PREVIOUSLY IN THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE...
“And... I managed to get into some good counseling. One thing I can tell you though, I no longer want to be a defense lawyer.”
Lois couldn’t help but smile at that. “No criminal law for you, hey?”
“Oh, I didn’t say that. In fact, I now want to work for the District Attorney’s office. Maybe after I graduate, I’ll be able to return to Metropolis and get a job here.”
“Me investigating; you prosecuting... The criminals of Metropolis won’t know what hit them,” Lois responded, finally provoking a smile out of the other woman.AND NOW...
“Okay, so let’s assume that Mayson’s experience last year is connected with what happened to both Angelina Wesley and me,” Lois said after Mayson left and Lois filled Clark in on what she had told them.
Not that he had really needed her to. He’d been unable to resist listening to most of it. The pain in Mayson Drake’s voice had been too intense not to be drawn in by her story.
“Can we really know that they’re connected?” Molly asked, placing a plate of cookies on the coffee table before taking a seat. “I mean, unlike with you and Angelina, we have no evidence that Mayson was actually drugged.”
“I think so. Two Beta Beta parties.” When Molly raised her eyebrows, Lois corrected herself. “Okay, so last Friday’s party was at Alpha Nu Rho. But all the Beta Beta guys were invited. Besides, when she was talking... I really think she was drugged just like I was.”
“I say we go with that for now,” Clark said, helping himself to a cookie. “We can always revise our theory later if we need to.”
“So... what does that tell us?” Molly asked, not seeing the point. “I mean, even when they fax me that list of Beta Beta guys and we compare it to our suspects, that doesn’t really tell us much. After all, you saw how it was last Friday. There are almost always more gate crashers than regular Beta Beta or Alpha Nu Rho members who show up to these things.”
“It tells us,” Lois continued, “that whoever is responsible is not a freshman. Otherwise, this year would be the first year something like this would have happened”
Both Clark and Molly shared a look, impressed by Lois’ deductive reasoning.
“Okay,” Clark said, “so... let’s start by crossing off the freshmen.”
They took a look at their suspect list, together with what they had been able to put together about each of them over the course of the past week.
“Him,” Molly said, pointing to the name of one of the football players.
“And him,” added Clark, pointing to the name of one of the others.
“And Teddy,” Lois said, pointing to the name of her buddy from gymnastics class. “Oh, and Joe...” Lois added, giving Clark a look that told him just how stupid she thought he was for insisting that Joe’s name be put on the list in the first place.
They stared at the list for a moment more.
“And Russell,” Lois finally said.
“Russell?” asked Molly. “Linda’s brother. Why are you crossing his name off the list?”
“Because Linda is a freshman. Russell doesn’t even go to school here. So why would he have been at a party on the NTU campus last year when Linda wasn’t even attending?
When Molly and Clark still looked skeptical, Lois let out a breath.
“Besides, he was attending MIT last year.”
“Massachusetts Institute of Technology?” Clark asked. When Lois nodded, Clark immediately crossed Russell off the list.
“I’m still not sure we should cross Russell off the list,” Molly said. “He was the one who distracted you and got you to leave your drink alone on the table. I mean, isn’t it possible he was back here, visiting his family for the weekend - Linda is from Metropolis, after all. Maybe he happened to know someone who was going to the party at the Beta Beta house and tagged along or something?”
Lois nodded thoughtfully. “You might be right. Maybe we can get that information out of Linda. Find out if he was back here in February.”
“Without letting her know why we’re asking?” Molly said.
“Of course,” Lois responded, a smile appearing on her face that told the other two that she had an idea about how to get that information and was sort of relishing the idea of getting one over on Linda.
“Okay, so who does that leave?” Lois asked and all of them looked again at the still incredibly long list.
“Excuse me,” Tracy, one of the other sorority sisters, said, sticking her head in the study. “There’s someone here to see Lois.”
When Lois left the room, Molly looked over at Clark.
