Chapter 04 – "Investigations"

Lois emptied another coffee cup. She was tired and badly needed some sleep, but she knew she wouldn't get any tonight. Richard had gone to bed after their fight. She had lain down on the couch, but found herself thinking about Superman – and that wasn't helping. She would confront him about it, and until then, she couldn't really change anything about the situation.

As usual, coffee and work were her answer. Her laptop was propped up on the broken coffee table, and a large picture of Oliver Queen topped the article she was reading. Researching the guy had meant reading gossip magazines as well as business reports – seeing photos of him drunk with a model at a club, or shaking hands at a fund-raiser. He really was a stereotypical celebrity through and through.

The more interesting stuff came from the business section. Queen's 'vanity projects' might have made him popular with certain NGOs, but they most certainly made him many enemies, too. Most notable of all was one Andrew Griffith. The business mogul had criticised Queen openly on numerous occasions – for 'bad business decisions', wasting money, and his unruly behaviour.

Lois skimmed the archives of the Business Star:

Griffith To Sell MedFly to Queen

Queen "Irresponsible", says Griffith Advocate

Queen Industries Hits All-Time Low

MedFly Sacks Hundreds, Pensions remain steady

"Queen killed MedFly", Griffith says

Queen Donates To Youth Fund

GyroCorp In Arms Race with Daimler and Queen

Daimler wins Arms Race after Surprise Queen Drop-Out

Griffith Attacks Queen Industries

Lois clicked the last article. The blurb reported that Griffith began to surreptitiously buy shares of Queen Industries. The article was written by a certain Chloe Sullivan. She read on:

Documents available to the Business Star prove that Griffith is certainly not using that keen business sense he is usually famed for. 12% of the shares he bought last year have only fallen in value – a predictable outcome, analysts said. Further shares Griffith acquired this year have a similarly bleak outlook.

Queen Industries, however, seems still in demand: the small firm TexaGlobal also bought a surprising amount of shares last month. At least it was surprising, until an anonymous tip to the Business Star revealed that the company was also a secret subsidiary by Griffith's own GyroCorp.

This obvious move to control the majority of Queen Industries' shares is not a sound business move, as insider John Farmer confirms. "Griffith either has a tip, or lost his mind," he stated in a short interview with the Star. The most logical conclusion seems that Griffith is acting out of revenge towards Queen, whom he publicly condemned for steering his own company into a wall.

Lois had to grin. She liked Sullivan's style. However, further research on the subject turned up blank. After that one article, no more information was to be found on the subject. This was strange. Such an obvious attack should have drawn more coverage. It seemed that Griffith deliberately wanted this kept quiet – and succeeded so far. Well, now that Lois Lane was on the job, that was about to change. She pulled up her E-Mails and quickly wrote a note to Sullivan's address at the Business Star. Maybe she'd be willing to help.

So far, Lois knew she'd only scratched the surface. Sure, maybe it was just a boring business transaction. But something in Sullivan's tone, as well as her own reporter instincts, were telling her that with these kind of stories, nothing ever remained simple or boring. So far, it was obvious that Griffith hated Queen – but would he stoop to murder?

She checked the public police archives next. Sure enough, Andrew Griffith had assembled quite a list of transgressions - tax evasion, minor allegations of fraud, and embezzlement being only the top contenders. He was currently involved in three lawsuits concerning the supposedly illegal sacking of employees. He had been convicted for almost none of his crimes, Lois noted bitterly, and she was not naïve enough to believe that he might actually be innocent of all charges.

Lois yawned and leaned back. So he was a criminal, and even seemed quite crafty at that. But murder was another story. Would a businessman, who seemed quite capable of taking care of his 'problems' with money actually need to kill someone?

She glanced at her watch, and decided that she had done enough. Maybe things would clear up in the morning. She would definitely need to speak to Clark about Oliver Queen again. Just as she was about to shut down her laptop, a familiar ping notified her of a new E-Mail. Apparently Chloe Sullivan was just as much of a night owl as she.

Dear Miss Lane,

what a pleasant surprise! I've actually heard much about you from our mutual friend Clark Kent. We went to high school together and he helped me run the school newspaper there, did he ever tell you?

Concerning your request: You're right about the cover-up – my boss threatened to kick me out, even though she had authorized the article in the first place. There's no love lost between her and Griffith, so I suspected she was under pressure from up high. Shortly after that, my desk was ransacked and my computer stolen. Somebody must have felt that was necessary to prevent further articles. So unfortunately, I cannot send you my material or the interviews.

It seemed a bit excessive, and I've been dying to get back at the guy. I am planning to come to Metropolis this weekend – would you meet me for Lunch? If Clark is part of your research, bring him along, it would be great to see him again. If not, however, and this is your personal scoop, I won't mention it to him.

Let me know asap and we can talk more in person.

Regards, Chloe

Lois' grinned and shook her head. Apparently, Clark knew people all over the place. She made a mental note to talk to him more, and wondered what he had been like in high school. She was becoming very curious to meet the fellow reporter. Lois briefly thanked Chloe for the E-Mail and agreed to meet for lunch on Saturday. She went to bed feeling considerably more enthusiastic. Walking past Jason's room and finding him sleeping soundly, she smiled. For a moment, things were looking like they were going to work out somehow.