Melanie followed Jack into their office and slammed the door shut. “Just exactly what in blazes was that all about?”
Jack sighed. “I know, it didn’t go like I planned – “
“Didn’t go like you planned?” She leaned into him and hissed, “If you weren’t my big brother I’d beat you unconscious right here and now!”
He held her gaze for two long breaths, then slowly backed away. “I was wrong, Mel. I was trying to lead her into linking Superman’s continued freedom with the risk she’s taking in having this baby. I wanted the jury to understand that having a super-powered vigilante loose in the city was a very bad thing.”
She took a step closer and viciously kicked the nearest desk. “So you advised a pregnant woman, a wife who desperately wants to have this child, to have an abortion? Idiot!” She threw her hands into the air and snarled a curse. “Are you still thinking along those lines now? Because if you are – “
“No! Look, I made a mistake and it blew up in my face! Don’t you think I know how much I just damaged our case?”
She stood frozen, staring at him. “Mel, please don’t bail on me now. I need your help in there.”
The fury damped down but didn’t evaporate. She took a deep breath and crossed her arms. “Okay. But you don’t dare pull anything else like that with a female witness unless you check with me first.”
“I promise.”
She sighed. “Jack, you’re my brother, and you’re my boss, but you are also probably the worst male chauvinist in the state. You know it, I know it, and if you don’t back off, everyone else in the Northern Hemisphere will know it, too.”
He lifted his hand. “I swear, Sis, I won’t be that stupid again.”
She stared at him for another long moment, then relaxed and chuckled. “I guess that means we’re even on the ‘big mistake’ tote board, huh?”
He reached out and touched her elbow. “That’s okay. I think after Connie shows that video again, we’ll all be adding up our big mistakes.”
*****
The tension was less palpable when they reconvened, but Connie knew that wouldn’t last. She leaned over to Blair. “Looks like it’s a good time to bring out the big cannon.”
Blair sucked in a deep breath through her nose and nodded shortly. “I’m glad it’s you gonna do this and not me.”
“It won’t be that bad.”
“It will be very bad, Connie.” Blair impaled her with a stare. “I’ve seen the whole tape. I don’t ever want to see it again.”
They straightened when the bailiffs brought in the video equipment, then everyone stood when the judge reentered and the court was called to order.
Connie stood. “Your Honor, the defense would like to present the entire surveillance video from Intergang’s bunker – I mean, office – at this time.”
Jack stood wearily. “Your Honor, the prosecution reiterates its objection.”
“Understood. The objection is still overruled. Ms. Hunter, please proceed.”
“Thank you, Your Honor. We’d like to label this as defense exhibit five.” She turned to the jury. “I know you’ve seen part of this tape before, at the beginning of the trial, but it’s very important that you see all that there is to see. What I plan to do is play it all the way through once without stopping, then rewind it and play it again. The second time, though, I plan to stop the tape at various points and identify some key players.” She leaned on the rail. “I know this is tough. I know it’s violent. But a man’s freedom is at stake. Please stay with me on this, okay? Because it’s the only way for us to know – to really understand – exactly what happened that night.”
She nodded to the bailiff, who turned on the monitor and handed the VCR remote to Connie. She lifted the remote and pressed the ‘play’ button.
The scene came up in Intergang’s underground office. Bill Church sat at a console, facing an impressive array of video equipment. There were a dozen faces on different monitors on the screen. Church was just settling himself in his chair.
He spoke almost jovially. “Well, how is the cleanup going?”
One man in the top row of monitors spoke. “We think we have a success rate of greater than seventy percent, Mr. Church.”
Church nodded. “Good, good. At that rate, the survivors will be too scattered and disoriented to take concerted action. Let’s begin with the regional reports, shall we? We’ll start with Cincinnati.”
A woman in the bottom row of screens answered. “I’m afraid we missed one target out of four, Mr. Church.”
“Which one?”
“The radio reporter. She was injured, but survived the car bomb.”
Church grunted. “Can you get to her in the hospital?”