“Charlie,” she said softly, causing him to look up from where he was studying the list. “I don’t think I’ve thanked you for what you did for Lois that night. Now that I know more of the story... I’m just glad you came along when you did. If it had been someone else...”
“There’s no need to thank me, Molly. I’m glad I came along when I did, too. I care about Lois... a lot.”
Molly smiled. “I’m glad. She cares about you, too. Maybe more than she lets on.”
Clark quickly looked back at the list of suspects, his conscience screaming at him mercilessly. He shouldn’t be here. Even Molly could tell that Lois was falling for him. It wasn’t fair to let that happen. He should leave now. Take the time machine and fly out to a deserted island where he could...
“Excuse me,” Lois said, cutting into Clark’s rambling thoughts before he could put them into action.
Both he and Molly looked over to where she was standing at the door, a young woman wearing too much make-up and too little clothing standing next to her.
Clark recognized her immediately. Even though she’d only been at the Planet for a few years before being lured away by one of those Hollywood gossip television shows and even though she’d left before he’d joined the staff, it would be hard not to recognize one of the best, not to mention most flamboyant, gossip columnists the Planet had ever had. They still talked about her on a pretty regular basis - although not always for the quality of her gossip.
“This is Cat Grant,” Lois said. “She used to date Donny Landover. Anyway, she says she might have some information for us.”
“Well, that might be... overstating things a bit,” Cat said. “But when I read your article this morning...”
“You read the Daily Planet?” Molly asked, stunned.
“I can read, you know,” Cat responded indignantly.
“We know you can,” Lois said, shooting Molly a look that told her not to antagonize this potential source.
“I actually want to work for the Daily Planet some day.”
“Doing what?” Clark asked carefully, trying not to seem as if he knew that some day she would.
“Gossip columnist.” To what she seemed to think were their skeptical looks, she continued. “Hey, I’d be great at it! I always get the best stuff.” She let out a breath, seeming to get control of her temper again in the light of their shocked expressions. “Sorry. I guess that was uncalled for.” She shrugged. “I guess I should get use to that. Most people don’t think too much of gossip columnists. But that’s just because they’ve never seen it done right before,” she added, giving Clark a wink.
“No problem,” Clark said. “So what brought you by today?”
“Gossip, I guess,” she said, giving them a sheepish smile.
“What did you hear?” Lois asked, gesturing her to take a seat.
Cat sat down, preening slightly as she looked at Clark. Clark couldn’t help but be amused: the come-hither look in her eyes, the sensuality of her movements, each carefully crafted and calculated to attract the male of the species... Oh, yeah. That was the Cat Grant he’d heard about.
“Well, it may be nothing,” Cat said, finally turning her attention to Lois. “I wouldn’t have bothered coming at all, except after reading your story... I guess whether my information is useful depends on whether the woman who didn’t want to be identified in your story is actually you.” She looked at Lois expectantly.
Lois sank down onto the sofa, stunned. How had this woman figured it out? And if she knew...
“Don’t worry. I don’t think anyone else would have made the connection,” Cat said. “But like I said, I get the best gossip, partly because I tend to be very good at connecting the dots between random pieces of information.”
“So what exactly did you hear?” Clark asked, trying to keep them on track without forcing Lois to confirm Cat’s suspicions.
“Okay. The story making its rounds among the jocks is that a couple of football players almost got Lois to leave the party with them last Friday.” She looked at Lois. “They were apparently talking about how drunk you were.”
“Drunk?” Lois asked. “They didn’t say anything about drugs?”
Cat shook her head. “Given some of their comments, I got the impression that they had just taken advantage of the situation - not that they had engineered it.”
“What type of comments?” Molly asked.
“Well, one of them made a comment about how they couldn’t believe you’d put yourself in that position - given the fact that you knew how many people were mad at you. Anyway, I’d have thought nothing more about it except that when I read your article, I suddenly wondered if what they mistook for drunkenness was you actually being drugged.”
