The Rival - Matchmaker Style
Rated PG-13
* * denotes emphasis
< > denotes thoughts
As always comments are welcome. (ken.janney@kjanney.com)
Previously:
Henderson watched as Jeffers climbed the fire escape. As he was about to reach the top, Superman lifted off and landed on the roof, joining him.
They immediately found the case that the rifle had been in. Looking around though, there was no rifle in evidence. Superman looked around and noticed an air vent. Walking over to it, he looked in. It was a straight drop to the basement.
Superman stepped up to Jeffers and asked, “Can I give you a lift?”
Jeffers was apprehensive.
Seeing this, Superman said, “Don’t worry. I haven’t lost a passenger yet.”
Jeffers relaxed and then nodded.
Standing next to him, Superman put an arm around his waist and then lifted off, landing a few seconds later on the sidewalk. He said to Jeffers, “This way. I think I know where the rifle is.”
Jeffers followed him into the building and down to the basement.
Using his x-ray vision, Superman examined the ductwork until he found the correct one. Using his hands he ripped it open exposing the rifle that lay within.
Jeffers donned a pair of rubber gloves and picked up the rifle. Together they returned to Inspector Henderson. Jeffers displayed his trophy and said, “Up on the roof is the case this was carried in. Superman found it in an air duct where he had dropped it.”
Superman added, “I believe that ballistics will match the slug that Secretary Wallace turned in to this rifle. I’m sure that his,” he pointed at Stark, “fingerprints will be on the weapon.”
Seeing which way the wind was blowing, Stark started to declaim.
Henderson stopped him, “Jeffers, read him his rights.”
As Stark and Carpenter were being Maranda’d Superman took his leave and flew off.
Jeffers read him his rights and when he replied that he understood, he stated, “It was Carpenter. He hired me for this gig. He’s crazy! He wanted to start a war!”
In a flat tone, Henderson said, “Take them downtown. Book them. Attempted murder. Get a forensics team down here to police up the area.”
Carpenter said, “My lawyers will have me out on bail so fast it’ll make your head swim, flatfoot.”
Bill deadpanned, “Not on a charge of attempted murder, he won’t.”
Just then, Clark came strolling up.
Linda spotted him and asked, “Where have you been all this time?”
Lois replied before Clark had a chance, “I’m sure that Clark was smart enough to hide when all the shooting started. He knows I don’t want him getting hurt. I need him to take care of me. Don’t I, honey?”
“I want to be around for you for a long time.”
Lois rewound the film in her camera, removed the film cassette and gave it to Jimmy, “Here, Jim. You might find something usable here.” As soon as she handed it to Jim she reloaded her camera. She was determined that she wouldn’t be caught with it empty again.
Clark excused himself and went over to talk to Bill Henderson. When they started to talk they strolled away from everyone so that they could talk privately.
And now:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 08
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
When things quieted down they all returned to the Planet. Jimmy headed for the darkroom while Lois and Clark wrote up the story. After they sent it to Perry they headed home.
Once they were in the apartment, Lois asked, “What was that heart-to-heart you had with Henderson?”
“I decided to enlist his aid in the Luthor investigation.”
Worried now, Lois asked, “How much did you tell him?”
“Nothing. I didn’t mention any names. I just pointed out what had happened to the driver of the truck that tried to run me down and the old lady that I was helping. He agreed that it had to be an inside job. He’s going to work on finding out just who he can and cannot trust within the department. I suggested a safe house of some sort that he could send collars to that will actually keep them safe until they can be questioned.”
“Do you really think that they’ll try again?”
“I feel pretty certain that they will. The thing that worries me is that you might be hurt when they try for me.”
“You’d never let anything happen to me. And I’m not going to let anything happen to you, either.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The next morning the Metropolis Star was in total disarray. The Editorial staff had clamped down on any stories dealing with Carpenter and they ran wire service leads.
Meanwhile the Daily Planet ran a forty-eight point banner headline:
”NEW AGE KANE NIPPED IN THE BUD”By Lois Lane and Clark Kent, with special contribution by Linda King
“Preston Carpenter, publisher of the Metropolis Star in an attempt to imitate his idol, the fictitious Charles Foster Kane from the movie Citizen Kane, rather than reporting the news, was making the news. Story continued pg. 2A”
As they entered the lobby of the Planet, Lois grabbed a copy of the morning edition from the news stand and scanned the headline. She blew out a frustrated sigh and said, “She did it again!”