The woman smiled. “Give me twenty hours and she’ll be one dead kitten.”
Church spoke again. “Wonderful! What about Chicago?”
A small man with round glasses lifted his hand nervously. “M-mister Church?”
Church sighed. “What is it?”
“Sir, I – I know we’ve discussed this before, b-but I still – “
“You still think this whole operation is a bad idea, Mr. Wallace. We know your opinion. You are in error. I assure you that killing, especially on this unprecedented scale, will break the back of law enforcement’s investigation in our businesses. No one will attempt to stop us now. No one will get in our way now.”
“B-but sir, isn’t it just as likely that we’ll create more problems than we’ll solve?”
“Nonsense! Dead people aren’t problems, they’re merely statistics. I realize that this is a major shift in the way we have done business, but there’s no reason to think that we can’t continue in this manner. Now let’s proceed with the reports, shall we?”
Before anyone else answered, the playback jiggled as if someone had bumped the camera. Church was looking around uneasily. “What’s that?”
A voice off-camera answered. “I – I don’t know, sir! It may be – oh, no!”
An instant later, Superman exploded through the wall to the left of the monitors. Bill Church lurched to his feet and began protesting. “Superman, you’re trespassing on private property! I demand that you leave now!”
Superman strode to the front of the panel. He looked off camera where the voice of the technician had come from and squinted. A burst of smoke appeared and the technician screamed, then began crying.
Church became indignant. “Superman, you’ve deliberately injured one of my employees! This is inexcusable behavior! Once again, I demand that you leave now! You will hear from my legal staff!”
Superman looked at the monitors. The fury in his voice was almost a tangible thing, even on the videotape. “I’ve already traced all of your signals. I know where each of you is sitting or standing. Remain there and I’ll come to pick you up in a moment. You’re all going to jail, unless I have to go looking for you.”
Then he reached out and pulled the head of Intergang towards him. “All but you, Bill. You killed a lot of people tonight. One of them was an assistant DA. Her name was Mayson Drake. You blew her up and burned her to death like she was nothing! She meant nothing to you! You have no respect for human life! You murdered her for trying to protect the weak and helpless! You’re less than human! You don’t deserve to live!”
Superman lifted Church into the air with one hand and punched his other hand deep into the man’s chest. Church screamed in agony. Then Superman pulled the criminal’s heart right out of his body. Blood fountained onto the monitors, the chair, the floor, and onto Superman. The enraged superhero held the quivering organ in front of Bill Church’s face as the former head of Intergang folded in on himself and died.
Superman then dropped Church’s body and the sundered heart to the floor. He spun and flashed out of the hole he’d made in the hall. One by one, the terrorized and stricken faces on the monitors disappeared.
Connie paused the VCR as the last face disappeared from the screen. She turned to the jury and opened her mouth to speak, then cleared her throat softly. “I wish – I’m sorry you had to see that again.” She took a deep breath. “I’ve seen some pretty gory things on movie screens, but somehow it’s – it’s just different when you know you just watched a human being die for real.”
She turned and paced along the jury box. “I need to go over this tape one more time, so we can – “
“No! Please!”
Connie stopped and looked up. One of the women in the jury was weeping into a handkerchief. “Ma’am, I’m sorry, but I have to defend my client to the best – “
“Please!” the woman repeated. “Please don’t make me watch that again!”
Connie looked over the faces of the jury. Every one of them showed strong reactions to the tape.
She considered making them watch it again anyway, but she feared that the jury would refuse. Those twelve men and women wanted justice, not vengeance, but if she made them watch Superman rip Bill Church’s heart out of his chest once more, they might tip towards a ‘guilty’ verdict.
So she made a decision. “Very well. We won’t watch the tape again.” She turned to the nearest bailiff. “Thank you. I’m done with this.”
The bailiff nodded and breathed a sigh of relief, validating her decision. She waited until the rolling TV stand was out of the way, then she lifted a piece of paper and brandished it in front of the jury.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is a complete, comprehensive list of all the people who died as a direct result of Superman’s actions that night. Let me read you the entire list.”
