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From Part 17:As a thought struck her, she leaned closer and murmured even more quietly, "No-one guessed anything, did they? I mean, because you weren't hurt?"
He shook his head. "I was very careful - I made sure that the bike was resting above me when I fell rather than directly on me. It'll be easy to explain if anyone asks."
If they were right, this was both good and bad - bad in the sense that Luthor had to be getting desperate to try to harm Clark, but good in the sense that he clearly saw them as a threat - which meant that they were right about him. Luthor didn’t even know what it was that they knew, or thought they knew, about him, and yet he was taking pretty direct action. He had to be worried.
And this was serious. If Clark hadn't been invulnerable, he could have been badly hurt.
The sooner they got proof of Luthor's true nature, the better.
*********
Now read on...As they exited the cab outside Henderson's precinct, Clark resolved to keep an even closer watch on Lois than before. It hadn't occurred to him that Luthor might try more violent, or permanent, means of getting her out of his way; up until twenty minutes earlier, he'd assumed that Luthor found Lois attractive, despite his obvious worries about whether she was investigating him. But was the incident with the motorbike a sign that the billionaire was now careless as to whether Lois was harmed or not?
He was very glad that she had moved in with him. That made his task easier.
Henderson came out of a back office as they were ushered into the precinct; the dour detective raised an eyebrow at Lois and said, "You're late."
"I didn't schedule in Clark getting run down by a crazed biker," Lois drawled. "So sue me."
Henderson swivelled to look at Clark, raising an eyebrow. "You hurt, Kent?"
Clark shook his head. "I was lucky. The bike didn't fall directly on top of me."
"You report it?"
Lois shook her head. "The rider took off."
"I got his licence," Clark supplied. "We'd appreciate it if you could get it checked out."
Henderson shrugged. "Give the details to the duty officer - she'll take care of it for you. Not that it's likely to do you much good - most hit and runs are never traced, even with the number."
"We want this one traced," Lois said firmly. "We think it may have been deliberate. And that it's probably related to what we've come to talk about."
The eyebrow crawled up again as Henderson reached across to a nearby desk and snagged a form. "Okay, give me the details. I can have someone check it out while we're talking."
The form completed, Henderson led them into his office. "So, Lane, I'm breathless with curiosity to know what makes you willing to share all of a sudden."
Lois shrugged. "We need some information, and you can get it for us."
"You must need it pretty badly. What's up? Your usual sources on vacation?" As he spoke, Henderson was pulling some files from a drawer; sliding his glasses very slightly down his nose, Clark could see that they all related to the apartment fire and Craig Allen.
"No games this time, Henderson," Lois said, all humour and sarcasm gone from her tone. "This is big, and I think you know it too. There's someone we want to nail, and it's not Craig Allen."
"Okay." The detective sat back, fixing Lois with a straight stare. "Why don't you tell me what you have and what you want, and I'll see what I can do."
Clark expected Lois to object to the expectation that she would go first, but she nodded. "First, I want to know if we're safe here. No-one can overhear us?"
Henderson paused, then got to his feet. He ambled to the door, then said casually, "Either of you two want a coffee?"
Clark was about to say no, when the detective answered his own question. "Okay, I'll just be a minute. Lane, black, no sugar, right? Kent?"
Playing along, Clark said, "Milk, two sugars. Thanks."
He watched, looking through the door, as Henderson poured coffee from a carafe which was on a nearby table; as he did so, the detective seemed to be keeping a close eye on other officers nearby. Heading back to his own office, Henderson told an administrative assistant that he was not to be disturbed until further notice. Once inside again, he dumped the coffees on his desk and then shut his door firmly.
"You can speak freely," he said.
Lois glanced at Clark; from her raised eyebrow, he assumed that she suspected, as he did, that Henderson didn't entirely trust everyone at the precinct.
"Okay. To cut a long story short, let's begin by saying that the person we want to nail is Lex Luthor," she announced, keeping her voice softer than usual.
Henderson simply leaned forward in his seat. "And you have some evidence to go on?"
"Mostly circumstantial at the moment. But we think that Luthor - or someone acting on his behalf - paid Allen to set fire to my apartment."
"And why would Luthor want your apartment burned down?" Henderson asked. Without waiting for an answer, he added, "Let's assume I'm not going to disagree with you so far. And, if that's what you wanted me to confirm for you, yes, Allen did pay a substantial sum of money into his account a couple of days before the fire. Cash - untraceable," he added with a grimace. "You were right last night - I never believed he did it for a grudge. But that's what made no sense to me - what motive is there for burning down an apartment building?"
"That made no sense to us either," Clark agreed. "At least, until Luthor appeared at the Daily Planet offering Lois the use of an apartment he owns."
Henderson's eyebrow crawled up to his hairline again. "And you're saying that this wasn’t just a friendly gesture on his part?"
"Not unless people routinely set bugs and spy cameras all over apartments they're offering to lend to their friends," Lois said dryly. At the detective's quizzical look, she explained, "We asked Superman to take a look. Apart from the cameras in the bedroom and bathroom, he also found listening devices all over the study and in a number of other places."
"Uh-huh." Henderson scribbled something.
"He's also behind a new policy of hot-desking at the Planet - he knew about it, and it's what made him sure that I'd accept his offer of an apartment. He was selling it not only as somewhere to live, but somewhere to work too. He knew I couldn't work at the Planet under current conditions. He's been seen with the Planet director who's behind the policy. I think Lex Luthor is trying to interfere with the freedom of the press."
