Lori and Clark – The New, New Adventures of Superman – MMC V 6 20/32
By Ken Janney
Warning: This story is rated PG-13.
Disclaimers: The characters in this story are property of DC, December 3rd productions and Warner Bros. No Copyright infringement is intended. I have just borrowed the characters for a short time.
Previously:
Perry opened the door to his office and saw Lois and Clark at her desk talking so he called them. He watched as Clark picked up the car seat and carried it with him as they moved to the office.
Once they were inside and the door closed he asked, “Okay, what do you have to work on?”
Clark said, “I started the follow-up on Mensa, but that looks like a dead end. He’s in the hospital and it looks like he will be for the foreseeable future. We thought we’d work on the Werewolf Robber. We have a meeting scheduled with the police for ten tomorrow.”
“Yeah, the Star has done a couple of hit pieces against the police about that. You guys weren’t here and I didn’t have anyone I could assign it to. Eduardo has been on assignment and Jimmy went along to get pictures. I couldn’t trust it to Ralph. That boy could screw up a … well, you know what I mean. Okay, keep me posted.” He had been eyeing CJ asleep in his car seat and said, “Alice and I are going to have to have you guys over for dinner so that Alice can meet CJ. What are you doing Friday?”
Lois laughed and asked, “Don’t you think you ought to check with Alice first?”
Perry looked like a wily fox as he replied, “I’ll have you know that I already have. Can you make it?”
Lois looked at Clark and smiled as she said, “Sure Perry, we’d love to.”
Perry hadn’t taken his eyes off of CJ the entire time they had been talking. He said, “How much more do you need to do to get ready for your meeting tomorrow?”
“We should make a few more calls and plan our questions.”
“Why don’t you just leave him in here with ol’ Uncle Perry for a while? You can go make your calls and I’ll watch him for you.”
Lois said, “Why, Perry, you old softie! I never knew you were into babies.”
“It’s been an awfully long time since either one of my boys was this age.”
“Okay, we’ll leave him with you. Let’s go partner and let Perry have some one-on-one time with his honorary nephew.” They were both chuckling as they left his office.
After they had finished their preparations they went back to Perry’s office to retrieve CJ. Through the door Lois could see Perry playing peek-a-boo with CJ. CJ was squealing with delight. Perry had his back to the door so Lois opened it quietly. She pulled out her mini-camera and when the flash went off Perry realized that Lois had caught him at an unguarded moment. Lois chuckled and said, “I’ll have Jimmy print this up so that we can post an 8x10 on the bulletin board.
Perry huffed at her and then asked, “Everything ready for tomorrow?”
“As far as we can be. We’ll have to just wing some of it.”
“Okay, that’s settled. Why don’t you two get out of here? I’m sure there are still some things you need to do because of him that can’t be done while you’re around here. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
And now:
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Chapter 19 – The Werewolf Strikes
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Universal Locator designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 local designation - Prime
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The next day they went by the Planet and dropped CJ off in the daycare. Lois spent a few minutes with him, comforting him and reassuring him as she handed him over to Brenda, one of the workers. The night before she had expressed some milk and gave that bottle to Brenda who put it in the refrigerator. Lois said, “We expect to be back shortly. We’re just going over to Broadway Division to see Inspector Backstran. I’m probably going to want to feed him as soon as we are back.”
When they presented themselves at Broadway Division the desk sergeant sent them back to Inspector Backstran’s office.
After introducing themselves Lois pulled out her notebook and a sharp pencil while Clark started the interview. “We just got back from a vacation and we would like everything you have on the Werewolf Robber.”
“Okay, well, it appears as though he came here from LA. He gave the LAPD fits for over a month. They felt they were getting close to him when he relocated. Now he’s our headache.”
Interrupting her note taking briefly, Lois prompted, “What’s his MO?”
