Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic Finding Clark Kent (Part 4): Comments and sugestions

So, a bit more for you to go on this time. Sorry about part 3. I should have handled that a bit better. Oh well, something to learn from.

Anyway, you know the drill. Comments and such go here, along with any thoughts or suggestions about what our heroes should do next.

If you have any ideas about methods, please post them here, as well. What I mean is that it's better for me if you say "Lois should investigate the hospital by ______" rather than just "Lois should investigate the hospital." The latter is fine, but the former is preferable.

See what you can do. I'll be interested, as always, to see what you come up with.

TOC

Paul

I am intrigued!

Absolutely, Lois should investigate this so-called hospital. But this time, I think tipping Henderson off first would be a Good Thing. I know that's not Lois' usual preference, but there are likely to be a LOT of people there, and she has little to no idea of what to expect.

At the very LEAST she should do what she did when she went to the docks -- take Jimmy, and make sure Perry knows where they went.

Since Jimmy wasn't able to trace the emails, perhaps it's time to find an expert. Emails leave permanent traces. There must be some way to follow that trail, no?

Ohh, another message from the Admirer...

I'll wait for the suggestions...

Jose

Hi,

Great part.

Another good part, Paul.

Things are moving along nicely. Typical of Lois, has a boatload of things that seem unconnected but she is able to make them all fit eventually. (won't she?)

I like the idea of Lois going undercover. Of course, she won't want anyone to recognize her so that means she'll have to change her looks somehow, like maybe a... (you know)

Tank (who doesn't know why he always has to tell everyone the obvious)

. . . a wig? That's a great idea, Tank!

Paul

Sorry for not commenting before this. What a brilliant idea! I love the premise.

Lois should set up some sort of surveillance of the hospital. Who goes in, who goes out and probably the length of each person’s stay. Are there any differences? Can the staff or visitors be identified? As Tank suggests she can also go undercover. Whatever she does she needs to tell Perry and possibly Jimmy.

By this stage Lois must be frantic about Clark. I’m glad that we saw hints that she is missing him. I’d imagine that Martha would contact her again soon. Jonathan and her would want to be in Metropolis to help Lois.

The other point is the Email. Maybe a computer expert is needed to trace its origins. After this second one Lois could always send a simple reply and see what happens.

I’m enjoying this immensely and look forward to reading more.

Tricia

I've been out of commission for the last several days and am just getting caught up on parts 3 and 4 today. However, thanks to antibiotics, I'm finally able to think a little straighter and make some comments. This is definitely an interesting story so far.

Interesting about Lex being tied down and shot three times, but with entry wounds not all close together. Was he tortured, perhaps? Shot once, questioned, then shot again? Were each of the wounds fatal? Or perhaps was there some time in between each shot to "discuss" things with him? Also, I'm sure the police realize that Lex was killed somewhere else, then moved to the airport -- they would be looking for the actual murder site to get some leads. If Lois thinks this is all connected, she, too, might try to help them look for it. Interesting niggle about the airport being related to past experiences of Lois's, though. Red herring or foreshadowing? I'm intrigued.

And maybe I shouldn't mention this but did anyone else get the feeling that the "Secret Admirer" sounds a little like Lex himself? Almost makes me want to see that body to confirm he's really dead. Of course, given that, at this point of the show, Lex was planning to escape from prison anyway and kidnap Lois, could it only be Lex's *body* that was killed? Unfortunately, Lois would have no reason to know about Lex's clone experiments, so I don't have any suggestions for her on this subject, but if a lead just happened to point her in this direction, she should follow it. <g>

As for the suspicious hospital in Suicide Slum, I think Lois should definitely follow up on it -- a stake-out is a good idea -- but I think she should consider pairing up with Maggie Sawyer instead of Bill Henderson on this one. Maggie's been taking point on the gang-related stuff, hasn't she? And she's been very generous with Lois with information so she might be the one to help on this one. Plus it would just be fun to see more of Maggie, and especially of more Maggie and Lois together.

Also, I think Lois should try to get some info on one or more of the specific gang members who have come out of this hospital. She's heard from 2 or 3 different sources that they've been acting more aggressive/invicible, so perhaps one of them has been shot or arrested since coming back? Would be worth getting a doctor to look at them to see what's changed with them. I'd think Maggie could order this kind of work-up if she's ready to act quickly when the opportunity presents itself (like if a gang member is arrested or hospitalized under such circumstances).

As for Clark being missing, though, now that it's been 48 hours, should Lois consider letting Maggie or Bill know that Clark is missing and that she suspects Superman might have been taken from his apartment? Perry and Jimmy know the cover story (Perry came up with it, heh) and they'll probably wonder why Clark hasn't been reported missing yet, but it's also possible that the kidnappers left a clue behind when they took Clark. Not that they'll be happy with Lois for 1) not telling them sooner and 2) possibly disturbing the crime scene by poking around in there, but it could get Lois some information. She looked at the apartment already, but she's not trained in crime scene investigations, nor could she take fingerprints, etc.