Lois chewed on that for a moment. “So then, the person who drugged me might not have been connected to the two guys seen trying to get me to leave the party with them.”
Clark was slightly surprised that she had admitted this in front of Cat.
“Did they say anything else?” Lois asked. “Did they say what their plan was?”
“I got the feeling that they thought it might be the chance to teach you a little lesson,” Cat said. “I’m not even certain they were talking about sex. It was more like... they intended to humiliate you somehow - although I can’t completely rule out the sex option. I’m not sure they’d even really thought it through - really knew what their plan was. But they said someone came along and they decided to scram. And since then... Well, apparently Donny has made it clear that everyone is to leave you alone.”
“Can you give us names?” Clark asked.
Cat nodded. “Yeah. Bruce Alcock and Dick Johnson.”
“Two of the football players I reported for not writing their own exams,” Lois said.
Again, Cat nodded. “They said something about coming with Donny and then staying around after he left.”
“They must have been the two guys with no necks who came with Landover.”
“That sounds like them,” Cat said.
“Can you tell us anything else?”
“Maybe. It wasn’t anything they actually said, but I got the impression that someone else may have pointed out to them how drunk you were. Maybe... suggested this was there chance for a little pay-back.”
Lois leaned forward in her seat. “Any idea who?”
Cat shook her head. “I wouldn’t even say that part of the story rises to the level of real gossip. It was just a feeling I got, but I couldn’t tell you why.” She shrugged. “Sometimes I just get these feelings about things - you know, where your gut is telling you something but you can’t quite put your finger on why.”
Lois nodded, knowing that sensation quite well.
“Well, anyway, that’s all I know. If I hear anything else, I’ll be in touch. I hope you get this guy. Last thing we need around here is some creep drugging women and dragging them back to his lair.”
“Don’t approve of that kind of cave man behavior?” Molly asked.
“Absolutely not! If anyone is going to do the drugging and dragging, I want it to be me.” She winked at Clark and rose to her feet.
Clark couldn’t help smile in amusement. Yes, definitely the Cat Grant he’d heard about.
“Cat, before you go... Can you tell me if you’ve ever heard of a drug called GHB?” Lois asked.
“Sure. Some of the guys use it instead of steroids. Why? Is that the drug someone is putting in women’s drinks?”
“That’s not for public consumption,” Lois said immediately.
“No, of course not,” Cat said. “Do you really think I’d jeopardize my chance of a job at the Planet by betraying its newest rising star?”
“Rising star?” Lois asked.
Cat just winked.
Clark’s eyebrows went up, suddenly wondering exactly what sources of information this woman did have.
“Like I said,” Cat said, reaching over to snag a cookie. “I’m the best.”
“Do you know who might be using GHB?” Clark asked.
“Not off the top of my head, but I can do some sniffing around if you like.”
“That would be great,” Lois said.
“Any idea who their supplier might be?” Clark asked.
“Someone they refer to as Einstein,” Cat responded.
“Any idea who he is?”
“No. And on that one you’re on your own. I might be able to find out who is using GHB, but if I start asking about suppliers... That’s the sort of information that makes the phrase, ‘curiosity killed the cat’ more than just some idle expression.”
* * * * * * * * *
“Well, that was interesting,” Clark said when Cat finally padded out of the house.
“How certain are we that she can be believed?” Molly asked. “I mean, she is friends with the football players.”
“I believe her,” Lois said. “She gave me honest information about the cheerleaders writing the football player’s exams. So it’s not as if she is going out of her way to try to protect them.”
“I suppose, but...”
Molly’s comment was cut off when the phone rang. Molly grabbed it, said hello and then listened for a moment before saying, “I’ll tell her,” and hanging up.
“What’s up?” Lois asked.
“That was Linda.”
“Oh, great. What did she want?”
“Apparently, you have to get down to the Ink and Quill now. She didn’t say why.”
