Home: Murder By Earthlight -- 15/?
by Nan Smith
Previously:
What if there *were* a second confederate, and what if this other person was the real murderer? Or, alternately, suppose he hadn't killed Johnson, but he had realized why Johnson had been killed and figured that he could very well be next?
But who could this mystery person be? Who else could have had any connection with Talbot Grey and Edgar Johnson? And why? In an enterprise like this, the fewer persons involved, the better. Unless they needed someone with some kind of special skills or access. Maybe that had been Johnson's actual role -- recruiting someone that Tal needed to accomplish his goal. She had been wondering how someone could have gotten access to Marilyn's security information. Maybe that was how. What if the other person was involved in company security?
Abruptly, she began to wonder where Jason Decker had been in the last twenty-four hours or so. If she had thought much about it, she would have assumed that he was trying to locate the missing bag, just like she and Clark were -- but he might not have had the same clues that they had, unless his skills at computer hacking were considerably above the average citizen's. But what if he had figured that Tal had it?
There were plenty of gaps in the reasoning, she knew. But whoever the person in her room had been, he knew that she had seen him. Her light had flashed across his face for an instant before he had fled, and it was unlikely that he would be willing to risk the possibility that her glimpse had been too brief for her to identify him. If he had committed one murder, what was to stop him from committing two?
**********
And now, Part 15:
"I'll have to check Ms. Lyons' statements about the places she was before this," Brown said.
Clark nodded. "I think you'll find that they completely check out," he said. "I've known her for several years, and I can vouch for her character."
Brown nodded. "I'm sure you're right, but I have to do it for form's sake. Do you know anything about this case that she and Kent are investigating?"
Clark hesitated. "A little," he said. "The Managing Editor of the Metropolis branch of the Planet is an acquaintance of mine. I'd suggest you contact him, if you want to know more about it. At best, anything I could tell you would be second hand."
"I'll do that. His name is Olsen?"
"John Olsen," Clark said.
Brown noted it on his recorder. "You didn't say how you happened to be so conveniently here when the meteor decided to strike," he said.
"I believe it was on the news," Clark said. "I told the Lock Monitor that I'd come to visit my cousin, Eclipse. It was a lucky coincidence, as it turned out. He and I were able to accomplish a lot more together than he'd have been able to alone."
The detective nodded. "Well, if you find out any more about this business, I'll expect you to bring it to my attention."
"Naturally," Clark said. "I do have one question."
"Oh?"
"Ms. Lyons' safety. She got a look at the killer's face -- assuming that the man in her hotel room was the man who murdered Grey -- and he undoubtedly knows it. She said her light flashed across his face. Do you think he's going to be willing to take the chance that she might not be able to identify him? A man capable of one murder is certainly capable of another."
Brown nodded, frowning. "I hadn't thought of that, but you're right, of course. Someone willing to commit a murder that brutal isn't going to take chances. We don't have much of a crime rate here in Luna City." He sighed faintly. "I should probably make a point of working at a police department on Earth, just to learn a little more about the nastier side of human nature. What would you recommend, Superman? I don't really have the manpower to assign her an around-the-clock guard. Shall I take her into protective custody?"
Clark couldn't restrain a faint grin. "I think Ms. Lyons would be very unhappy if you did," he said. "And when Ms. Lyons is unhappy, so is everyone around her. My advice would be to let Kent handle it. He's perfectly capable of protecting her."
Brown surveyed him thoughtfully. "You're willing to swear to his alibi?"
"Yes, I am. He was present at Shepherd Square when Eclipse and I were there, and he was present when Ms. Lyons called me. He'd been there for at least fifteen minutes before she called and, when I arrived at the Luna Hilton, Grey hadn't been dead over ten minutes. And Ms. Lyons didn't have any blood on her anywhere. I examined her minutely, in case she had been injured. No one could have committed that murder and not have a few traces on his person."
"I realize that," Brown said. "I don't suspect her of the murder, I assure you. I don't think she'd be physically capable of such a thing, anyway. All right, tell Kent he's responsible for her safety. I don't want another murder to have to explain to my superiors."