“First off he steals a car. Then he parks in the street. He waits for a young woman to come along. It’s usually between 2 and 5 AM, when the clubs are closing. Most of the girls are still in their wait staff uniform. He grabs them and puts his hand over their mouths so that they can’t call for help. He must be exceptionally strong or else he’s just skilled at picking defenseless women. Anyhow, he drags them to the stolen car and renders them unconscious by beating them severely. He doesn’t just knock them out; he beats them to a bloody pulp. Almost all of them are still in the hospital recovering. Some of them will require reconstructive surgery. He robs them of their cash and jewelry then he dumps them. Most of the time he doesn’t even stop the car when he pushes them out. Invariably in addition to injuries already sustained the girls are injured more when they are dumped. The last one hit her head on the curb. She’s still unconscious. She may not make it. This guy works fast. She was number 18 in just under two weeks.”
Clark was having some difficulty controlling his anger, mostly at himself for not being here when the perp had been doing his damage. He asked, “Have any of the victims been able to give a description?”
“Yeah, that’s how he got the moniker - Werewolf Robber. A couple of the girls have recovered enough to give a description. There was also an independent witness to the last assault. One of your Daily Planet newsboys was out on his corner waiting for his delivery of the morning edition. He saw a blue Ford drive by and dump the girl. He saw her being pushed from the car, hitting the street and bouncing and rolling until her head hit the curb. As he started to run to her aid the car did a ‘U’ turn and came back at him. The kid jumped up on the sidewalk behind a light standard. Because of the light he got a good look at the perp. Here, here’s an artist’s sketch.”
The picture he handed her looked like a cross between the Lon Chaney Wolfman and Michael Jackson’s Thriller character. Long hair, lots of facial hair, slightly pointed ears, hairy hands on the steering wheel and an almost animal snarl at being unable to run down the witness.
Lois shuddered involuntarily and handed the drawing to Clark. She asked, “Is it a makeup job or is that his natural look?”
“That’s something we need to find out. It could be a disguise. For all we know he could be your partner here in make-up. No offense.”
Lois said, “Trust me, it’s not Clark.”
“Honestly, I didn’t think it was. I was just trying to make the point. This description is consistent between what we got out of a couple of the victims, those that got a look at him before they were knocked out and what we got from the newsboy.”
“No leads other than this drawing?”
“Nothing. Either he turns into the Werewolf when the sun goes down and he holes up during the day or he puts on the disguise, if it’s a disguise, just before he starts his activities.”
Clark asked, “What about fingerprints from the cars?”
“Nothing. Clean as a whistle.”
Clark followed up with, “Wouldn’t that lend credence to the supposition that he could be wearing gloves that look like hairy hands.”
“Yeah, we thought of that too.”
Clark said, “That would lend some weight to the disguise theory, wouldn’t you say?”
“Yes, but we can’t make that assumption. He could simply be very good at wiping the surfaces to eliminate fingerprints.”
Lois chimed in with, “Bottom line … you don’t know.”
Backstran agreed, “We don’t know.”
“What have you done so far to catch him?”
“This will have to be off the record. We don’t want to let him know what we are doing.”
They both nodded their agreement.
“We started with increased patrols, extra cars, calling in off duty personnel. Nothing. Now we have police women out pretending to be waitresses on their way home. Each one is followed by plainclothes officers in shifts. We’ve been doing this for a week. He must have a sixth sense about our decoys because he’s passed every one of them up in favor of the real thing.”
Just then his phone rang. Picking it up he said, “Backstran. Ah, Romero. What d’ya have? Uh huh. Another one? But, it’s broad daylight! That doesn’t fit the MO. Oh, I see. Where?” He scribbled and address which Lois read upside down and copied. It was a street address near Centennial Park. “Who found her? Uh huh. ID? Uh huh. Have you followed up? Uh huh. Condition? That’s a shame. Okay, make a full report when you get back.”
Lois asked, “What was that inspector?”
