Table of Contents - CJL From Chapter 22:"Waitaminute… you're telling me that Leonard Thorul is Lex Luthor?"
"I don't know proof-positive, Max. It's my investigative reporting intuition. But what I *do* know is that when I met Lenny Thorul, portraying himself to be Lex Luthor, he was all business, but not evil. The Lenny Thorul we're dealing with now… is pure evil."
"Yikes. I can't help but feel sorry for the real Thorul, if what you're saying is true. Who else knows that they're related?"
"Nigel St. John, who is soon to make an appearance as my 'brother', Phillip Boyle.… Morgan Edge… Will Church, Jr.,.. Lois Lane… probably her husband, the Boy Scout… me… and now you."
~~~~~
And now, Chapter 23 Thursday morning, 10:00 a.m., the Mayor's office, Metropolis True to his word, John Olson sent a courier over to the Mayor's office by 10:00 a.m. with a package that could only be personally handed to Perry White. The Express Pack had no return address on it; nor was a signature required. There would be no paper trail of the delivery. Perry walked to the men's room with his prize package, and, in the privacy of one of the stalls, began to digest Lenny Thorul's life story. John Olson had hand-written a post-it note reminding Perry that providing this information to him was basically illegal and that it was imperative that it remain strictly confidential. <He wants to get this S-O-B as much as I do>, Perry thought.
As Lois already knew, unbeknownst to Perry, Lenny had grown up in the Coronado Island section of San Diego with his "mother", Lena Thorul, who worked at the Hotel Del Coronado. What Lois didn't know, but Perry now did, was that Lena Thorul's birth name was Lena Lovell. John had written a side note to Perry that said: "ironically, this is the same surname as Lex Luthor's mother, Lillian Lovell Luthor".
Lena Lovell never married, but after she "gave birth" to Leonard Alexander Thorul, she petitioned Probate Court to change her legal name to Thorul, as well, even though her son's birth certificate named the father as "unknown". The newshound that would live eternally inside of Perry White smelled a story. Both of their mothers had the same maiden name? Could they be sisters? Lenny's middle name was Alexander – Lex for short?
Reading on, Perry discovered that Lenny was named the valedictorian of his class at the high school in Coronado, and was granted a full scholarship to USC – San Diego. He graduated summa cum laude in 1981 with an MBA and a psychology minor. He then worked as a manager in the entertainment industry in L.A. until his mother took ill in 1990. He moved back to the San Diego area at that time, doing consulting work until his mother passed away in 1992. Employment and character references at the company he worked at for nine years stated that Lenny Thorul was a "hard-working guy with lots of integrity and a real sense of family values". That really didn't fit with today's image of Lenny Thorul – a ruthless businessman who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. Just like Lex Luthor.
The story became even *more* interesting. Apparently Lenny's mother, who had merely worked as a reservations clerk at the famous Hotel Del in Coronado all of her working life, had left quite a windfall inheritance for her then 36-year-old son – in the millions, actually. It was quite a mixed portfolio of balanced funds, money market accounts – and about a 10% stock interest in Luthor Corp.
<Hmmm… obviously Lena Lovell Thorul and Lillian Lovell Luthor were sisters>, Perry surmised. <So Lex and Lenny were cousins. Why has there been no press about that?>
Interestingly, from 1992 until 2002, there were no records of Leonard A. Thorul working anywhere. The tax returns he had filed merely indicated that he paid taxes on his dividends and interest earned only – no W-2's or self-employment income, according to the report.
It was if Thorul had disappeared off the face of the earth for ten years. Right after Luthor's alleged suicide, Lenny Thorul was hired by Edge Enterprises to be the VP of Acquisitions on the West Coast. Knowing that Edge was the rumored "big boss" of the elusive Intergang, it was very bizarre that he would hire an unknown for such a high-profile position. Yes, something was definitely afoul here. Suddenly, Perry couldn’t wait until his noontime lunch date with the intrepid Lois Lane!
~~~~~
Thursday afternoon, 2:00 pm., Smallville, Kansas "Joe" and "Mary" were outside working on their daily chores around the farmhouse when they were pleasantly surprised by a visit from their quasi son and daughter-in-law. They had arrived via the tunnel, Clark of course wearing his protective lead-lined suit. Martha spotted them first, exiting the kitchen onto the front porch, and her face brightened immediately.
"Clark honey – I'm so sorry you have to wear that thing in order to pay us a visit," Martha told him, attempting to envelope her arms around him in a bear hug.
"I know, Ma," he replied, the helmet, with its lead-crystal glass facemask encircling his head, giving his voice a mechanical, emotionless tone. "I have Bernie Klein working around the clock to find a cure for the Kryptonite poisoning. At least I'm back on earth with you, Pa and Lois."
"I know, honey. I was so worried about you," Martha agreed. Turning to Lois, she asked, "Are you all right? Last time we spoke, you were on the verge of a nervous breakdown. That pig Mark Boyle was making your life pretty miserable."
