Henderson stalled her with a hand to her arm. "Lois," he said, "nothing we find on the shirt is going to change that Clark's prints are on the murder weapon."
Yup. He should have heat visioned the thing into a lump of unformed metal.
"Why not?"
"Lois," Henderson said in exasperation. "Even if we were able to ascertain that Lana Lang isn't in Smallville, it doesn't mean she's in Metropolis, let alone prove that she shot Mayson."
"It gives her opportunity."
Lois remains the only person thinking from every angle.
"I'm in my apartment. Bring the recorder and -"
So she'll find Lana and tape a confession?
His expression was that of a man who was being asked to achieve the impossible. "Can I touch?"
He stepped sideways. "It is from this angle, but front-on, it's not too obvious unless you're concentrating on that spot." His gaze dropped. "It's not like there isn't anything else to look at."
Lois hitched up her skirt. "Is that better? Should I show more leg? Or more midriff?"
Jimmy's cheeks coloured. "Ah ... perhaps more leg. Try to draw the focus away from the camera."
"I took it from Lana Lang."
Yeah, they'll believe that.
Wolfe laughed - hard and cold.
See?
"She would kill Lois Lane."
Yup.
"I knew I was the primary suspect in a murder case. I figured there was a good chance the gun I took from Lana was the murder weapon, and it had my fingerprints on it. I thought that if I came here and brought it with me, it would be tantamount to admitting I had killed Mayson."
True enough.
The world didn't know it yet, but Superman wasn't going to be seen again for a long time. It was going to look as if he had run away, too.
Yup.
If he were charged and found guilty, they would know that a normal prison cell wouldn't hold him. They would know they needed kryptonite.
<wince> I hadn't thought of that.
A woman marched in.
A woman wearing Clark's black leather jacket.
And oversized jeans.
Hehehe, Lana's going DOWN!
Lois cackled. "You think Clark wants a baby?" she said scornfully. "With you?"
She's been taking lessons from Cat!
"My Toleriane range of skin-care products. I bought them in Paris. They're the latest thing. I put them in the cabinet. After you and the old guy came early this morning, the gel was gone." She advanced a couple of steps. "I want it back."
<hands Lana a shovel to haste her own grave digging>
"He *does* want to be with me. I know everything about him. He'll marry me because I'm going to have a baby and he doesn't want me to tell everyone his secret."
Guess what, Clark? You're telling Lois your secret for SURE now!
"Yes," Lana said, nodding importantly. A sudden smile dissolved her anger. "But she won't be back. I made sure of that."
"Yes. Just like I'm going to kill you."
Lana moved a little closer. "He's scared of intimacy," she said in a lowered voice.
Lois found that ridiculously easy to believe.
<g>
Yep, Clark had probably been worried. About Lana's mental health. About the future for her baby. But it probably hadn't occurred to him that Lana would shoot Mayson and try to frame him.
<nods>
Lana was prostrate on the floor. The handgun was lying half a yard from her outstretched hand.
<pokes Lana with a stick> You dead?
In the doorway was Mrs McCreadie, her feet apart, her arms forward, her weapon pointed.
Lana's head and shoulders lifted.
<is relieved only because of the innocent child involved>
Also, neighbor lady rocks!
"I have proof," Lois said. "I nailed her cold. And I have an excellent witness."
<claps like a gleeful schoolgirl>
I. LOVE. LOIS. <g>
