Hello guys,
From the previous part...
"Let's see. We have nine guests on this list. Their names are Mr. Louis Kerr, Mr. Ruslan Nicoliev, Mr. Carl Riggs, Mr. Stephan Hughes, Señor Luiz Pepito, Countess Lynn Ryann, hmm... Mr. Paul Harrison..." Lois' voice trailed off.
"Paul Harrison?" The name caught Clark's attention.
"P. H. The main suspect. Don't you think?"
"Quickly promoted to be the one," He agreed.
"I think we should pay him a visit."
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Now Part 2 On the way to their interview with Mr. Harrison, Lois kept something she had wished she could ask earlier, but only now seemed to come back to her.
"Clark, why didn't you ask Mr. Stern about the lighter?”
"Because I thought that he would jump to the conclusion that anyone with these initials would be the one responsible for the theft."
"And you don't think this is what happened?"
"Appearances can be deceiving, Lois. What if someone planted that there, making us believe it was Paul Harrison or any other P.H. who had done that? No. We must investigate that before jumping into conclusions."
"Why do you always have to be so right?" she complained, more to herself than to him.
"I am not always right, Lois. But I certainly check the water level before I jump." He grinned.
"Right."
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Lois and Clark knocked on the door of Mr. Harrison's mansion and
were welcomed by a butler who showed them the way to his office.
"Please, make yourselves comfortable while you are waiting here for Mr. Harrison. He won't take belong now."
"Thank you." Lois nodded.
As soon as the guy left, Lois started checking the place.
"Lois, what are you doing?"
"He's our main suspect, Clark. What do you think I'm doing? Trying to find evidence!"
"What do you mean by evidence? You actually think he would keep the ficus
here? A thousands of dollars’ worth ficus in the middle of his office?"
"Well, Mr. Stern did it. I don't see why he wouldn't."
"That's because Mr. Stern owned the plant, Lois," he reminded her.
"Details. You only pay attention to details."
"Details are what make the difference, Lois. And this you are truly assuming that the guy is guilty. How can you say that for sure?"
"He's guilty, Clark."
Clark was going to answer her on that, but the door of the office was now wide open, revealing a middle-aged but well fit man coming in.
"Miss Lane. Mr. Kent. I was told you wanted to see me."
"We are here from Mr. Stern. Yesterday there was a gathering at his house
and something precious to him is now missing." Clark's voice seemed
controlled.
"I see. And you think I have something to do with that?"
"We are investigating the possibilities."
"Are you from the police?"
"We are reporters."
"Then I have nothing to declare," he said, turning around.
"We understand, Sir. We just wanted to return you this." Lois handed him the lighter.
The look on his face was what Clark deciphered as genuine puzzlement. "What's this?" he asked.
"You should know it, Mr. Harrison. It's yours," Lois affirmed with a
triumphant tone.
A loud laugh echoed as Mr. Harrison burst into it, almost leading himself
to tears, making Lois terribly embarrassed by her words.
"Oh, my dear Miss Lane. Anyone who truly knows me, knows I am fiercely against smoking. I do not smoke and I can't stand it. You see no ashtrays around, do you? That's because no one smokes in my house. That's a rule. Now would you kindly leave by your own will?" He showed them the door, truly annoyed by their presence.
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"It's not him," Lois complained while opened her car.
"Lois, I told you things can be more than they seem to be."
"It's not him. Unless this was just a cover up." She started the car.
"Let's just stick to investigating the other ones. This time, let me make the moves, okay?"
"Your call."
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Lois and Clark had interviewed most of the guests, but they couldn't find and conclusive proof. They were back to the Planet when suddenly, Clark was enlightened.
"Lois... what if... Do you still have that list?"
Lois furrowed her eyebrows and silently passed the list to him.
"Clark, we only have disgustingly rich people on this list. A gold-mine owner, a Russian Millionaire, a countess, a senator... all of them are VIPs."
"Countess Lynn Ryann," he mumbled.
"Of course!" Lois excitedly exclaimed. "The diamond earring. How could we forget that? What are we waiting for? Let's go talk to her." Lois grabbed Clark's tie and headed to the elevator, pulling him close behind her.
She pushed the button repeatedly while Clark tried to remind Lois not to jump into conclusions again.
"Clark, she was the only woman in the guests list. She is perfectly rich enough to have a huge and expensive diamond earring like that. We both know it's not Mr. Stern's wife's so she's the only one left."
"Lois, I told you..."
"...that appearances can be deceiving. Right. I know that. But now we know
she's the one."
"We don't know that for sure."
The elevator was opened again and they walked through the parking lot.
"Clark, would you just knock it off? The woman is guilty. Period."
"You said the same thing about Mr. Harrison, and it cost you a big laugh on your face."
"I'm still not convinced that it wasn't him. And that laugh sounded too forced for me." She twisted her lips to one side as soon she captured Clark rolling eyes at her comment. "Let's just concentrate on this woman, okay?"
"Sure."
"So what do we know about her so far?" Lois asked, while driving.
"Well, she is a Norwegian countess who apparently has a lot of money. She's twenty eight and she is twice divorced."
"Twice? I wonder how many pensions she's got. No wonder she's this rich. I wonder if she is really a countess."
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When Lois and Clark arrived at the her hotel, they were extremely well received by the countess herself. She served them tea and offered some kind of Norwegian sweet she truly made them believe she couldn't live without.
She seemed genuinely shocked about the theft, which she promised them she would help in any way she could. She answered all their questions
in a very natural way, but when the small object was caught by her eye, she turned as white as paper, and started babbling on a very look alike Lois style.
"I... I... yes. It's mine, but I wasn't wearing it on that day. I can't understand it. But please, I don't have anything to do with this theft. You see I'm a huge plant collector myself, but I'd never do such a thing. I just went to the office to see it. Those men were just talking about silly things, and I needed some time alone. So I just sneaked into the office and stayed there for a while marvelling the plant. But I was distant, I didn't even came close to it, fearing I could harm that preciousness. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Well, not as perfect as the one my ex-husband gave to me a few years ago, but still. Mr. Kent..." She grabbed his hand and looked right deep into his chocolate eyes with a plead on her lips. "...I did not steal the ficus. Do you believe in me?"
"I do. Ma'am."
Lois looked at both of them and raised an eyebrow. For someone who warned her several times not to jump into conclusions, Clark was seriously contradicting himself now. Was it just because she was a woman? Was he that shallow? *Men!* she thought.
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TBC...
