You know, I should get sick more often ... I have lots more time to work on fan fiction.
Catching up? Find the rest of the story
here. From Part 5:
With that, Clark heard the click of the receiver. Knowing that was probably all he was going to get out of that source, he jotted down a couple of notes. If nothing else, the call did remind him of the timeliness of this project. The problem was, once again, a lack of information to push forward an investigation.
Though not surprised, he was still not happy to know he had lost the advantage. It was difficult, if not impossible, to do any sort of undercover work or late night stakeouts without being recognized by at least one person. Cat had even suggested switching him over to a different section early in his days as the blue spandexed wonder, as she referred to him. She had jokingly suggested travel, given that the Planet could save a bundle on airfare. Even now, though, Clark wasn't entirely sure she was kidding.
And it wasn't as if he hadn't thought about it as well. His biggest fear was that his other identity would one day cost the Planet an exclusive scoop. The bottom line, though, was that investigating was what he wanted to do.
"Superman! Help!"
Phone messages forgotten, Clark sped as fast as humanly possible to the stairwell.
As he did so, the fifth message, asking him to call bus passenger Angela Martin about a missing photo, fell from his desk to the floor below.
~
Part 6:
Clark Kent felt like whistling as he walked down the ramp to the bullpen. His source from yesterday had been right. After attending to two emergencies, he had done some digging last night and found evidence of a slowly disappearing paper trail. Now he needed proof that his little discovery was more than a collection of random files, and he would be set.
After placing his cup of coffee on his desk, he was pulling his chair out when Cat caught his eye and motioned for him to join her. There were times when Clark really did miss Perry's trademark bellow - Cat's "get here now" looks had yet to grow on him.
"Clark, good morning. You seem unusually happy. Have they decided to grant you admittance into the Justice League?" Cat questioned as she shuffled through a stack of papers on her desk.
"What?"
Cat gave him a small grin. "Nothing, although I assume there is a reason you seem, well, almost perky this morning."
Clark smoothed his tie. "Let's just say I've found a break in the story that could blow the lid off the whole thing."
"The lead was that big? I didn't think one phone call would change much after how long you've been stuck."
"You know how it is, one phone call and all the pieces fall into place. Or in this case, a paper trail that hasn't quite been shredded."
Cat's brow furrowed. "Paper trail? Is that what that phone message was about?"
"Yes. The guy was pretty vague, but it was what I needed, so I guess it doesn't really matter in the end," Clark commented.
"Wait a minute, Clark, what are you talking about? The message was from a woman," Cat said.
"No, it wasn't. Well, maybe it was originally, but it was some guy who wanted to talk about the CostMart investigation."
"This isn't about the woman from the bus?"
"What woman from the bus?"
Cat's eyes widened. "Clark, yesterday afternoon while you were out, a message came in from that missing link of yours in regards to your search for Lois."
"What?"
"I took the call myself when the switchboard realized who it was."
Clark was barely focusing. "What did the woman say?"
"Just that you had called her and left a message about a missing photo. She said she thought it might belong to her and to call her when you got back in. I told her I could get the information you needed, but she was quite insistent that she talk to Clark Kent. Apparently, she's quite a fan of Superman," Cat explained.
"That's it?"
"Yes."
"But I never - " Clark stopped and left Cat's office, striding over to his desk.
"Clark?" Cat followed. “I still wanted to — “
"There were five messages on my desk for me yesterday afternoon,” Clark said, cutting off the editor. “I only had a chance to look at four of them before I got called away again."
Once at his desk, Clark began to move things around on it, pushing papers backwards and disturbing the order on his normally immaculate working surface. Not finding anything, he bent down to look under his desk. Cat, who had followed him into the newsroom, placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Clark."
Clark paused and glanced back at her.
"If it fell on the floor, it's gone. You know as well as I do that cleaning services come through here every night," Cat said gently.
Clark straightened and nodded. "Right. I guess I should call Jim — "
"I have access to the numbers that called in yesterday and can get a complete list in half the time it would take you to talk with your contact at the bus station. Meanwhile, I want you to write a follow-up to last week's break in at STAR labs."
"I thought they determined nothing had been taken," Clark commented, giving Cat a suspicious look.
"They're lying," Cat replied.
"How do you - " Clark trailed off as he realized who he was talking to.
"Just do some digging for me." Cat lowered her voice. "See if you can link CostMart to it."
Clark nodded, once again wondering which of them had superpowers. Cat's ability to schmooze with people off the record and get them to admit to and say things that no one else had ever heard was something of a legend among Metropolis's journalists. As Perry had once commented, "She's the first person I've ever met who uses gossip for the power of good."
Accessing the Planet's database, Clark started by speed-reading everything he could about last week's break-in. Fifteen minutes later, while on her way to meet with the brass upstairs, Cat dropped a slip of paper on Clark’s desk. Above the number, Cat had jotted a note: Do not lose this piece of paper.
Smiling, Clark quickly put his notes on STAR labs aside and dialed the number. After the fourth ring, a older woman’s voice echoed through the earpiece.
"Hello?"
“Yes, my name is Clark Kent and I’m called from the Daily Planet — “
"Superman! What an honor! None of my friends are going to believe I got the chance to talk with you. You're such a nice boy. My name is Angela Martin, by the way," Angela Martin said, suddenly sounding very much like a schoolgirl with her first crush.
"Thank you, Mrs. Martin. I was calling in regards to a photograph I found on a bus."
"Oh, yes. Are there four people in it, three adults and one adorable grandson?" Angela Martin questioned.
A smile spread across Clark's face. "Yes, there are. Can you tell me who they are?" Clark asked, trying to restrain the excitement in his voice.