“That was Sergeant Romero. It was apparently another victim of what is now the Werewolf Murderer. Some kids found a woman’s body near the jogging track through Centennial Park. Very badly beaten. Dead. She must have been there since last night, or rather early this morning. She was dressed as a waitress. Ben found her ID and followed up. She was a young woman, just over thirty. She has, uh, had … had … three small children. She was so badly beaten she was hardly recognizable.”
Lois and Clark were both badly shaken by this revelation. Lois looked at Clark and said, “We need to do whatever we can to catch this guy.”
Clark only nodded.
Turning back to Backstran, Lois said, “Okay, thanks inspector. Please keep us posted on any new developments and anything we can print.”
“The department is coming under tremendous pressure. The Commissioner and the Mayor on down through city councilmen are demanding that we get this guy. I just got authorization from the Chief to request assistance from the State Police and the Sheriff’s office. We plan to spread a dragnet across the city. By the way, I was just giving you a hard time earlier. After your call yesterday, I talked to Bill. He reassured me that you are the most fair in your reporting of any reporters in the city. The people at the Star have been raking us over the coals over this. Whatever we get I’ll make sure you have it.”
Clark reached for his hand and said, “Thank you, Inspector. We always try to be fair and impartial, reporting the news as factually as possible.”
As the Inspector was shaking his hand he said, “I trust Bill’s judgment. He said you guys were okay and that’s good enough for me.”
Lois also shook his hand and said, “We’ll try to live up to your trust.”
The first thing Lois did when they got back to the Planet was to feed CJ then she joined Clark upstairs.
She plopped down in her chair and said, “Well, I guess it’s going to work out. He was fine. He was happy to see me but he didn’t make a big fuss when I left.”
“See, I knew it would work out. Now you don’t have to worry so much.”
“I guess.” She looked over at the conference room. Seeing it was empty she said, “Let’s go into the conference room.” She picked up her notes and headed in that direction.
Once in the conference room with the door closed Lois asked, “Well, what do you think we should do?”
“I could fly extra patrols. He strikes usually between 2 and 5 AM. That’s why I missed him while we were on vacation. My patrols were almost exclusively during daylight hours.”
Lois said, “I think I need to go undercover.”
Clark had more than half expecting her to suggest that. Thinking about the danger and also about the added responsibility that CJ represented he shook his head no as he pointed out, “Lo-is, what about CJ?”
“We can make arrangements for my folks or yours to watch him while we’re out. You could fly your parents in for a few days until we wrap this thing up.”
Knowing Clark as she did, she could see that this didn’t satisfy him. His body language told the story. He was frowning and then he forgot himself and did something he usually reserved for when he was in the Suit, he crossed his arms and then he said, “A few days? How can you be so sure it will only take a few days? The MPD has been working on this for two weeks and they’ve had their decoys out for a week.”
“Ah, but, there’s the difference. They had a plainclothes detective trailing their decoys. He probably saw them and shied away. You, my dear husband, will be out of sight, overhead, keeping an eye on me.”
“Like I said before, the flaw in that plan is what if I get called away on an emergency?”
With an air of confidence Lois rebutted, “I could simply defend myself with my karate.”
Shaking his head, Clark said, “No. I don’t think so. He strikes without warning and knocks his victim out before they even know something is happening.”
“Okay, how about this, you can swoop in and pick me up and take me to the emergency so that I can report on it.”
“Then if he is watching and he sees me he’ll know it’s a trap.”
“Ooooo, how many emergencies occur between 2 and 5 AM anyhow?”
“A lot, mostly at other parts of the globe. There’s no way I’d be able to be there for you. I don’t want you putting yourself in that kind of danger.”
“Look, how about we try it for two nights. We’ll see how it goes. If you wind up with an emergency, maybe, depending on what it is you could ignore it.” Lois could sense that Clark was weakening. Just a little more and she would win.
“Look, Lois, let’s start by my doing extra patrols. If that doesn’t work within a couple of days, we’ll try your suggestion.”
“Clark, we’re taking chances with more women’s lives. He’s already killed once. We can’t afford to put this off.”
