Degrees of Separation: 6/?
by Nan Smith
Previously:
"Well," Clark said, "I want to find out about this guy." He produced the card that Tanya had given him. "This is the private detective that Tanya hired to find her ex-husband. He hasn't managed to find a trace of Morris Myers in three years, even though they know where he was two years ago when Ally escaped."
Lois raised her eyebrows. "That seems kind of unlikely," she said. "I mean, Myers could just be really good at concealing his identity, but it looks a bit suspicious to me."
"That's what I thought," Clark said. "Not only that, but Ally doesn't like the guy, and she doesn't trust him. That makes me even more suspicious."
"That's for sure," Lois said.
"So," Clark said, "first, I'm going to look him up online. Then I'm going to do a little snooping. Want to go along?"
Lois grinned. "Try and stop me!"
He grinned back. "That's what I thought."
**********
And now, Part 6:
"So, what have we got?" Lois asked. Dinner was over, the table cleared, and CJ, Marta and Jonny were in the kitchen, cleaning up the aftermath. Jonny had not been pleased when he had been told on the day following his ninth birthday that he had graduated to the exalted status of helping with the dinner dishes, but Lois hadn't blinked at his whines and protests. "Everybody helps in this house," she said to her unhappy second son. "Daddy cooked it and you ate it, so you get to help clean it up. Tonight is Marta's turn to be in charge. Don't let me hear that you gave her any trouble." And, after some initial rebellion over the matter, Jonny had become resigned to his fate. Tonight he was loading the dishwasher. Seven-year-old Jimmy was (more or less) polishing the dining room table with the spray bottle of furniture polish and a piece of threadbare bath towel.
"Well," Clark said, "Graham Jersey is a private detective who offers his services for a monthly payment. His office is here in Metropolis."
"We knew that," Lois pointed out.
"As far as the information on his website goes, he's just an ordinary private detective, offering his services to track down information on cheating spouses and so forth. However, he isn't completely unacquainted with law enforcement agencies around the state of New Troy," Clark said. "I took a look at his police record. He's been investigated several times for some questionable activities, and nearly had his license revoked once for conflict of interest involving two of his clients."
"Sounds like Mr. Jersey could warrant a closer look," Lois said.
"That's what I think," Clark said. "If we asked Jim, he could probably find out a lot more than I can. He seems to have an instinct about it."
"I've noticed that," Lois said. "Maybe tomorrow we should ask him for some help."
"I'm going to," Clark said. "I wonder if there's a night staff at Jersey's office."
"I'd say probably not," Lois said. "It isn't as if his is one of the big name private detective firms in the city. It might be a good idea for Lane and Kent to take a look at his files on the Myers case."
"I was thinking the same thing," Clark said. "I'd like to see exactly what he's been doing in this particular investigation."
"You and me both! Maybe Superman should take a short flight over the office and do his hover-around-the-building-and-X-ray-thing."
"Yeah," Clark said thoughtfully. "I'll do that while the kids finish clearing up the dishes."
"Uh -- Dad?" It was CJ, who had entered the room quietly while they were talking.
"Yes, CJ?"
"I was wondering...."
"About what?" Lois asked.
CJ adjusted the glasses that he had started wearing in fifth grade. "I'm finished with my part of the kitchen and I overheard you talking. Could I go, too?"
Clark felt his eyebrows fly up. "Why do you want to go?"
"Well --" He shuffled his feet uncomfortably "You know I said I want to do things like Superman does when I'm grown. I have mostly all your powers right now, except they're not as strong, yet. If this guy is somehow messing with Ally and her mom --" He shrugged. "I'd just like to go, that's all."
Clark thought he knew what his eldest son was trying to say. "You want to see how Superman does things like this."
"Yeah." CJ looked relieved. "I don't want to get in the way, but I want to help."
Clark looked at his wife. "What do you think?"
"Well --" Lois hesitated. "As long as no one sees him, and as long as all you do is look...."
"In that case," Clark said, "all right. Why don't you go put on some dark clothes, just in case."