She paused dramatically and adjusted her glasses. “Bill Church.”
She paused. Then she lowered the paper. “That’s it.” She turned and handed the list to the court clerk. “That’s the complete list of everyone who died because of Superman.” She picked up another piece of paper. “Here’s a list of the twelve Intergang leaders arrested that night, including a complete inventory of the injuries they received at the hands of Superman during and after their arrest. I won’t read this one, but I will tell you that the prosecution’s witness Yolanda Chavez is on it. And, as a point of fact, I will also tell you that none of these twelve sustained any verifiable injury as a result of Superman’s actions that night.” She favored the jury with a one-sided grin. “One man threw up on the arresting officers after Superman dropped him off, and one woman wet her pants, apparently from fear.”
She waited while the nervous laughter ran its course. “Quite embarrassing, to be sure. But I’d hardly count either of those events as serious injuries. Your Honor, we’d like to submit this as defense exhibit six.”
The judge nodded and the court clerk took the document and recorded it. Blair handed Connie a thin binder with several pages. “This is defense exhibit seven. It lists the names of the people who were killed or injured by Intergang assassins that evening, along with the method of attack used against them. It includes Catharine Grant, Lois Lane, Clark Kent, and Mayson Drake, people you’ve already met or heard about. I won’t read this one to you either, except to relate that there were eleven shootings, fifteen hit-and-run attacks with cars or trucks or vans, nine bombings, four drownings, five beatings, two dragged to death behind vehicles, ten knifings, and – “ she stopped and lowered her voice. “I’m sorry to describe the last two deaths, but at least you won’t have to watch them. The last two were staked to the ground and – and had a bulldozer driven over them.”
She paused and watched the members of the jury shift in their seats. At least two of them visibly controlled their gag reflexes. “The list is here, should you wish to read it during your deliberations.” She stopped and handed the binder to the court clerk. “That’s what Superman flew into that night. When he burst through the wall of that bunker, he’d not only seen first-hand what Intergang and Bill Church were doing, he’d heard it. Of those fifty-seven people attacked, twelve of them survived the initial assault. And three of them died within a few days.”
She leaned on the railing. “Forty-eight people died as a direct result of Bill Church’s activities that night. If Superman hadn’t stopped him, Intergang would have killed more. You heard what he said on the tape.” She raised her voice. “Bill Church was ready and willing to kill as many people as necessary to install himself as the criminal czar of the East Coast. Only death could stop him.” She spun and pointed at Superman. “Only death, or the defendant!”
Slowly, she lowered her arm. “Which path would you have chosen? Would you have let Bill Church live, knowing what he was trying to do? Or, if you had been able, would you have done what Superman did? Would you have chosen the lesser of two evils and taken one life to save God only knows how many others?”
She paused and turned to look at Jack Reisman. He seemed poised to stand and object, and she knew she’d pushed him as far as she could. She faced the judge. “Your Honor, we have one more witness we’d like to present, but he’s out of the country and physically cannot be here. However, we were able to depose him on videotape. We’d like to present this witness in this manner.”
Fields turned to the prosecution’s table. “Any objections, Mr. Reisman?”
Jack stood. “Your Honor, if the witness in question is Clark Kent, assistant DA Melanie Welch was present at the deposition and also asked questions, and we would therefore have no objections.”
Fields nodded. “That sounds good to me. Counselor, how long is this tape?”
Connie turned to Blair and read her lips. “About fifteen minutes, Your Honor, including the ADA’s questions.”
The judge quirked his face in thought for a moment, then whacked his gavel. “I think we should all get something to eat and take a few moments to rest our emotions. Court is in recess until one-thirty this afternoon.”
They stood and waited for the judge to leave, then Blair turned around and found Ron Dombrowski in the gallery. She motioned for him to come closer.
“What can I do for you, Ms. Collins?”