“Lois, I want to do this my way, at least for a couple of days. I don’t want to take a chance on you being hurt. Remember, we have CJ to think about. I couldn’t take care of him alone.”
“Here’s a case where we have some significant information that helps us. Remember what Herb said? He said that he picked up a happy and healthy little boy to take back to his parents. That means that I am going to be around to feed him.”
“Lois, I don’t think we can make that assumption. You could be badly beaten or even paralyzed in a wheel chair and still feed him. I don’t want that to happen.”
Properly chastened, Lois said, “I hadn’t thought about that, but, we *have* to catch this guy. He’s killed once now and may kill again. We can’t let that happen. Besides, think of the *story* we’ll have.”
“What good is the story if I have to write it because you’re in the hospital?”
“Alright, alright, we’ll try it your way for two days. After that we try it my way.”
His reluctance was evident in his voice as he replied, “Okay. I just hope I can catch him within that time.”
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Unfortunately Superman was only a single individual and a single individual, even a super individual, cannot be in more places than one at a time.
The first night into early morning he patrolled during times he would normally have been in bed with Lois. All to no avail. He kept a mental schedule and after the first night they checked with Inspector Backstran and found that while he had been patrolling the downtown area the Werewolf had struck again in the Suicide Slum area. The problem was that the first thing he did was silence his victim. They didn’t have a chance to call for him and this only served to increase his frustration.
The next day the Inspector had some new information for them. “We’ve narrowed down the list of cars that he might be driving. Statistically, 95% of stolen cars, if they are going to be recovered, are found within 24 hours. Two days ago the list was six vehicles long. This morning’s report has three of those vehicles having been recovered. We are looking for a dark blue Ford sedan, a yellow import convertible or a late model gray Ford Mustang convertible. We have alerted all of our prowl cars and all beat cops to be in the lookout for any of those cars. As soon as one is spotted they will call in with its location. This gives us a better chance of nabbing this guy.”
The second night Clark made an error in judgment and concentrated his time in the Suicide Slum area. The Werewolf struck again, this time downtown.
The next day Clark flew Martha in to sit for CJ. Lois had been expressing extra milk so that there would be a supply, just in case.
That night as Lois was donning her disguise as a waitress she said, “Two nights ago, Suicide Slum. Last night, downtown. I have a hunch that he will hit Hobbs Bay soon. What say? Shall we stake out the Hobbs Bay area?”
Clark replied, “I guess that will be as good as any area. We really have no idea where he will strike next.”
When Lois finished putting on her costume they went into the living room where Martha and CJ were. Lois picked up CJ and said, “Okay little guy, you be good for Grandma, you hear me.” She pulled him into a tight embrace and kissed him several times.
When Lois took CJ, Martha got up and pulled Clark aside. In a very intense voice only he could hear she said, “Can’t you talk her out of this?”
“I’ve tried Mom. She insists on doing this.”
“Mind if I try?”
“It’s your funeral. Go ahead.”
Involved in holding CJ and loving him, Lois wasn’t paying much attention to what Clark and Martha were doing. She was actually worried about this mission. She was more worried about this than any other assignment she had ever gone on. The reason was CJ. What Clark had said had really hit home. How would she be able to take care of CJ from a wheel chair? She tried to hide her apprehension behind a cheerful façade. Just as Martha returned from her talk with Clark, Lois gave CJ another kiss and handed him to Martha.
When she did, Martha spoke up, “Lois, Honey, are you sure you want to do this?” Seeing Lois’ look of determination she continued, “I mean, I guess you feel you need to, but what about CJ. If anything happened to you … what would happen to him?”
Lois replied, “Martha, I appreciate it that you are concerned about me, but really, I *can* take care of myself, and besides, Clark will be watching over me. What can happen?”
“Then I guess there’s no talking you out of this?”
“No Martha, we need to do this. Too many girls have been hurt for us to give up now.”
