Part Six
Early morning – Daily Planet Newsroom
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Lois read hungrily about the different boulangeries and their products. Her mouth began to water and her stomach protested the lack of nourishment. She and Clark had tried on more than one occasion to sneak off for a brief date to Paris and sample some of his friend Amandine’s freshly baked wares. Sadly, something always came up, whether it was Superman rescues, wedding related issues or this blasted jewel robbery case they were working on.
“At this rate, we’ll get there some time around our second wedding anniversary,” she sighed softly.
“Smooth, Lois, making plans for the second anniversary when the wedding hasn’t taken place yet!” Jimmy said as he walked to her desk with a large roll of stiff, heavy paper and a file folder under his arm.
“First, you have to have time to make plans for an anniversary,” she growled, looking up at him. “What have you got there?”
“A map of Metropolis’ Topaz district, indicating the time and places of the jewel heists by our friend, The Phantom.”
“Oh, don’t tell me you’re falling for that silly tag Eduardo stuck on this guy?” Lois shot back.
“I heard that!” her amused colleague called from the coffee station.
Ignoring the comment, Lois took the roll of paper from Jimmy and continued. “So setting aside our thief’s cheesy nickname, where did you get time to do all this?”
“I didn’t. Jack - with a little assist from Stacy - did. After all, I *am* a full-time staff photographer for a great metropolitan newspaper,” he said, mimicking Perry’s deep southern accent.
“Yeah, right,” Lois muttered as she began studying the sheet, her face growing more thoughtful as she read.
“Is the conference room free?” Lois asked.
“It is now, honey,” Clark’s voice carried over from his desk.
His fiancée looked at him askance. “When did you get here?”
“I…uh…came in just a second ago…from the copy room,” he said while adjusting his tie.
Lois quickly took the hint, and after handing the map over to Jimmy, announced, “Let’s meet in the conference room in ten minutes. We need to go over this material and figure out when “The Phantom” is going to strike again.”
“Phantom? What Phantom?” Clark asked innocently.
Shaking her head in bemusement she continued, “Honestly Clark, you really need to keep up! That’s the new moniker of our mysterious sleep gas using jewel thief.”
“Hey, three seconds ago it was cheesy. What happened?” Jimmy asked.
“Woman’s prerogative – I changed my mind,” Lois said as she sauntered up the ramp.
“Honey, where are you going?” her fiancé inquired.
She turned around and looking rather sheepish, said, “Downstairs to grab a Double Fudge Crunch bar. Suddenly, I feel hungry.”
***
Exactly ten minutes later the trio was poring over the map and information provided by their research assistants.
“Jimmy, this is first rate stuff. I have to hand it to the research team of Jack and Stacy they; really delivered the goods. This map is very detailed, giving the date, time and location of each of The Phantom’s victims,” Clark said.
“Yeah, they do work well together. Stacy has encouraged him to reach for his full potential. Since Jack has completed his GED, she has even convinced him to attend college this fall.”
Lois looked up from her scrutiny of the file and said in a teasing tone, “Are you saying it takes two of them to equal one of you?”
Her colleague looked at her, moved his head slightly and smiled, “Well, since you put that way…”
Lois rolled her eyes in mock fury and went back to reading the file. At that moment there was a gentle knock on the door.
"Come in,” Clark called out.
Jimmy opened the door and Stacy Hunter peeked around the doorframe. When Stacy had first arrived in Metropolis her hair had been long and held in a ponytail with a dark brown plastic clip. Now, with a little encouragement from Lois and Diane, her brown hair was cut into a manageable style and the ugly horn rim frames of her glasses were discarded for lighter wire frames which opened up her face. The result was an attractive young lady, growing into her new city lifestyle and work environment.
Despite working in the Bullpen with all manner of odd personalities, most of whom she got along with famously, she was still a little shy around Lois and Clark. After all, it was because of their work as journalists that she wanted to work for the Daily Planet, and that it was here that her abilities as a researcher were always being used by The Hottest Team in Town.