Blair grabbed his wrist in a fierce lock. “You can get Lois Lane here this afternoon.”
Ron frowned. “It’s not my week to tell Lois what to do. And I don’t know if I have that much influence over her.”
Blair tugged his wrist again. “Tell her she needs to be here. Tell her I said so. Got that?”
Ron frowned, then nodded. “Okay, I’ll tell her. But I’m not gonna carry her down here in my pocket. If she doesn’t want to come, she won’t.”
Blair released him. “I’m pretty sure she’ll come. Just make sure you tell her that I said so.”
Ron walked slowly out of the courtroom, then flipped open his phone and dialed Lois’s office number. It rang four times before she answered.
“Daily Planet, Lois Lane’s office. How may I help you?”
“Hey, boss, it’s Ron.”
“Ron? Why are you calling me? Don’t you want someone in rewrite?”
“Not yet. I’ll file what I have before we reconvene this afternoon. I’m supposed to pass on a message to you.”
“Oh?” She sounded cautious. “What’s the message?”
“The message is that you really need to be here in court at one-thirty.”
He heard her blow out a long breath. “Ron, you know how much work I have to do before the weekend. I can’t just drop it and – “
“Blair Collins wants you here. She told me to tell you she said to come.”
She hesitated. “Blair said that?”
“Not five minutes ago.”
She hesitated again. “Okay. If you see her again, tell her I’ll be there, but don’t make it your priority task. Get what you have to rewrite and get some lunch. I’ll see you there at one-thirty.”
“Okay. See you then. Bye.”
Ron was puzzled for a moment by Lois’s sudden agreement to attend when she heard that Blair Collins had asked it of her. But he closed his phone and forgot his train of thought when he turned and looked back into the courtroom and saw Superman following his defense team out the door. He decided to try for a quote.
“Excuse me, Ron Dombrowski, Daily Planet. Superman, is there anything you’d like to say?”
Superman stopped in his tracks and stared hard at Ron. After a moment of intimidating silence, which he also didn’t understand, Ron added, “About the trial, I mean. Do you have anything you’d like the people of Metropolis to hear?”
Connie tapped Superman’s elbow. “I’m sorry, we don’t have any comment now, except that we expect justice to be done.”
Ron nodded and began to turn away, but Superman said, “Tell the people that I’m going to tell my side of the story.”
Ron’s eyes lit up. “What? You mean – you’re going to testify? In open court?”
“Yes.”
“No!” Blair grabbed Superman’s arm and tugged him down the hall. “He’s not taking the stand!”
Superman came to an abrupt halt and nearly yanked Blair off her feet. If not for the seriousness of the moment, her acrobatic recovery would have been hilarious. “Yes, I am taking the stand, Blair. I have to tell the people my side of the story myself.”
“Have you gone completely whacko?” Connie hissed up at him. “That’s our job, not yours! Remember, you do the super-stuff, we do the legal stuff! That’s the deal!”
“The people need to hear me tell my story, Connie, straight from me.”
“That’s our job! That’s why we represent you! This isn’t something you have to do!”
Blair put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Connie’s right! You’re under no obligation to testify.”
He gathered his attorneys in close and guided them down the hall. “I think we need to talk about this.” Both women started talking and gesturing excitedly at the same time, but he shushed them both. “In private, okay?”
Superman stepped away towards the building’s office area. Blair followed him, yapping at his elbow like a pesky Chihuahua, but Connie stopped and stared at Ron.
“You’re a reporter, right?”
“For the Planet, yes.”
“Don’t print this. Don’t call it in. We’re going to talk him out of it. Superman is not testifying in this trial.”
“Uh – “
“Listen to me!” Connie’s face was inches away from his. “Do. Not. Print. This. Do you understand me?”
The icy blue of her eyes startled him, but he shook his head. “I’m a reporter. If Superman says he’s going to testify, I have to let my editor know about it. She’ll make the decision whether or not to print it.”
The attorney slowly shifted back and relaxed. “Lois Lane is your boss, isn’t she?”