Turning to Clark and putting on a brave front she said, “Let’s go catch us a murderer,” and with purposeful stride she headed for the back door.
As soon as they were outside they moved to the sheltered spot in the back yard and they took off and headed for Hobbs Bay.
Lois knew one of the cafes in that area and she went in to talk with the proprietor. After she had explained why she was there he was very cooperative. She actually worked a shift as a waitress. At 3 AM after clean-up had been done she, along with the rest of the wait staff, left. Most of the girls walked together to a nearby parking lot where they all entered a couple of vehicles in which they had car pooled and drove off. Lois started walking the other way down the street.
Knowing the man’s MO she knew that he would either be in a car, try to snatch her and force her into the car, or else the car would be parked and he would be lurking nearby ready to grab her and drag her to the car. Her self-defense training told her to walk on the side of the sidewalk near the street. That way, if he was lurking in an alley or doorway he would have to cross some open space to get to her, giving her a chance to prepare to defend herself.
She walked a circuitous route which took her into some sparsely lit areas. She was constantly on the lookout for the three suspect vehicles.
It was about 4:30 AM when she heard footsteps behind her. She was instantly on alert but she maintained her pace trusting her husband to intercept any trouble. She could hear the footsteps getting closer and closer and then suddenly they stopped. Startled by this outcome she stopped and turned to see if it had been her husband that had intercepted the man. What she saw however, was a rather large individual who had stopped at a shop a short way behind her and he was opening the door. She looked at the sign and saw that it was a bakery. She breathed a sigh of relief as she realized it was just the baker there to start the day’s baking to prepare for the early crowd.
She turned on her heel and resumed her journey. She had been walking for over an hour and was very thankful for the foresight she had used in selecting her footwear. She was wearing comfortable walking shoes as part of her waitress role and not a pair of heels. She continued walking. She walked until 5:30 AM when she whispered, “I’m going to duck into this alley. Come pick me up. I need to go home. It’s past time for me to feed CJ.”
She walked into the alley and Clark was already there, waiting for her. She threw herself into his arms and said, “I don’t think he’s going to show. Let’s go home.”
No sooner were the words out of her mouth then he picked her up and took off. A couple of minutes later they landed in the back yard and moved to the house.
Martha had already given CJ a 3 AM bottle so Lois expressed some milk to take the pressure off and they all went to bed.
CJ awoke at 7:30 and a bleary eyed Lois got up to feed him. As soon as he was done she put him down for a nap and she went back to bed. A little later in the morning Clark called Perry and explained what they had done the night before and Perry told him to take the day to recover.
When Lois got up they called Inspector Backstran and were told that the Werewolf Murder had struck again. This time in the Suicide Slum section. The girl was seriously injured but she would be okay.
Disappointed at her perceived failure, Lois said, “Well, I guessed wrong. I think we need to repeat in the same area. If we move he could go into Hobbs Bay when we move away from there.”
Clark replied, “Okay, after all, you’re the top banana.”
She smiled and poked him in the chest and said, “Just you remember that and we’ll do just fine.” Then she broke down laughing at the old joke. He always knew how to lighten her mood.
A little later in the morning they had a call from Inspector Backstran. “Clark, a report finally made it to my desk. Last night a woman walked to a local post office box to mail a letter. As she was turning to return to her apartment our subject pulled up and tried to grab her. She got lucky. The pavement was uneven and he tripped on the broken sidewalk and she was able to run into her building. There’s one good reason to thank the city for being derelict in their duty of repairing the infrastructure. Anyhow she called in to report the incident. It was our man alright. The nice thing we got out of it was a description of the vehicle. He’s driving the gray Ford Mustang convertible. Now we know what to look for. We are putting out a description to all officers, uniform and plain clothes to be on the lookout.”
Clark said, “Thanks, Inspector. We will withhold that information until you have him so that he doesn’t know that you have a description of his vehicle. None of our snitches had any information. If we hear anything, we’ll let you know.”
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