Kathy,
It had occurred to me that Snell's underling might already be panicking. That's why I've been trying to watch both of Snell's offices. There wasn't much else I could do.
Perry does tend to be very trusting of old friends. It saddens me to see that trust abused, and I'm not looking forward to telling him about it. At least I'll be able to give him some good news first.
I'm not sure who is handling the city's finances; I've been busy with other things. I'll remember to keep an eye on that. Thanks for the tip.
As for Linda, you are not going to believe what happened!
I went to see her this morning. I started explaining to her about how I was looking for Lois Lane but that I knew she was being watched. Linda looked at me oddly, but just as I was trying to figure out what her expression could mean, someone tried to shoot her!
Luckily, I noticed the bullet in time to catch it. I flew out the window after the would-be assassin, leaving Linda slack-jawed. As I was tieing him up, something occurred to me. He'd tried to shoot Linda when I approached her and started talking about Lois Lane.
I dashed back to Linda's office, bound assassin in hand. She seemed a little shaken, but managed to speak calmly. First she ordered me to drop the gunman off with a certain police officer she knew, then we got to talking.
As I'd started to suspect, 'Linda King' was an alias being used by... Lois Lane. It's amazing. All she did was colour her hair blonde, dress differently and put on some glasses, but I never would have recognised her.
She established her identity as 'Linda King' when she first went undercover in 1993. A few months' work earned her the full story on the gun-runners. She tried to return home, but the Congo officials wouldn't letting her leave. She went to the embassy to get things straightened out, but they weren't able to do anything. She kept trying, but was blocked at every turn. Then the embassy officials told her that her family and friends were dead. While she was still coming to terms with that, the gun-runners were captured. She decided that there was nothing left to go home for and began to make a new life for herself in Brazzaville, instead. Since there isn't much in the way of media coverage in the Congo (one television station, one small newspaper, and a handful of radio stations, none of which are known for serious investigative reporting), she became a private detective.
Between her focus on local events and the poor media availability, she had heard only rumors about Superman, none of which she'd believed until she met me in person. She certainly hadn't heard news from Metropolis.
I told her about Snell and tried to explain about Tempus without stretching her credibility too far. She refused to believe that her family was alive, nor was she prepared to accept that Mr. Oleson owned the Daily Planet or that Perry White had left the paper to become mayor of Metropolis. I told her that Ellen Lane was a prominent business consultant, but Lois had trouble with the idea that people were actually willing to pay her mother to tell them how they should run their companies. She became even more incredulous when I informed her that her sister was an intern at STAR Labs, working for some friends of mine, Dr. Roland Vale and his wife Dr. Nell Newtrich-Vale.
Surprisingly, it wasn't until I told about her what seemed to me to be the most unlikely occupation of them all that she started to consider the possibility that I was telling the truth. When I explained to her that her father had spliced genes from fireflies, lantern fish and other bioluminescent species into some pine saplings in an attempt to create self-lighting Christmas trees, she laughed and told me that no one but her father could have come up with such a crazy idea.
Ultimately, what convinced her was the Daily Planet. I brought her a copy of the latest issue, fresh from Metropolis, and pointed out a picture of Mayor White. She stared and stared, and then began to cry. Instinctively, I went to hug her. Even though we'd just met, it felt like the most natural thing in the world. I held her until she managed to collect herself, we talked some more, and then I flew her back to Metropolis.
Despite jet lag from the five hour time difference, she spent the rest of the day with friends and family, talking to, hugging, crying on and laughing with people she'd never expected to see again. She's in her sister's apartment now, sleeping soundly. I hear there's a large party in the works, but that won't be for another few days. She needs time to settle down and adjust first.
I'm not sure what will happen next, but I can tell you that I'm very much looking forward to getting to know her.
Lois is home, she's in my life, the FBI is preparing for one of the largest organised crime busts in history, the Daily Planet will have the exclusive, and it's all because of your help, FOLCs. "Thank you" seems far from adequate, but it's all I can think to say.
With sincerest gratitude,
Clark Kent