“Yes.”
Connie frowned slightly, then she nodded and her face relaxed. “Will you at least hold this until he actually testifies?”
“Like I said, Lois will make that decision, not me.”
Connie nodded again. “All right.” She sighed. “Now I have to go rescue my client from my partner.”
“Don’t you mean that the other way around?”
She shot him a look over the top rim of her glasses. “You haven’t spent much time around attorneys, have you?”
“No, and I hope not to in the future.”
“A wise choice.” She spun on her heel and stalked down the hall after Superman and Blair.
Ron’s heart raced. If Lois was still in the office, she’d want to know this right now. He pulled his phone back out and dialed her cell number.
It rolled directly to her voicemail. Growling, he hung up and dialed her office number.
Another woman’s voice answered. “Daily Planet, Lois Lane’s office. How may I help you?”
“This is Ron Dombrowski. I need to talk to Lois Lane right now!”
“Oh, Mr. Dombrowski, this is Bernadette Thompson. Ms. Lane took an early lunch, and after that she’s headed for court. She told me to take any messages – “
“Never mind that! Where is she now?”
The girl sounded piqued. “Mr. Dombrowski, I told you she’s out of the office right now. I can transfer you to Mr. Olsen if you wish.”
He growled again. “Okay, do that!”
“One moment, please.”
He endured about fifteen seconds of vintage Barry Manilow before Jim picked up. “Ron, this is Jim. What’s up?”
“Superman’s gonna testify!”
Jim waited a beat. “He what?”
“Superman’s gonna testify in his own defense, probably this afternoon after they play Kent’s deposition!”
“Are you sure about that? It doesn’t sound like a good idea to me, and I’m not a lawyer.”
“He told me himself. His attorneys are gonna try to talk him out of it, but I don’t think they’ll have much luck. I’m pretty sure he’ll take the stand no matter what they say.”
“Did he tell you why?”
“He said he wanted the people to hear why he did what he did from his own lips.”
Jim waited another beat. “Okay. Lois turned off her phone and told me to watch the shop until she gets back. She’d going to be in court to see CK’s video deposition, so you can warn her then.” He sighed. “She’s liable to pop a couple of gaskets over this.”
“I know. What do you want to do with the story?”
“I’ll give you back to Bernadette. She’ll take down what you have and then she’ll have LNN call you. You know about our deal with them, right?”
He frowned. “Yeah, I know. We scratch their back and they ignore us.”
“Not this time. You’ll have the exclusive, and you’ll have the print byline. Just make sure you call in or send in everything you have as soon as Superman’s finished.”
“Will do.” Ron hesitated. “I just hope this doesn’t really finish him.”
“Me too.”
Ron waited for something else, but Jim just held the phone. “Hey, Jim, are you still there?”
“Yeah. Say, Ron, when do they reconvene?”
“Judge said one-thirty, and he’s been on time so far.”
“Okay, here’s what we do. We sit on this story until one-twenty-five this afternoon. Bernadette will give you the number to call at LNN. We still get to break the story, but this way the prosecutors don’t get a heads-up about it.”
“Um, sure, but do you think that’s ethical?”
“What ethical violation? We can’t put this story out without some confirmation, and you should be able get that by just looking at Superman and his attorneys when the come back to court.”
“Yeah. Okay, I’ll go with that.” He hesitated. “You think Lois would go along if she knew?”
Jim sighed. “On this one, Ron, I’m not sure she’s objective enough to make that call. This way she has what the politicians call ‘plausible deniability.’ She didn’t know beforehand, so she can’t be accused of compromising her journalistic ethics.”
“What about you and your ethics?”
Jim’s tone hardened. “Never mind about me. Maybe Penny was right, maybe I’m not editor material, but this is my call and I’m making it.”
Ron nodded to the phone. “Okay, Mr. Olsen, we do this your way. If you’ll give me to Bernadette, I’ll get that number from her.”
And hope we don’t see two good men go down today, he thought.