CJ's expression brightened. "Thanks!" He was gone in a flash.
Lois blinked. "I didn't realize he was getting that good."
"Yeah," Clark said wryly. "He has all my powers. Like he said, they're not quite as strong as mine yet, but he has them. He's flying better every day -- just not as fast as I do."
"I guess," Lois said, "that if you'd had someone to teach you, you'd have learned most of these things earlier, too."
"Probably," Clark said. "Unfortunately, I was apparently the first one to ever do any of it."
"Yeah," Lois said. She glanced at the living room windows, where the crescent Moon was riding low over the tops of the taller skyscrapers that dotted the skyline. Metropolis's light pollution hid even the light of the brightest stars, but the pale crescent of the Moon was dimly visible even amid the haze of artificial illumination that cloaked the city. "Better go ahead and change. CJ will be waiting. Just no breaking and entering without me."
"Wouldn't think of it," Clark said.
**********
CJ was waiting in the upstairs hall, dressed in black jeans and a dark blue, long-sleeved shirt. He wasn't wearing his glasses, and his hair was slicked back in an approximation of Clark's when in his Superman guise. Clark looked him over critically. "Looks good," he said. "Let's step into the bedroom where I can change, and we'll leave by the window."
CJ nodded, looking a little nervous. Clark opened the bedroom door and preceded his son, changing to Superman as CJ closed the door behind them. Clark didn't turn on the light. Instead, he stepped to the window and looked out, surveying the area carefully as he always did. "Looks clear." He extended a hand to CJ, who took it, and together they lifted off and made a fast ascent to fifteen hundred feet.
"Okay?" Clark asked.
CJ nodded and Clark cautiously released his hand. CJ wobbled a little and then righted himself. He stayed aloft, floating in the air beside Clark.
Clark observed him carefully. "Don't hold your breath," he reminded CJ. "You're not going to fall, even if you've never been this high on your own before."
Obediently, CJ released his breath. "Yeah," he said. "I really know that. It's just -- different."
"I know. But you have every power I have. You're just using them a little sooner than I did, mostly because I was trying so hard to be like everybody else. All right; the address for Mr. Jersey's office is on Knight Street. Do you know where that is from here?"
CJ looked carefully around and Clark saw him squint. His son was using one of his vision powers. At last he pointed. "That way. Northeast of here."
"Very good. Let's go."
Together, they soared toward the northeast. Clark let CJ lead, keeping his speed down to the boy's pace. At last they came to a stop, hovering in the air above one of the lesser streets in the business district. "Now where?" CJ asked.
"The number is 1456 C," Clark said.
CJ glanced around, this time with more certainty. "This way," he said, and started off again. Within a couple of minutes, they were hovering over a generically nondescript shopping center-like complex, displaying numerous little businesses side by side, each opening on the large, nearly-empty parking lot. At the opposite end of the lot one business was still lighted, and Clark could see people coming and going, and smell the strong aroma of garlic, tomato sauce, cheese and a number of other ingredients that told him, as if it wasn't already obvious, that the place was a pizza parlor. Cars were parked close to the business, but where he and CJ hovered, the area was dark and he was quite sure that from the lighted area, the two of them were invisible. He scanned the row of businesses, looking for any sign of life. There was nothing except someone's cat making its silent way around the corner of the complex, and somewhere he could hear the skitter of tiny mouse paws. In the field beyond the building a cricket chirped, loud and clear in the warm night air. The plate glass window in front of each empty office showed darkened rooms beyond. CJ pointed. "1456C," he said. "G. H. Jersey, Private Investigator."
"Excellent," Clark said. "Now, we do the 'hover-around-the-building-and-X-ray thing."
"What are we looking for?" CJ inquired.
"Right now," Clark said, "we're just scoping out the lay of the land. Look around for security systems, guards, hidden cameras, maybe file cabinets or hidden wall safes. Your mom and I are coming back a little later to see what we can find with a little old fashioned snooping."
"Maybe I could just sit on top of the building and keep an eye out for police or something," CJ suggested. "That way you and Mom could have a few seconds extra warning if someone decided to check out the office."