Clark didn't feel it necessary to inform the detective that his wife was a good deal more physically capable than he might think, but he said, "I'm sure he's on his way back by now. Ms. Lyons has probably called him, but I'll make certain he knows."
"Do that," Brown said. He extended a hand. "Thanks for your help. Since all this had to happen, I'm glad you were on hand to help out."
"No problem," Clark said, shaking the detective's hand. "I'm not leaving for a few days, so I'll be around if you need me."
The detective nodded and turned to approach the front desk. Clark headed for the stairwell, aware that the eyes of every person presently in the hotel lobby were on him. As he opened the door, he heard Brown asking the desk clerk for the number of Stephanie Brooke's room. He stepped through the door, whisked to the surface, making the change to Clark Kent as he did so, and stepped onto the elevator platform. "Fifth," he said.
The platform began to drop. It passed the lobby and Clark saw that Brown had finished his conversation with the desk clerk and was approaching the bank of elevator platforms. The man opened his mouth to speak but the platform was still dropping and whatever the detective might have said was lost. He lifted his wrist talker to his lips. "Lori?"
"I'm still in the new room," Lori said.
"I hope the door's locked," Clark said.
"It is."
"Good. Keep it that way until I get there."
"I will," Lori said. "Not that locks seem to matter a whole lot around here."
"Well, if anyone tries to open the door, scream," Clark advised her. "I'll be there in a minute."
But that prophecy wasn't to be fulfilled as quickly as he might have wished, for as he stepped off the platform and turned down the hallway toward their new room, a familiar blond figure detached itself from a doorway, three doors down, and glided toward him.
"Clark," Stephanie said, "don't go down there. Your wife is insane. She killed Talbot Grey. He's dead. She murdered him in your hotel room. The police just called me. There's some detective coming to see me to ask me some questions. I think Lori must have told him I was with him."
"You *were* with him," Clark said, not bothering to hide his irritation. "You were both on the Rainbow Caverns tour at the same time we were."
"But that was nearly two hours before," Stephanie protested. "I couldn't kill anyone!"
"Neither could Lori," Clark said shortly.
"Clarkie, you don't have to defend her," Stephanie purred. "I know you're loyal, but now you have me. You don't need her anymore. As soon as I talk to this Detective Brown, you and I could make some plans for a way to spend time together after the convention."
"Leave me alone," Clark said. "You haven't any idea what's going on." He started down the hallway, but he paused after two steps and turned. "There's a killer in this hotel. You were with Grey, and he turned up dead a couple of hours later. Don't go off alone with anyone. We have no idea who he is, and he might think you do. Don't take chances."
"If you'd come back with me to my room, I wouldn't have to worry," Stephanie said, invitingly. "I could make it worth your while."
Clark didn't answer. He merely turned and strode determinedly down the hallway toward room 503.
Lori was sitting on the bed, her palm computer on and linked via a privacy cable to her laptop, which was also on. "What took so long?"
"Superman had to convince Detective Brown that it wasn't a good idea to put you in protective custody," Clark said.
Lori looked horrified. "He won't, will he?"
"No. I've been assigned as your bodyguard."
She let out her breath. "That's a relief. I guess it occurred to Detective Brown that the guy in the room might think I saw his face, huh?"
"You *did* see it, even if it was just for a split second," Clark said. "If he was the killer, then he's not going to feel safe as long as you're alive to identify him."
"I figured that out," Lori said. "The trouble is, I didn't see him long enough to be sure of anything."
"I know," Clark said. "He may be banking on the fact that the light across his face was quick and you might not have gotten a good look -- but he's going to be afraid that you'll be able to identify him if you see him."
"I know," she said again. "Is Jason Decker still in the hotel?"
"I don't know. Why?"
"I was wondering," Lori said. "What if Tal had two accomplices instead of one? Decker works for Genie Electronics. What if he was mixed up in it, too?"
"Let's say the idea doesn't seem as far-fetched as it might have a couple of hours ago," Clark said, a little grimly. "Do you want to elaborate on it a little?"
"I thought of it after you and Detective Brown left," Lori said. "What if Tal knew Edgar Johnson from the time he spent in Fostonia? Johnson wasn't really in a good position to get hold of Marilyn's security data, so maybe he and Tal recruited Decker? He might have had a way to access the security records and get hold of it."