Jimmy who happened to be nearby asked, “What?”
She started to answer Jimmy, but also drew Clark’s attention to it, “The by-line, Clark.” She started to read aloud, “'By Lois Lane and Clark Kent.'” A note of sarcasm crept into her voice as she finished, “'Special contribution by Linda King’.” She slapped the paper back down and said, “Oh right.”
Clark was surprised at what Lois had read, “Now how did she do that?”
Jimmy looked around at the sound of the elevator doors opening. He cleared his throat to get Lois and Clark’s attention and then nodded in that direction.
When they turned to look they saw Perry and Linda in the elevator car and Linda was just pulling back from giving Perry a smooch on the cheek.
Seeing them all looking at him, Perry became embarrassed and hit the floor button for the newsroom. Linda exited as the doors closed.
Having seen how Lois reacted to Linda and seeing her approach, Jimmy decided that he needed to get to the newsroom so he headed for the nearest stairwell since it was nearer than the elevator.
Linda was gushing as she approached, “Mister White is such a generous man!”
Lois sneered, “You have no shame.”
Linda rebutted, “Yes I do!” She thought for a second and then with a self-deprecating chuckle said, “Not a lot, but some.”
Clark could see at least some of the fences lowering and with a smile asked, “So, what’s next for you?”
Linda smiled at him and said, “I’ve taken a job on the coast.” She glanced at Lois and said to Clark, “If you get tired of the old ball and chain, you could join me.”
Lois gasped and it was very apparent that she was prepared to defend her territory against this interloper.
Barely in time to head her off, Linda held up her hands in a defensive gesture and said, “I’m kidding. I’m kidding.” Once she saw that Lois had accepted her statement, Linda addressed her, “Lois, I do have something to say to you.”
Lois, was still angry and snapped, “Don’t.”
Unperturbed, Linda said, “When you told me you accepted my apology, that meant a lot to me.”
Lois looked down her nose at Linda and said, “Not to me. I thought I was dying and I wanted to clean the slate.”
Clark admonished Lois with a look and said, “You don’t mean that.” He turned to Linda and said, “She doesn’t mean that.” He looked back at Lois and seeing her look turned back to Linda and said, “She means it.”
Linda, trying to put a spin on it, said, “Look at it this way, Lois. Maybe you're the reporter you are because of the competition you felt with me.”
Lois snorted in disgust and said, “Not only am I supposed to accept your lame apology, but now I'm supposed to thank you!?”
Lois looked at Clark expecting to receive his support. Instead he changed the subject, “So, Linda, which paper are you headed to next?”
Linda smiled and said, “No paper. I'm getting out of news.”
Lois smiled and said, “Good.”
Linda just smiled all the broader and said, “I just optioned the film rights to my inside story of Preston Carpenter's fall from grace.” She leaned in and lowered her voice to conspiratorial levels and said, “It's obscene how much money those Hollywood producers can throw at you.”
Lois was dumbfounded and her mouth fell open.
Clark shook his head and asked, “Who’s going to play you?”
“They're looking for a very big name. I did, however, insist in my contract that I get to play one of the
small parts.”
Lois’s curiosity was piqued, “Which part is that?”
Linda smiled, patted Lois on the shoulder and said, “I’ll try to do you justice.”
As Linda sauntered off, Lois gaped at her, speechless.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A little later, Lois and Clark were in the newsroom and things were quite busy. Now that the story about the Star had been printed there were follow-ups and sidebars to be written. Things were going to be busy for a while.
During a lull, Lois looked over at Clark and saw that he was sitting at his desk, idly playing with a micro-cassette. Getting up from her desk she moved over and leaned back against the edge of Clark’s desk. When she did, she crossed her legs so that the slit in her skirt opened and displayed her leg. Clark stopped playing with the cassette and gave Lois his attention. She reached out, snagged the bit of plastic from his hand and asked, “What do we have here?”
He shook his head and said, “I’m not sure. A long shot?’
“Frequently your long shots pay off. What is it?”
“Remember back when we were helping Eugene? We had that meeting with Luthor and Nigel. Well, I had a feeling that I should record that conversation. I had my recorder in my pocket.” (See Ides of Metropolis – Matchmaker Style)
“There wasn’t anything incriminating in that conversation.”