Lois kissed Martha on the cheek. "Ma, I'm hanging in there. When Clark's with me, I feel like no problem is insurmountable. Imagine me – Lois Lane – admitting I need my man. God, ten years ago my old self would have slapped this self silly!" Looking at Clark, she quipped, "Just don't let it go to your head, Propaganda! That old Lois could come back to life any minute!"
Clark's wide grin was visible thru the helmet. "I'm counting my blessings every day, honey!"
"Hey, son," Jonathan called out to Clark as he headed in from the field towards the porch. "Hey Lois, sweetie – nice to see you two back together, even if you are separated by several inches of lead lining," he joked. "I heard about your little incident with Mark Boyle. Good for you! It's The Daily Planet's loss. A great writer like you will be welcomed anywhere – you don't need to put up with that stuff. "
"Well, Pa, it turns out that Perry will be starting back at the Planet on Monday, and the bigwig there – Lenny Thorul – wants me to come back. We're heading out towards San Diego for a little investigative action before Clark has to return to Star Labs. I had a very interesting lunch date with Perry White today, and we have some follow-up detective work to do. We figured we'd stop and see our favorite Midwest couple on the way," Lois said, smiling. Something about Smallville and the Kents made her forget all of her personal problems. What a shame her doppelganger in Ma's universe, her *real* daughter-in-law, had grown up an orphan, and then died horribly at the hands of her husband's "people", pregnant with Ma and Pa's grandchild. It sent chills up her spine to think about it.
It was then that the penny dropped in Lois' analytical mind. Because of the lead shielding in Clark's suit, he couldn’t hear her thoughts. <Thank God. I never told him about *that* Lois. It gets hard enough to keep track of all of us. Wonder when the next full moon is? I need to talk to CK's Lois ASAP>.
~~~~~
After Martha prepared a big lunch, which for Clark's sake had to be taken to go, the pair emerged from the other end of the tunnel and hit the skies.
Shortly they were hovering over the Hotel Del Coronado, with a spectacular view of the southern California coastline's shimmering blue water. Because Clark's appearance would attract attention, he dropped Lois off adjacent to the Coronado post office, and took off faster than the eye could follow. He would take a nap in the clouds until either Lois beeped him to come pick her up, or the sound of her racing heartbeat indicated she was in danger. <It'll probably be the latter>, he thought to himself resignedly. <Good thing she can't hear my thoughts when I'm wearing this suit!>
Lois's first order of business was to open up a post office box, stating that she had started a mail-order business as "Mary Kent". Then, using the P.O. Box as her return address, she mailed the letter she'd written to Thorul as "Mary Kent", including a copy of the article that had appeared in the Smallville Press so many years ago. In the letter, she expressed her deep disappointment in him; he had showed such promise as a teenager, but she had read that he had evolved into a ruthless businessman. She wanted to know how and why he had changed so dramatically. She asked him to write back to her at the P.O. Box in Coronado, if he even remembered who she was.
Though Lois knew Thorul was moving back east, she assumed his mail would get forwarded and carrying a Coronado postmark would give it more validity. Perhaps it would shake him up enough to get his off-balance. She would go to his office in several days, after he had received the letter, and see if she could trip him up. In the meantime, she had neighbors to talk to, and schools to visit.
Next, she bought a map and located the house he had supposedly grown up in, according to Olson's report. It was across town, so she phoned a cab to take her there. The current owners were a couple in their thirties by the names of Lawrence and Lydia LaHoure, which sounded French. Lois rang the doorbell and after several minutes, a young Caucasian female no older than ten answered the door, causing Lois to do a visible double-take in response. Curly red hair, freckles, glasses, and big brown eyes stared back at her. The girl was at the gawky stage, but had the potential to blossom into a real looker some day, assuming she got contact lenses so the world could see her beautiful dark brown eyes!
"Hi, may I help you?" she asked politely, suddenly feeling an eerie sense of déjà-vu while face to face with Lois Lane, a complete stranger.
Twice in the same day, the penny dropped. Lois felt flushed and began breathing heavily.
Dozing off in the upper atmosphere, Clark's hearing alerted him to Lois' increased pulse rate. <There it is! She already got herself in trouble>, he thought, flinging himself through the clouds to her rescue.
~~~~~
Edge Enterprises Board Room, Metropolis 3:00 p.m. Morgan Edge sat alone in the cavernous area that was his Board Room, 100 stories high, with an all-glass wall that faced east towards the harbor. He spotted some tall ships docked there; that served to remind him that some additional arm shipments from Congo-Brazzaville should be arriving soon, along with Mark Boyle's previously dead brother Phillip Boyle. Nigel's scars from the expert plastic surgery he had endured had now healed sufficiently, and since he was an experienced journalist as well, it was time for him to join the staff of the Daily Planet also.
The board room door burst open; apparently Lenny Thorul had just arrived from the West Coast.
"Thought you weren't coming in until tonight?" Edge bellowed at him.
"I thought it prudent to take an earlier flight," the red-haired man standing in the doorway responded, briefcase in hand. "The ladies downstairs told me you were up here. Admiring the view, are we?"
Edge smiled back. "Something like that. Not that I – we – didn't work hard to earn it. Well, don't just stand there; there's no one else around - give your brother a hug!"
TBC