"You think he killed Johnson?"
"I don't know," Lori said. "Maybe, but he might have just realized that if Tal would kill Johnson, then he -- Decker, I mean -- was in danger, too. What if they went into our room to search it and got into some kind of disagreement? Maybe each suspected the other of having the missing information."
"I guess that's possible. Especially since they didn't find it in our room."
"True," Lori said. "Suppose the fight turned violent -- maybe each accused the other of knowing more than he was admitting, and in the fight Decker killed Tal."
"That's possible. Besides, by now, he knows we're investigating Johnson's murder. It's easy to act normal as long as no one is suspicious. If he and Tal were in this together, maybe whoever killed Johnson decided that it would confuse things if his partner turned up in our room, dead. Only, you showed up before Mr. X managed to get away."
Lori frowned, obviously thinking over the scenario. "So, if Tal decided to kill Decker -- or Mr. X; I suppose we should call him Mr. X, since we're not sure -- Mr. X turned the tables. Or maybe Mr. X decided to kill Tal and succeeded. I guess it doesn't really matter which, right now. He's going to be desperate to cover it up before I remember who I saw. Maybe we can use that to trap him."
Clark barely stopped himself from objecting loudly. Lori might not be Lois, but sometimes the part of her that was Lois showed up strongly. "Let's leave that as a last resort, shall we? I'm really not anxious for you to put yourself in danger."
"Neither am I," she said mildly. "The fact is, though, that whoever Mr. X is, he's probably going to want to dispose of me -- no matter what we want. We might as well take advantage of it."
*Not if I have anything to say about it!* He didn't speak the words aloud, but he spoke them forcefully in his head. But saying them to Lori might make her think that he didn't trust her, although he actually did -- but no matter how competent she was at defending herself, if whoever had murdered Talbot Grey used a stunner on her first, she wouldn't have a chance. If Mr. X used one on him, their killer would discover very quickly that he had made a big mistake. Superman's identity might be forfeit, but to Clark that was of secondary concern. Some time in this century the real story of Superman's identity was going to come out, according to HG Wells. Presumably it would happen when Utopia arrived, but what that meant he wasn't sure. A world where everyone behaved like sheep wasn't a world he would like to live in and a world where the powers-that-were controlled everyone wasn't, either. A world of no crime, and no violence wasn't really possible in practice, since it would require everyone to behave and, given the general cussedness of humankind in general, somebody was bound to try to take advantage of others. He suspected that what HG Wells thought of as Utopia was either a time of very short duration, or the result of a misconception on the part of the nineteenth century time traveler. Humanity just wasn't wired for a perfect Utopia. But in any case, Tempus had known his identity and so had others, if what Wells had told him was accurate, so the secret had, or would, come out and, when it happened, he and his family would just have to learn to live with it.
He just hoped that the time hadn't arrived yet.
Lori was watching him and he could swear that she was practically reading his thoughts as they flashed through his mind. She knew him pretty well, after all, he admitted rather ruefully to himself, and could unerringly predict his behavior.
"I know exactly what you're thinking," she said. "And I'm not planning anything stupid, but you have to admit I'm right. Whoever Mr. X is, he's going to try to eliminate me as a threat before I can identify him -- and as quickly as he can."
"Maybe he'll run," Clark said feebly. "He can't know you didn't already identify him."
"If he's Jason Decker," Lori said, "he might make himself hard to find until he's sure I didn't. If he isn't Decker, he's going to try to catch me by surprise. Either way, he isn't going to leave me alone. If I'm eliminated as a witness, I *can't* identify him positively."
Clark didn't even want to think of the possibility. "Zeb is going to have to cope with the rest of the situation himself," he said. "You've acquired your own personal bodyguard until this is solved. I've already told him, and he agrees."
"You know," Lori said, sounding patient, "I'm not made out of glass."
"I know," Clark said. "But you're not invulnerable, either. If I had a way to give you my invulnerability, I'd give it to you, but I can't -- not safely, anyway."
Lori looked puzzled for an instant and then enlightenment dawned. "Oh -- the lightning power-transfer thing," she said. "I wouldn't mind having the powers but it's the getting-struck-by-lightning that sort of puts me off. I don't think even Superman can easily control that sort of thing."
