comment and a few heavy footsteps. A black man of average height and build opened the door abruptly, “I told you people to leave us….” The angry flow of words ceased when he recognized his visitor. With one word, his displeasure increased tenfold.
“Kent.” He snarled.
He started to slam the door, but Clark was quicker, yet cautiously used his strength. “Todd! Listen, we have to talk. I’m here to help!”
Todd, still trying to close the heavy door spoke bitterly, “Help? You and The Daily Planet have ‘helped’ enough? I’m out of work … my dream job. Tara is being hounded by the ‘reporters’ outside her job. But worst of all … my kids. They were being harassed so much at school, we had to take them out and send them to my mother’s out of state. ”
“That’s why I’m here, to put a stop to all this harassment! Let me in so I can explain. Please!”
“Why? Trying to do an ‘exclusive’ follow-up on what happens to a whistle blower? Get away from my door!”
“No! Let me in. This is about all of us! Please trust me Todd, let me in or I’ll wait here all night.”
***
Across town, it was near quitting time at the Daily Planet newsroom. Several of the daytime staffers were shutting down their computers. Around the elevator doors a knot of people were already waiting for the creaky elevator car to arrive, thus beginning their trek home. Diane walked up the ramp and waved good-bye to Catherine and a few others who remained in the bullpen. Jack exited the conference room and approached Lois’ desk, he handed her a thin manila file and said in a low pleading tone, “But Lois, you can’t pick up where Clark left off! That’s story already got him put on suspension!”
“Yeah?” She picked up a black diskette and waved it furiously under his nose. Her voice pitched a little louder than necessary, “Well, I’ve got new evidence that proves Clark is telling the truth and his witnesses are being railroaded.” She looked out the corner of her eye to see Ralph’s head go up like a shot. <Good,> She thought, <he’s listening; hopefully that weasel will take the bait. Catching him in the act ought to make this ‘sting’ operation that much sweeter!>
Her young colleague countered, “Really? What kind of proof is this?”
A coy expression crossed Lois’ pretty face, “We can discuss what kind of proof later. I want to upload the files from this diskette to my computer and start fresh tomorrow. We’ve all been working really hard on this.
“You sure? ‘Cause I can call for Tai takeout, grab Stacy and we can pull an all-nighter.” Jack said eagerly.
She patted him on the back. “Thanks for offer and the folder. Go home, tell your brother I said hello and get some rest.”
Jack nodded and returned to his cubicle. A few minutes later wearing his jacket and carrying a leather backpack, he exited the bullpen and boarded the elevator with Catherine and a few remaining staffers.
Moments later, the bullpen was empty except for Lois and Ralph.
Lois was bent over her computer, concentrating on uploading the files. Once that was done, she opened one file and started making edits to the document. She reached into her desk and started rummaging around, failing to find the searched for item, she dived into her briefcase. Suddenly she snarled, “Rats!” so loudly Ralph looked up from his computer.
“Hey Lane! Pipe down! Some of us are trying to work. What are ya makin’ a fuss about anyways?”
“I ran out of No. 2 pencils! How is a person supposed to write without them?” She groused.
Ralph made a show of getting out of his chair and coming over to Lois. With a greasy smile, he leaned over and stuck a ‘pencil’ in her face. If anyone but a mouse would consider the dirty, gnawed yellow stub to be anything even resembling a pencil. “See, I can be nice sometimes, here ya go Lane. Finish writing your story.”
Between the noxious mixture of old cologne, sweat and pastrami, and his invasion of Lois personal space, she wanted to yell, but instead pushed the pencil away and stood up. “No thanks. I’ll get a new box from the supply closet.” With those words she bolted from her desk, out of the newsroom and down the hall.
“Finally!” Ralph rasped as he slipped into her seat, “I thought she’d never leave!” Quickly his fingers started scuttling over the keyboard like a drunken crab and typed some commands into her computer, copied all the files from the disk drive to an e-mail and sent it over to his computer. He erased the e-mail from the sent folder, returned the monitor to the screen it was on previous and went back to his desk. The whole operation took all of five minutes, maybe less.
He was typing away at his desk when Lois exited the hall and reentered the bullpen, holding onto a new box of yellow No. 2 pencils.
Ralph called out amicably, “Find everything you need?”
She looked at him and said, “Yes, the supply closet is always well stocked. I have to thank Stacy for that.”
“Yeah, she a good kid, pity we are gonna lose her when the intern program ends.”
The thought nettled Lois, she had forgotten that Stacy was only going to be around until the end of the summer and then it was back to Metro U. Perhaps Perry would make an exception in her case and hire her as a part-timer. Stacy and Jack worked well as a team and besides, what college kid could turn down the chance to make a little extra money - especially if it was in the field of their coursework? It was something to consider, the interns before Stacy had been less than stellar.
She looked down at the desk’s surface and studied it carefully; the tiny slip of paper she had placed under the mouse pad before ‘discovering’ the lack of pencils had been moved. Now all that remained was for Ken to study the computer and discover if any of the files from the diskette had been copied and e-mailed to Ralph’s computer. She had been careful to stay in the supply closet long enough for him to acquire all the information he needed.
“Gotcha.” She whispered.