* * * * * * * * *
Lois was pleased that Charlie had insisted on accompanying her to the Ink and Quill. For reasons she couldn’t quite put her finger on, she had a bad feeling about this. So to have her guardian angel there was comforting. Besides, any time she could spend with Charlie was a gift.
“There you are,” Linda said the instant they walked through the front doors.
“What’s going on?” Lois asked.
“Paul wants to talk to you.”
Lois glanced towards Paul’s office. “What about?”
“You’ll have to ask him. Hi, Charlie,” Linda added, her sudden interest obvious from her tone of voice.
But this time for some reason, instead of Linda’s flirting hurting her, Lois found herself rolling her eyes. Could this woman get any more obvious? Not that it wasn’t annoying, of course. But if Cat Grant hadn’t been able to get his attention - and although he’d looked amused by her antics sometimes, he’d never appeared the least bit interested - then Linda didn’t stand a chance.
“Listen, Linda, I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” Lois said.
“What?”
“Well, I was talking to one of the Beta Beta guys who came over to help clean up after the party last Friday and... Well, he saw me talking to Russell and wondered how to get in touch with him. I told him I’d ask you.”
“How does he know Russell?”
Lois shrugged. “He said something about meeting him at a party at the Beta Beta house last February.” As she spoke, she began walking towards her desk, as if not particularly interested in getting a response.
“He must be mistaken,” Linda said. “Russell didn’t even come home from MIT for Christmas last year.”
Lois quickly glanced over at Charlie who was definitely looking amused. Before she could burst out laughing at how easy that had been, she directed her attention to some papers on her desk, sorting through them as if they held all the answers to the universe.
“Anyway, if this guy does know Russell,” Linda said. “Have him give me a call.”
“Whatever,” Lois said. “I probably won’t even see him again.”
“Then why ask me about him?”
Lois shrugged. “So you don’t have any idea why Paul demanded I come right over?”
“You’ll have to ask him.”
Lois turned and looked at Paul’s office door. It was closed and she could see that he was inside, talking to someone. She glanced over at Charlie. “While we wait, want to grab a cup of coffee?” she asked. “Usually tastes like slush but...”
“I like newsroom coffee, Lois,” Charlie said.
For a moment, she stared at him, wondering what he meant by that. He seemed to shift slightly under her consideration. Then she let it go. Probably all connected with everything else. And she planned on getting to ‘everything else’ soon enough.
“Well, come on,” she said, grabbing Charlie’s arm to lead him towards the coffee room. “Later,” she said to Linda as they departed.
Stepping into the coffee room, Lois realized it wasn’t empty.
“Great,” she muttered under her breath when she realized who was there. “Bob,” she said, her voice flat.
“Lois,” he responded using the same tone as her.
Avoiding further conversation, she stepped up to the coffee machine and began pouring cups for both herself and Charlie.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bob snag a couple of coffee filters and stick them in his jacket pocket.
She couldn’t help herself. She just couldn’t. “Still too cheap to buy your own coffee filters, I see.”
“Who are you? The filter police?” Bob responded before turning and marching across the room.
“Lane!”
The sound of Paul yelling her name redirected Lois’ attention almost immediately. “Be back in a minute,” Lois said to Charlie before handing him both cups of coffee and high tailing it towards Paul’s office.
* * * * * * * * *
Clark was lost in thought, his eyes focused on Bob, as Lois rushed across the newsroom floor. He knew that man from somewhere. But where? Bob. The name didn’t quite fit but...
Suddenly, his eyes widened. Bob was short for Robert. Robert Stafford! Of course. In his time, Robert Stafford was the Governor of New Troy’s science adviser. The one leading the attack on Superman. How was it he had not made the connection until now?
Then his mind flicked back to the exchange in the coffee room between Lois and Bob. Apparently, Bob was a coffee filter thief. And by the sounds of things, this wasn’t the first time. Strange. Very, very strange.