"I know darned well I can't!" Clark said. "And I'm not about to risk your life like that. We're just going to have to go about this the old-fashioned way."
"So, what do we do now?" Lori asked.
"Well, I happened to overhear the Convention organizers talking, while I was on my way down here," Clark said. "They've extended the convention by one day and rescheduled the presentations for tomorrow morning. I guess we'll attend them, and in the meantime, I'll take a look around to see if I can locate Decker. If," he added, "you'll keep the door locked while I'm gone."
"I have a better idea," Lori said. "Nobody's going to try to kill me while I'm in public. Let's go down and get something to eat. I'm starving. While we're there, you can take a quick trip to the restroom or something and scan the hotel, for starters. It won't hurt to check first to see if Decker is still here. One thing is sure -- he hasn't left the Moon."
"How do you know?"
She waved at her computer. "I've been checking the departing travelers since yesterday. He hasn't been on any of the flights. He's still here -- somewhere."
**********
The hotel's formal dining room was filled with people when they arrived. Many of their colleagues from the convention were present, and several faces turned as Clark and Lori entered the room. Moments after they were seated, Pete Swanson pulled out a chair at the table and plopped into the seat. "Well, I see Lori hasn't been arrested for murder," he said.
Lori appeared startled. "Why would I be arrested for murder?"
"Stephanie Brooke has been telling everyone that you killed Talbot Grey in your hotel room, though why he was in your hotel room I can't figure out," he said.
"Stephanie and I are going to have to have a heart to heart talk," Lori said grimly. "I walked into our hotel room, and somebody rushed at me out of the dark -- knocked me down. By the time I got up, he was gone. I looked into the bathroom to see why he'd been there, and Tal was in the tub, with his throat cut. I didn't have anything to do with it. The police know it, too. If anything, she needs to worry a little. She was with Tal a couple of hours ago at the Rainbow Caverns tour."
"Funny thing," Pete said dryly. "She didn't mention that part."
"I'll bet," Lori said.
Pete looked sideways at Clark. "I heard about the thing this morning," he said.
"What thing?" Clark asked.
"Steph walked up to you and presented you with a pair of black shorts," Pete said. "Several people saw it. I have to admit, that kinda surprised me."
"It surprised us, too," Lori said. She opened her bag, removed the shorts and held them up. "Here they are. I never got around to putting them back in Clark's dresser. Why don't you hand them around for Exhibit A to whoever's gossiping? Stephanie broke into our hotel room last night and stole them to try to convince me that Clark is cheating on me. Only since I walked in on her while she was there, it didn't impress me a whole lot."
Pete didn't take the shorts. He examined them thoughtfully. "She's up to that again, huh?"
"You mean the stalking?" Lori said. "Yeah, she's stalking Clark. And the next time she tries anything, she's going to get a right hook from me. I'm getting pretty fed up with her games." She stuffed the shorts back into her bag. "How did you know about it?"
"I was the one she stalked the last time," Pete said. "I thought she'd gotten mandatory counseling."
"She did. It apparently didn't take."
"I guess not. How did you know about it? The records were sealed."
Clark snorted. "Lori has her ways," he said. "I suspect Stephanie's bitten off more than she can chew this time. She just hasn't realized it yet. If it keeps up after we're back in Metropolis, though, I'm going to take out a restraining order."
"It won't help," Pete said. "I had to bring charges. Anyhow, if anybody brings up anything about either subject, you can rely on me to quash any gossip."
"Thanks," Clark said. "I'm not particularly worried, though. What she's implying isn't true and what she's doing is going to backfire. I guarantee it." He glanced around the room, aware that a number of persons were watching their table and several had their heads tilted toward the conversation. He shook his head. "Care to eat with us?"
"Don't mind if I do," Pete said.
"Great. You won't mind entertaining Lori while I wash my hands."
"No problem," Pete said. "I've wanted to get better acquainted with her since we met." He winked at Lori. "I made a point of looking you up the other day. I knew you had a terrific reputation, but I hadn't realized how fast you'd racked it up."
"Why don't you tell him about it until I get back," Clark said. He got to his feet and strolled toward the restroom.
**********
tbc