“It’s not the content of the conversation; it’s the voices.”
“What about the voices?”
“Remember when Jack stole the globe. He sold it to parties unknown. He told me that he didn’t see the faces, but they had to have spoken. I thought that maybe, if I played this for him, he’d recognize the voices.” (see Foundling – Matchmaker Style)
Lois pushed herself upright quickly, suddenly excited at the prospect of having proof of who had purchased the globe. “Let’s have him listen.”
Clark took the tape from her hand and placed it into his micro-recorder. Looking around he spotted Jack and called him over. Once he was there, Clark said, “I’d like to ask you to do me a favor.”
“Sure Mr. K. What do you need?”
“Let’s go into the conference room.”
Once they were in the conference room, Clark said, “Jack, I hate to bring this up again, but I really need the answers to some questions.”
Seeing that he was serious, Jack, who had really come to like Clark said, “I’ll answer if I can, Mr. K.”
“I know, Jack and I appreciate it. You know that the case of the globe you stole is still open.”
Jack started to become apprehensive, Clark could see it in his eyes and quickly moved to assuage his apprehension, “No one is looking to jam you up on that. Superman said he wouldn’t press charges. You’re in the clear.”
Jack immediately relaxed and Clark continued, “Look, when you sold Superman’s globe you said that you dealt with two men. You said that you didn’t recognize them.”
A little hotly, he replied, “That’s right. I didn’t.”
“Nobody is questioning your truthfulness on that. I’d like to know if either one or both of them spoke to you.”
Jack was quick to reply, “Yeah, they both did.”
Clark smiled and asked, “Do you think you’d recognize the voices?”
“I don’t know, maybe.”
“Okay, listen to this and tell me if you recognize the voices.”
Clark pushed the play button and the first voice that Jack heard was Nigel St. John as he said in his British English accent, “Mr. Luthor awaits you on the balcony. This way, if you please.”
Jack signaled Clark to stop the tape, “Yeah, that’s one of them. That’s the money man. The other guy hung back while that dude carried the cash. I’d say that the other one was the boss though. He was the one that told this dude to pay off.”
“Very good, Jack. That’s one down and one to go.” He hit play again.
He heard a voice say, “Pull!” Then there was a weird springing sound and then the sound of a firearm.
Jack was getting nervous again and Clark placed a calming hand on his shoulder.
He heard Clark ask, "What happens if you miss?"
There was silence for a few seconds and then a new voice said, "Interesting question, Mr. Kent. Let's see …” There was a brief pause. "This clay pigeon weighs two ounces. We are on the one hundred and twentieth floor, approximately fifteen hundred feet above street level. Considering the G force and the speed ... if the object hit the pavement, or some hapless passer-by, it would make contact at about two hundred miles per hour. My guess is that it would, unfortunately, kill him or her, instantly." There was another pause. "I never miss."
Jack looked like he was considering what he heard carefully before he answered. “Yeah, I think so. Most of the time he tried to disguise his voice, but there were times that he spoke normally. Yeah, that’s the guy that bought Superman’s globe.”
“Thanks, Jack. You’ve been a big help. I think I’m going to ask you to join me and meet with a member of the legal staff, upstairs. I need to get a sworn statement from you attesting that the voices you heard on this tape are those of the people that bought the globe. Can you do that for me?”
“Sure, Mr. K. I’d actually like to help you catch those crooks. I’m really sorry for what I did and I’d like to make it up to you and Superman.”
“Thanks, Jack. I appreciate it.” He nodded to Lois who was smiling.
Jack left the conference room and Clark said to Lois, “Just as we suspected, Nigel and Lex. That ties him to that hidden museum and the stolen art treasures.”
“Where do we go from here?”
“I think we need to work with Bill Henderson. Once we have the deposition from Jack with the tape Superman can be deposed as to the ownership of the globe and that Clark Kent was holding it for him.”
“We’re going to need more though.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. There are some other people that know more than what they are saying.”
“Who?”
“Toni Taylor and Miranda Michaels.”
Lois was appalled, “What, them?”
“They can each tell what they know about Luthor and his activities.”
“If Luthor feels like he is threatened by them, he’ll have them killed like that truck driver.”
“We’ll just have to see to it that he doesn’t.”
The end
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