Clark glanced sharply at his son, but CJ was apparently training his vision powers on the building below them. "I'll think about it," he said finally. "Your mother might not like it."
"Okay," CJ said. "I'm really not planning to do anything stupid, Dad. I just want to see how you and Mom work and help Ally, if I can. If I'm just sitting on top of the building, they can't really do anything if someone sees me, and if someone tries to come up after me, I can just fly away, you know."
He had a point, Clark had to admit privately, but it went against the grain to have his thirteen-year-old son acting as "lookout". On the other hand, it wasn't as if they intended to rob anyone. They were just trying to find out what, if anything, the PI knew about Morris Myers and Benjamin.
"I'll discuss it with your mom," he said finally. He scanned the office with his X-ray and telescopic vision, making note of the security features.
"There's a camera in the front of each office, and some on the light poles," CJ said. "There's a couple on the roof, but they're aimed at the parking lot. And there's a guy in a security guard's uniform coming this way." He indicated the man with a pointing finger. "He's yawning."
"I see him," Clark said. "See anyone else?"
CJ was peering around. "Not right now," he said. He pushed back the sleeve of his shirt and checked the time. "It's almost nine. I figure anybody that works around here has probably gone home by now, except the security people. Oh yeah. There's another one. He's sitting over there in that little office with his feet up, watching --" He paused, and his eyebrows rose. "*Figure skating?*"
Clark grinned at the boy's obvious incredulity. "Takes all kinds to make a world," he said. As he watched, the man gave a cavernous yawn. "Doesn't look like they're expecting much trouble. Okay: I think I've found the security system for the office. Let's head back. We've seen pretty much everything we can for the moment."
CJ looked faintly disappointed, but he nodded and obediently turned in the air and headed home.
Lois was waiting in the bedroom when they dropped back through the window. She glanced once at CJ and smiled. "I guess everything went okay?"
CJ nodded. "We found the place and checked out the security," he said in a matter-of-fact way that made Clark want to grin. He sounded a lot like a younger Lois Lane: proud of what he had done and trying not to show it.
"He's flying faster and higher," Clark said. "And his vision powers seem to be getting stronger. If we don't watch out, Metropolis will have Superboy breaking up muggings and bringing in bad guys soon."
CJ shook his head. "I'm gonna wait for that 'til I'm a little older," he said. "But, Mom, I'd like to come along, tonight. Not to break in anywhere," he added hastily, when his mother opened her mouth to give a flat refusal. "I just want to kind of stand guard on the roof, in case someone starts to come in while you're busy looking around the place. If anyone starts to come up after me, I'll just fly off. I won't let anyone get a close look at me." He glanced at Clark. "Dad said it was up to you."
Clark saw his wife give him one of her patented Lane half-glares, but her lips twitched at the same time. "You promise you won't try to do anything but watch?" she asked their son.
"I promise," CJ said.
"All right, then. But that's all you do."
**********
Lois double-checked her supplies one last time before giving Clark the okay to scoop her up in his arms. She was dressed in dark clothing, and a knitted ski mask covered her face and hair in the event she should encounter a camera good enough to pick up her features. Thin dark gloves covered her hands, and in her bag was the usual array of tools and equipment she used on what Jim Olsen had termed her "black bag" jobs.
Clark was similarly garbed in black, and his face was also covered. He had never forgotten the time when he had been forced to rob a jewelry store and, in spite of Superman's powers, had made the rookie mistake of leaving his face exposed for the convenience of the store's video camera. If Lois hadn't unhesitatingly given him a completely believable alibi, she wasn't sure what would have happened, but it most likely wouldn't have been good.
CJ was also still dressed in dark clothing, which Lois thought should serve to camouflage him against the night sky. She still wasn't sure of this, but her oldest boy was going to have to learn about this stuff sometime, if he planned on continuing in the family tradition, and she would rather that he learned from Clark and her than trying to figure it out on his own.
"Ready?" Clark asked.