"Well, yes. The man is my daughter's husband. My daughter, Annie, is the woman he has his arm around. The boy in the front, that's their son LJ."
"What about the fourth woman?"
"I don't know who she is, dear. Why?"
"She looks like someone who was reported missing several years ago. Where was the picture taken?" Clark queried.
The line was silent for a moment. "That's hard to say, Mr. Kent. You see, they're missionaries, so they travel all over the world."
"Would a date help?"
Mrs. Martin was silent for a moment. "Yes, yes, I believe it would."
"June 5, 1995."
"June 5 ... let's see, they would have been in Senegal," Angela paused. "Yes, that's where they were. They loved that post. LJ did, especially. The school there for missionary children is very good. He met so many nice children. They were so sad when they left."
Clark took a minute to digest this. "Where are they now?"
"They're actually in the states right now, in between assignments. I was just visiting them, which is why I was on the bus. They live in Ohio."
"Mrs. Martin, do you think they would mind if I called them and asked them about the woman in the photo?"
"Of course not, dear. My son-in-law is a big fan of yours. He's so happy that there's finally a public figure who can be a role model to the younger generation," Angela explained. "And why don't you keep that picture for now? If that woman is missing, it's probably very important to you."
"Yes, it is," Clark said softly. "Thank you for your time, Mrs. Martin."
Angela gave Clark Annie's phone number before telling him again what an honor it was to talk with him and reminding him that if he ever needed a girlfriend, she had a younger daughter who was recently divorced.
Clark quickly hung up and was in the middle of dialing the next number when cries for help rang in his ears. Being careful to put the paper someplace where it would not blow off, he sped out of the newsroom and took to the sky.
~
"Hello?"
"Yes, is Annie there?"
"One minute," a young boy responded. Clark could hear the boy putting his hand halfway over the receiver before screaming "Mom! Phone!"
"She'll be right down." Clark heard before the hand muffled the receiver again.
Clark heard footsteps in the background and then a women’s voice. "LJ, how many times have I told you not to yell? It's not polite. Next time, put the phone on hold and come and find me."
"I know,” Clark heard as the phone was handed off.
"This is Annie," she said, her voice considerably more relaxed than when she had scalded her son.
"Annie, hello. This is Clark Kent - "
"Mom told me you'd be calling. She's currently letting everyone in her phone book know she talked to Superman," Annie explained. "Though I'll probably be doing the same thing. Mr. Kent, I just want to thank you for how much good you've done since becoming Superman. My husband and I worry so much about what a violent world LJ is growing up in, and it's just wonderful to have someone like you who proves that crime isn't the answer."
Clark knew the tips of his ears were red. Even after all this time, he still found himself self-conscious whenever complimented in regards to his alter ego. "Thank you, and call me Clark."
"I'm sorry to sound like such a fan, Clark. But being a parent, you have no idea how frustrating it is to see children looking up to rich athletes and actors as role models," Annie explained.
"It's nice to know I could be of service," Clark replied before shifting the topic away from himself. "The reason I'm calling is that I found a picture you gave your mother on a bus."
"Mom mentioned that. Something about a missing person?"
"Yes, the woman in the picture, could you tell me about her?"
"Let's see ... the picture was from when we were in Senegal. She's brunette, right? With long hair?"
"Yes."
"That would be Wanda then."
Clark felt his heart sink. "Wanda?"
"Yes, Wanda ... what was her last name?" Annie paused. "I'm sorry, Clark. I'm horrible with names. Just ask my husband. We had been dating for almost a month before I finally remembered his last name. But as for Wanda ... it was some sort of city. A big US city. Could you run some names by me?"
"Metropolis?"
"No, no, it wasn't anything like that. It was the type of name that would work as a family name."
"Portland? Seattle? Houston? Austin? Albuquerque? Boston?"
After a string of negatives, Angela spoke up. "Wait, it started with a B."
"Baltimore? Birmingham? Burbank?"
"Detroit!" Annie exclaimed suddenly. "That's it. Wanda Detroit. The strangest things will trip my memory."
"Wanda Detroit," Clark repeated, looking at the picture on his desk again. It wasn't Lois, but looking at that picture, Clark wasn't sure how it could be anyone else. "Could you tell me about her?"
"Well, there's not that much to tell. I met her when I was in Banjul, that's the capital of Senegal. She was nice enough, and we started talking, and, well, she was exactly what we needed. We were short on teachers at the time, and we needed someone to help teach English for two months until more staff came in."
"And she taught?"
"Yes. After the two months, I was sure we could get her an assignment elsewhere, but she declined and just disappeared. We haven't heard from her since."
Clark digested this information. "Could you tell me about her personality?"
"She was nice enough but kept to herself. She wasn't very talkative either. She always seemed a little removed from everything, even when she was in the middle of the group."
"Annie, do you have any more pictures of her?"
After a moment, Annie replied. "No, but strangely enough, I do have two of the notebooks and a couple of other things she left. We had given her our address in the states, so I thought I'd hold onto it and give it back to her if she contacted us. It's been long enough now that I don't think we'll ever hear from her. If she really is a missing person, you're more than welcome to come get them from us."
Clark agreed, not quite ready to give up on the idea that this Wanda person was actually Lois. Annie gave him directions to her house, or at least as well as she could give them, since she had never flown under her own power before.
~
The house was a simple affair in a development where every house looked more or less the same, complete with a small sapling out front.
Adjusting his glasses, Clark knocked on the door. Moments later, a man answered. Seeing who it was, the man gave Clark a wide smile.
"Clark Kent, nice to meet you, I'm Lex Luthor, Annie's husband."
End Part 6
(for those of you playing the home game, points to everyone who guessed Wanda would be making an appearance)
Yes, it's short ... but how could I resist this great cliffhanger?