"Well, that's an aim I'll admit to having shared on occasion," Henderson observed sardonically.
"An aim worth putting people's lives at risk for?" Lois retorted.
"Have you got anything at all linking Allen to Luthor?" Henderson asked crisply.
Lois shrugged. "He used to work for Luthor Construction."
The cop nodded. "That's on his file. That all you got?"
"It's enough, isn't it?" Lois exclaimed.
"Circumstantial." The word was bitten out. "Lois, if that's all you have, don't waste any more of my time."
"You didn't know why someone might have wanted to burn down my apartment!" she pointed out sharply.
"Look, you two, there's nothing I would like better than to be able to put Luthor away," Henderson gritted out. "But I can't do it on hunches and theories and circumstantial evidence. You get me some hard proof and I'll use it. But what you've got so far is nothing."
"Have you got anything better?" Lois retorted. "You can't have or you'd have used it by now."
The detective inclined his head, conceding the point.
"We think he was behind the cyber-boxers. And that he destroyed the Messenger. And that's just for starters," Lois said.
"Superman told us that Luthor tried to...
persuade him to leave town during his first week in Metropolis," Clark added.
Henderson gave him a keen look. "Would he put that in a statement?"
Clark shrugged. "Don't see why not. But you're right," he added. "Just about everything we have is guesswork. There's no proof."
"Not yet," Lois pointed out.
"Not yet," he agreed. "We intend to get it," he added, turning back towards the detective. What we want to know is if you'll be willing to act on anything positive we do get hold of, and if you're willing to share what you have if you can."
"Can you be sure your apartment phone's not bugged?" came the immediate reply.
Clark nodded. "Not so far. I can contact Superman and have him check it out this evening."
"Get an anti-surveillance device."
"I thought they were illegal!" Lois objected.
Henderson shrugged. "They work. Why do you think they're illegal? And since when has the legality of things bothered you?"
Lois simply raised an eyebrow. Clark said. "I'll see to it." He should have thought of it himself anyway. He had, that morning on arriving at the Planet, had a quick scout around to make sure that there weren't any bugs anywhere there. There hadn't been any - though of course, he'd reflected, not without some amusement, the hot-desking policy would make that more difficult anyway. How would whatever minion Luthor had sent to do the job know which desk, or which phone, to bug? He made a mental note to fill Lois in on that later; it would make her smile, if nothing else. And he would definitely keep a check on his apartment. And Lois's car, he thought belatedly; it would be simple enough for a listening device to be planted in the Jeep.
"Do that. And call me on my direct line, never via the precinct. Okay?" He got to his feet, and it was clear that agreement had been reached and the conversation was over.
As they left Henderson's office, however, a uniformed officer came hurrying up. "That motorbike licence you wanted traced, Inspector?" he said.
"Yeah?"
"It was stolen."
Henderson glanced at Clark, the silent "What did I tell you?" coming across loud and clear.
"It was reported abandoned almost an hour ago," the officer continued. "A white male of around 35, height just under six feet, and wearing black leathers and a black motorcycle helmet, was found dead a couple of blocks away - officers on the scene suspect that they'll find his prints on the bike."
Clark froze. Another human being killed in the cause of Luthor's grand plan.
"How soon will they know?" Henderson rapped out the question.
"Depends how quickly they get the bike to the lab and take prints from the corpse," the officer said.
"I want it expedited. And I want the results on my desk yesterday." Henderson gestured to Lois and Clark to precede him towards the station exit, then said quietly, "You think this was an attempt to kill you?"
"I'm not sure," Clark said. "He did ride straight at me, but I had time to take evasive action."
"About a split second!" Lois objected. "Henderson, if Clark was anything other than healthy and extremely fit, he could have been killed! And so could innocent bystanders. Now do you believe that this is serious?"
"Lois, when I think something's not serious, you won't be in any doubt about it," the cop informed her. "I'll call you when I know anything. And I'm probably wasting my breath here, but be careful. My workload's impossible enough without you two landing me with another couple of murders to investigate."
"We will," Clark promised.
***********
"You failed, Nigel." Lex Luthor's voice was icy.
"Kent was knocked down by the bike," the ex-spy observed. "It is indeed true that he was unhurt, but my sources tell me that he and Ms Lane were shaken up."
"I want him
hurt! Luthor raged, for once losing his cool entirely. "I want him to suffer for attempting to make a fool of me. And Lois Lane... if she cares about Kent as much as she appears, I want her thoroughly distracted worrying about him. Now, do I have to do this myself?"
"No, sir," Nigel replied, sounding unusually chastened. "I will take care of - and this time I'll do the job myself. But the timing will be crucial if it is to look like an accident. Two apparent accidents in one day could be suspicious. So tomorrow...?"
Luthor grunted, clearly not completely satisfied. "If it has to be tomorrow, then so be it. Those two have become far too much of a thorn in the side. I want Kent in the hospital for at least a week. If his injuries are life-threatening, that will feel even sweeter," he added, a smile at last curving over the stern features.
"Nothing could be easier," Nigel commented; the expression on his face told his employer that the Briton was already planning and that this was the kind of activity he loved most.
"Let me know when it's done." Luthor turned away and marched out of the room.
**********
...tbc