She nodded and allowed her husband to scoop her up. They floated out the bedroom window, and Lois suppressed the slight feeling of awe as she watched CJ float out after them. Her son might not yet have the adult powers of his father, but he was doing pretty well. He turned in the air and closed the window behind them.
"Do you think Marta will be okay?" she whispered. Marta knew that her mother, father and brother were going out to do something, and was in charge of the younger children during their absence. Of course, since all of them were long since in bed, it wasn't a very arduous job, but Lois still worried, if only a little.
"She'll do fine," Clark said. "She can always call us if she has a problem."
"I suppose so." Briefly, Lois envied the children and Clark their special communication channel. She supposed that if she was determined enough, she might be able to manage the trick, since she, like Wyatt, had a soul mate of her own. She kept intending to ask Clark to make the effort to talk to her mentally, but somehow the idea was a little intimidating, and she had so far found excuses to put it off. Now she mentally kicked herself for her unaccustomed timidity. If her husband, her kids, and Wyatt, who was a perfectly ordinary human boy, could do this, why shouldn't she be able to, as well? There had been a few times in the past when Clark had managed to make her hear him, so it couldn't be beyond her ability. *No more procrastinating, Lane,* she told herself. *Tonight, after we get back, you're going to ask him!*
Clark nodded to CJ and the two of them started to gain altitude. The lights beneath her began to move to the rear, and she knew they were flying over the city. The flight wasn't as fast as she was used to, probably because Clark was accommodating himself to CJ's lesser speed, she thought. Still, within a very few minutes, they were dropping toward the roof of a long building that seemed to house quite a few disparate businesses, their signs barely visible in the dim light of a few tall lamps theoretically illuminating the parking lot.
The long shopping structure was laid out in the shape of a huge L. At one end was Metro Food Mart, and Cheap Goods, the economy five and dime that always seemed to be located next door to the Food Mart. There was a pizza parlor, tastefully named the Pizza Pig Out, and then a row of little businesses, side by side, ranging from a studio of dance, and a clothing boutique to a dental clinic. And down near the opposite end was G.H. Jersey, Private Investigator, Ltd. Everything was quiet, even the pizza parlor, which must have closed some time before.
"There's a camera right at the front and the back entrances," Clark told her in a whisper, as he set her down on the roof. "CJ, you stay right up here and make sure no one can see you. I'm going to put the camera out of action."
From somewhere, he produced a paper bag and a rubber band and whisked out of sight. A moment later, he was back. "All done. There's a camera in the parking lot that sweeps this area, but that's not hard to beat. Ready?"
Lois nodded. Clark picked her up and they moved quickly from the roof to the ground. Clark glanced over his shoulder. "Okay; wait another ten seconds and then you've got forty-five to get the lock. Can you do it?"
Lois produced her lock pick and nodded.
"Okay...go!"
Lois stepped forward and slipped the pick into the lock. Quickly, she inserted the second part -- a thin piece of metal, and began to jiggle the parts quickly up and down, aligning the shear points. By her reckoning, it took just under thirty-eight seconds. She and Clark slipped quietly through the entrance to the office and closed the door behind them with two seconds to spare.
"Nice work," Clark said.
"Thank you," Lois said. "Which way to his office?"
"Through that door in the back.
They moved quietly through the darkened office, and Lois quickly disposed of the lock to Graham Jersey's private office as well. Clark closed the door after them and moved to the computer. Lois addressed the file cabinet, as was their usual method in such situations. His super speed made him the logical person to crack the computer password, since his technique was sheer brute force -- the trying of every possible combination until he succeeded.
Lois, on the other hand, was more of an artist. She unlocked the file cabinet and began to sort through the M section.
There was a surprisingly thick file labeled 'Myers'. Lois pulled the folder out and began to flip through the contents. "He's got tons of stuff here on the Myers case."
"Copy it," Clark said. "Ah! Got it!" Lois heard the muttered exclamation as she pulled out her small camera and began to make copies of the most recently dated papers. Behind her the hum of the computer intensified and she heard the whirring sound of Clark's fingers across the keyboard. Then: "He's got stuff here, too. It looks like a detailed record of where they've been for the last three years. I'm going to copy the file onto a memory stick. So much for the claim that he hasn't been able to find any trace of Myers or Benjamin."