“Why do you care? You didn’t even want the story!”
Lois’ angry voice cut through his thoughts and he looked over at the closed door to the editor’s office.
“You still work for the Ink and Quill,” Paul yelled back. “That means you don’t go shopping stories to other papers! Whether I want to publish it or not is irrelevant! Maybe I just wanted you to get more proof before printing it!”
“As if! You called it gossip and, if I recall correctly, threw it in the garbage can and assigned me some fluff piece about a stupid art exhibit! You even told me to give up on the story! I thought it was an important story, one that women at NTU should be aware of, so I went to the Daily Planet!”
“You had no right to undermine my decision like that!”
“Undermine? Just because you were proven wrong does not mean I undermined you! You undermined yourself!”
Clark found himself walking towards Paul’s office, noting as he did so that the newsroom had gone silent and everyone’s eyes were now looking in the same direction. It seemed super hearing was not necessary to hear the fight going on behind that closed door.
“You think just because the Daily Planet chose to print that garbage, it undermines me? Who did you sleep with over there to get them to print your story? I hear they have some sort of Lothario working as a copy boy. Ralph... something? Is he the one you screwed to get your story published?”
Clark opened the door and rushed into the office just in time to grab Lois in mid-air as she threw herself towards Paul.
“You’re lucky he stopped you,” Paul said. “Or you’d have been looking at a visit to the police station on charges of assault. Now that would make good copy.”
“Why you little...”
“Lois!” Clark said, finally getting the attention of the hissing and spitting wildcat in his arms.
“That’s it, isn’t it,” Paul continued. “You slept with someone at the Daily Planet to get your story published. I would have thought Perry White was above that sort of thing. But to get garbage like that published, he must be the one you...”
Keeping himself between Lois and Paul, Clark spun around to face Paul. “Okay, that’s enough!” he said, causing Paul to take an unconscious step back. “You’re about two words away from a sexual harassment complaint. And if it comes to that... I swear. I’ll see your name splashed across the front of every newspaper in this country as the first student editor to be the subject of a Title Seven law suit since it was expanded to include educational institutions. You’ll be able to kiss your career goodbye.”
Clark took a deep breath, trying to get control of his temper. He was relieved to realize that his rant had calmed Lois down because if she decided to attack Paul again, he wasn’t entirely sure he would stop her.
“Come on, Charlie,” Lois said from behind him. “Let’s get out of here. He’s not worth the aggravation.”
Then, with her head held high, she left, marching through the newsroom to pick up her pack and coat and head for the door. She didn’t stop, didn’t alter her pace until they were a long way down the hall. When Clark saw her footsteps finally falter, he quickly caught up to her, pulling her into his arms just as the tears started.
* * * * * * * * *
Lois had to smile as she stared down at her hot chocolate - Molly’s tried and true remedy for a truly awful day. Seems that this one must have been particularly bad since Molly had even seen fit to top it off with marshmallows, whipping cream and chocolate sprinkles.
She glanced at Molly who shrugged sheepishly in response.
“I still can’t believe he said that to you,” Molly said.
Lois shrugged, using her finger to scoop off a few chocolate flakes to pop them in her mouth. She closed her eyes and just allowed the sweet taste to calm her still trembling nerves. Whoever had invented chocolate should have been given a Nobel Prize. Lois wasn’t entirely sure what category. If there was one for keeping women sane, it would be the obvious choice.
“So how will this effect you if Paul decides that, because of this, he won’t publish your stories anymore?” Molly asked. “Don’t you have to have a certain number of stories published in the Ink and Quill to pass your year?”
Lois shrugged again. “I don’t know. I guess if he starts rejecting my stories because of this, I could go talk to our faculty advisor or something. I just don’t know. And I really don’t want to think about it right now.”
“Okay then,” Charlie said. “How about a change of subject? I have a theory about who might have drugged your drink.”
TO BE CONTINUED...
ML