And finally, my poor Clark just needs to keep doing what he's doing, especially trying to use his superhearing as he recovers between K attacks. He now knows it's Mindy Church (and an awesome, subtle way to have Lois realize that Mindy is the head of Intergang, presumably thanks to Clark's realization) and he now also knows the man is someone out for revenge (LOL on "Mr Greenstone", btw; it was awful to laugh as Clark was being tortured, but I couldn't help it. That was a good line.) One good thing, though, is it seems like Mindy and her partner-in-crime don't know that CK=S or else they'd have either said something to him or come after Lois by now. But Clark should still ask some questions next time they come back, trying to get still more information. It's dangerous, since the guy is armed with K, but he seems to let things slip when he starts talking about how Superman ruined his life.

Anyway, these might be more comments than suggestions, but it's the best I can do in my recovering state of mind. <g> Looking forward to the poll and the next part.

Kathy

Like Kathy, I'm catching up on the last two parts at once. What a fabulous A-plot building up here, Paul! And I love how much you're fleshing out all the secondary characters.

Channeling Mindy? Hee! What a great line.

Very bittersweet with Lois automatically reaching for what she expected to be a cup full of hot coffee and finding it empty... Miss Clark some more, Lois. And FIND HIM!

How...? Erm. Not so good with the suggestions, unless Lois wants to send Jimmy undercover as a patient at the lead-lined hospital... Scratch that, this is Paul, who, as far as I know, likes Jimmy. I'll just root from the sidelines and look forward to MORE!

Hazel

Stepping in to clarify things. Kathy asked:

That's information you should have had. It was late when I wrote the revised autopsy report, and I guess I didn't think to include those details. Sorry about that.

I'll try to find a way to edit it into the story at that point, but what you should know is that there was not much time between the shots. They also probably aren't quite as far apart as you're thinking.

Basically, from what they can tell, someone walked up to his chair, held out a gun, and fired three shots. Bang, bang, bang. The shots weren't that far apart, but more than you might expect given that the target wasn't moving and the gun was pretty close. The conclusion is that the killer's hand was moving around between the shots, though obviously they can't be sure why.

Does that make sense?

Also, there's no sign he's been tortured. No cuts or anything. He was just tied down for a while and then shot.

Paul

For those of you who didn't notice last night, this week's poll is up. You can find it here. Sorry I didn't update the links earlier, but I was pretty tired.

As noted in the poll, I'm still open to suggestions for just how Lois should go undercover (if you think she should). If you don't come up with anything, I'll do my best, but I'd rather have your suggestions direct Lois and Clark as much as possible.

Thanks to those who posted here. I've been worried that Kerth reading was distracting too many potential readers (still am, to some degree...), so your comments and participation are all the more valued.

Rivka, thanks for your suggestions, and your help with the email thread.

Jose, glad to hear you're keeping up and enjoying. Thanks for posting.

Maria, the section you quoted from the email was referring to her investigation of the ship. The owners were not happy that the ship was exposed, so Lois is being cautioned to be careful of them. Sorry if you were confused, but I'm glad you're still reading.

Tank, I thought you said Lois's hair was short enough already. :p As for the connections, I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say. Thanks for posting.

Tricia, thank you! It's good to pick up a new reader! I'm glad you caught up. Thanks for your suggestions, too. You've given me some things to think about as I write the next part.

Kathy, I'm sorry to hear you haven't been feeling well. You certainly do seem to be recovering nicely. Thank goodness for antibiotics... Sorry I can't comment on your speculations, but you do seem to have put quite a bit of thought into them. I find them very interesting to read. Also, don't underestimate yoursef; your suggestions are responsible for a good chunk of this week's poll. Thanks also for your comments on the story itself. I do appreciate all the suggestions -- they're what make the story work -- but it's nice to hear something about the writing, too.

Speaking of which... Hazel, thank you for your comments! lol, I hadn't thought about the resemblance to Mindy. Glad you liked the bit with Les, too. I thought it was a fun little throw-away. The coffee cup thing wrote itself while I was working, pretty much the way you read it. "Oh, she'll need a drink. What should she drink? Coffee. Wait a sec..." and so on. Anyway, I'm glad to hear it worked for you.

So, thanks again to everyone who posted!

Paul, who just got an email while replying here to Hazel, and who now needs to go reply to Hazel...

Paul,
sorry I'm behind
another great part
merry

Hi Merry. Don't worry about being behind. I'm just glad you're reading, and that you're enjoying it. Thanks for posting.

Paul