“Come in, Stacy, Jimmy and Clark were praising your work. I think it is excellent - all this information about the stores. But what is this repair reference to Metrophone?
Stacy entered quickly and laid another file folder on the conference room's already cluttered table. “That’s what I came to talk about. The day before each one of the robberies, Metrophone sent a team of repairmen out to each of the stores. I called all the stores to ask them about it and apparently there was intermittent heavy static on the phone lines, usually a day or two before the robberies. A repairman showed up to fix the faulty line. They would enter the shop, always followed by a security guard and work on the phone box. The repairman departs, phone static problem ended. A couple of days later - The Phantom strikes!” Stacy’s brown eyes lit up in excitement.
“Nice lead; one repairman showing up at a shop is fine, two a coincidence, but all five high-end jewelry stores having static on their phones? Impossible. It has to be part of The Phantom’s MO,” Clark said.
“Hmmm… maybe Eduardo’s got something there. After all, the guy is as smooth as silk. Uses sleeping gas to knock out all the customers and staff. No time to sound an alarm…” Jimmy broke off in mid-sentence. Then he stared at Stacy. “What does the repairman do while he’s there? After all, the security guard is watching him every step of the way?”
Clark was about to speak when Lois noticed a familiar far off look in his eyes as nervous fingers began fiddling with his tie.
“Hey, Clark! Why not ask No Knees Nolan if he has any leads on this guy and possibly his crew?”
Her fiancé’s gave her a grateful smile. Then, turning in Stacy’s direction, he said, “Nice work, this is an excellent lead. Maybe my source can corroborate it.” With those words he dashed out of the conference room.
Over the past few months the young woman had gotten used to Mr. Kent’s odd disappearances, but at this point she was a little surprised. As she shook her head, the freshly cut hair swung freely. In disbelief she said, “Mr. Kent does not have to corroborate anything. Jack and I *already* did. I called Metrophone and asked if there were any records stating the need for line repairs in that area. No complaints about static on the phones were reported and no repairman was ever dispatched to those locations.”
“Oh,” Lois said in a small voice, but she recovered quickly. “Well, don’t worry. If I know Clark, he’ll find something to link The Phantom with his next crime…” <Oh great, she thought, how am I going to get Clark to do that?>
After Stacy departed the conference room, Jimmy asked, “Which one of the jewelry stores was the next target? If the Phantom is working a cluster pattern either of these two locations could be his next target.”
“Cluster pattern?” Lois’ expression was puzzled.
“Yeah,” Jimmy answered. “See - these three stores are at the top of the Topaz District, these other two are on the bottom. Two locations remain - Lazer’s to the bottom right and CJ Abelhammer’s in the center.”
Lois leaned over the table to examine the map further. “Hmmm… this whole pattern theory of yours might just work. If so, then Lazar’s store *might* be his next target. Ask Stacy or Jack to contact both stores, ask if they have experienced phone static, and, if so, when.”
Jimmy bounced expectantly on his toes. “Sounds good. Hey isn’t that where CK got your ring?”
His colleague bit her lip and looked down at the sparkling diamond on the third finger of her left hand. It was modest by many people’s standards, but the simple perfect gem meant the world to Lois. She looked at Jimmy and nodded quietly. “Yeah, Mr. Lazar is a lovely man. I would hate to see anything happen to him or his staff.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll get this Phantom Guy.” Jimmy spoke confidently as he packed up the map and files.
“We?” Lois fixed the earnest young photographer with a sharp glare, yet could not help smiling.
“Yeah. It’s been awhile since I’ve come along on a genuine Lane/Kent stakeout. Hey, the pizza – with extra pepperoni - is on me! Besides, the chief’s been badgering me to get more front-page photo material. In a stakeout like this there are bound to be plenty of action shots, *especially* if Superman shows up!”
“This wouldn’t have anything to do with impressing Lucy, would it?” Lois said, arching her eyebrow.
Jimmy was about to strongly deny it, but nervously shrugged his shoulders in defeat. “Guilty as charged.”