"Yeah," Lois agreed, busily snapping the digital camera. "I'd like to know for sure what we've found here. Do you suppose he's just a crooked PI or is there something else behind it?"
"Good question. And we're going to find out."
**********
Sitting inconspicuously on the roof, CJ kept his ears tuned for any sounds nearby.
Beneath him, in the office of Graham Jersey, his mother and dad were going through the private investigator's records for information about his search for Ally's missing brother.
The area was quiet, but CJ stayed alert. He wasn't going to let his parents get caught by anybody. What they were doing might not be strictly legal, but they were trying to help Ally Myers and her mom -- trying to find Ben, Ally's twin brother, and get him back to his family. If his dad was keeping him away from everyone, the way Ally had said he was before she escaped, CJ felt sorry for Ben. That would be a pretty lonely way to live, shut up in a room most of the time.
The air around him was warm. Occasionally a mosquito landed on him, only to take off again with a frustrated whine. September in Metropolis was almost always warm but CJ was as impervious to the humid night air as he was to frigid winter air, or the blasting heat of an August afternoon. From somewhere not far away, he could hear the chorus of frogs in a nearby drainage ditch. Across the parking lot, a cat was stalking some small rodent or lizard attracted to the bits of food scattered about from the pizza parlor.
From some distance away, he heard the voices coming from radios and the purr of two car motors coming toward the little business center. Alert at once, he trained his super hearing on them and listened.
"...Can't get any reading from the camera," someone was saying. "But the motion sensor recorded something."
"Maybe it's a mouse again," someone else's voice said.
A cussword from the first voice. "If it is, we're gonna have to get another exterminator. But if somebody's there, it's trouble. He's not gonna be happy."
"Just drive. We'll be there in a minute."
That was enough for CJ. 'Dad!' he telepathed. 'You're about to have company! Get out of there!"
A brief acknowledgement from his father was followed almost instantly by the headlights of two cars, one after another, entering the parking lot at high speed. The vehicles screeched to a stop in front of the establishment.
There was no sign of his parents. CJ glanced quickly about. His dad would get his mom out, wouldn't he? But --
'CJ!' his father's voice whispered in his mind "Can you create a distraction?'
A distraction? CJ thought for a second and then he grinned. He trained his X-ray vision on the lead car, a blue Ford sedan. The man behind the wheel was peering through the windshield at the dark window of the office. Three passengers, one in the passenger seat and two in the rear, sat stolidly in their places, apparently waiting for instructions.
CJ looked through the hood of the car. Ah, there it was. Just what he needed.
He trained a needle-thin burst of heat vision on his target.
With a blast of sound that shattered the silence of the parking lot, the car's horn went off. The gabble of voices from the men in the cars was instructive to his vocabulary, if not his grammar. Four men leaped from the other car, and someone shouted at the occupants of the blue car to shut that damned thing off!
"I can't!" The driver's voice sounded startled and angry. "It went off by itself!"
"Come on!" the first voice said angrily. "Let's move!"
The men started for the door of the office. After an instant, the occupants of the blue car also exited their vehicle and followed.
Clark and Lois appeared suddenly beside CJ. They looked down at the men rushing toward the front door of the private investigator's office. Clark clutched a crumpled paper bag in one hand. "Interesting," he said mildly.
"Very," Lois said. "Why all the muscle? Why not just call the police?"
Behind the small army of eight men now descending on the building, the car made an odd hiccoughing noise, and smoke began to puff from beneath the hood. There was a sharp sizzling sound, at least to CJ's ears, and the smoke was joined by the lick of flames, succeeded by cusswords from the men.
"Let's get out of here," Clark said quietly.
Together, the three of them lifted quietly from the roof and glided away in the opposite direction until they were some distance from the vicinity of the office. Then they changed direction and headed for the townhouse.
**********
tbc
