Chapter 21: White

The months came and went and the trial was at hand. They hadn't published anything about Rygata because they couldn't prove anything. Chloe felt it was a key piece of the puzzle and had created what Lois dubbed the "Wall of Lex" on the break room bulletin board. They'd written some great pieces and felt they were so close and yet so far away. Chloe and her team were no closer to finding anything and were really frustrated.

They were assigned to cover the trial so Chloe and Lois took turns sitting in the courtroom with Jimmy. Chloe had especially loved it when the D.A. asked the bomber why he came forward, knowing he'd be going to jail. "Five thousand dollars is a lot to a guy like me, but when you're a billionaire, and it is only worth $5 grand to kill your wife, you're asking to get turned in."

The defense had tried to counter with the fact that if he were going to kill his wife, he'd have made sure nothing was traceable. They also produced evidence of Lionel's previous meddling in Lex's affairs in an attempt to prove reasonable doubt. They'd tried using the fact that no proof existed of Lana's death and the objection was sustained because he was being tried on the conspiracy, not the actual result.

After a week, the case was turned over to the jury and the waiting game began. They deliberated for three days and finally everyone was being summoned for the verdict: Lex was fund guilty and a week later was sentenced to 3-7 years in prison. He was of course, appealing but the judge said he could work his appeal from behind bars and had him led off.

A few days later Lionel went to see him, and was shown to the visitor's room. Lex was definitely not in the mood to see his father, but curious as to what he wanted to discuss. "You know, my lawyers are all over this and will find where you paid that bomber to say I hired him."

"You know I did no such thing, Lex. I do have to tell you thought, that your lawyers are not doing anything right now, because they aren't working for you any more. You see, son, you failed to read all of the fine print when you were so busy crying "Check," and took the company over the last time. Of course, the fact that my lawyers drew up the paperwork and you decided to trust them helped. If at any time you were convicted of a felony crime, the entire company and all assets would revert to me."

Lex was livid. He now had no resources to fight his appeal, and Lionel enjoyed the look on his face as he watched understanding and rage flicker on his face. "I'm not a total bastard, you know. I've set aside a small amount in an account for you to live on upon your release, but as of now you have no need of income, so you cannot touch it. I'm afraid you'll have to depend on pro bono assistance to run your appeal. The judge will appoint a qualified attorney, I am sure."

On the way out the door, Lionel looked over at Lex, who was purple with rage and said, "Checkmate."

Chloe and the team were extremely happy when in late winter, Grant Gabriel was moved to Los Angeles, and a new editor was hired. She smiled when she saw a familiar face walk off the elevator the following Monday. He walked up to her and said, "Miss Sullivan, isn't it? It's been a while, I see you've made it here."

"Mr. White! You remember me? It is so good to see you again. I never stopped reading your work and wondered when you'd get back here. Editor! Wow! I get to work for Perry White. Cool!"

"I remember Smallville. How could I forget a place and the people who helped remind me what journalism is, AND showed me that sober was a better state of being as well," he said smiling and looking around. "Where's your friend Clark? I recall he was your partner in crime back then."

"He's off on a two-year study abroad program right now. He got an awesome scholarship opportunity from Luthorcorp and left about 4 months ago. When he gets back his plan is to get a job here and partner up again."

"Study abroad, hmmm? Asked Perry. "I will be happy to look over his portfolio when he returns. So, Gabriel told me that you head up a team with your cousin and a photographer. Are you available for a lunch meeting? I want you to tell me what you've been working on and what you'd envision doing in the future."

Chloe was stunned. She quickly recovered, grabbed her purse, told Jimmy where she was headed and left with Perry. I work for the amazing Perry White! She thought as she entered the elevator with him.

They had a lovely lunch where she showed him all of her research on the Lex Luthor case. He agreed that it was a good file to keep open and encouraged her to continue working on it. "We have a forensic accountant who can check over the finances if you like. They are specially trained to look for things we don't see. Now, to why I asked you to lunch. Are you interested in doing some undercover reporting work?"

Chloe was still trying to calm down after being offered help with the accounting nightmare that it took her a second to answer. "What kind of undercover reporting?" She was thinking fast. Clark was due home in about 58 days, not that she was counting or anything.

"Well, as you know, there is a mob ring here in Metropolis, and I want our paper to be part of what breaks up some of its more interesting activities. I need some unknown but great talent to try to infiltrate the ranks to do an expose on the operation. What better team than yours? You've cut your teeth on the Luthor case, as well as the other things Gabriel gave you," said Perry. "I think you can handle it."

"Wow, I don't know what to say. I have to ask the team first, if that's o.k."

"I wouldn't have it any other way. Can you let me know by week's end? Here's a file so you can look it over."

After lunch, Chloe practically floated back into the basement and couldn't wait to tell Lois and Jimmy the news. "We not only have help with the Luthor stuff, we have a fabulous opportunity to get out of the basement. Here. Look at THIS," she said as she handed over the file.

Lois and Jimmy looked at her in astonishment. "Wow, Gabriel must have really liked us," said Jimmy. "I didn't think he was too fond of my work."

"Who cares," said Lois. "We are going to do this and get out of the basement and make a name for ourselves. This calls for a celebration. Pizza at my place tonight. Be there by 7 and bring Gretchen!"

The next week, Chloe scanned over the file. The assignment centered on a suspected jewelry theft ring working out of certain jewelry stores. Some of the more affluent citizens of Metropolis had suddenly discovered that very valuable jewelry they owned was worthless. The police figured there was a theft ring somewhere but couldn't figure out how the switch was being done because the forgeries were discovered randomly and the jewels had either not left home or a secured vault. Perry's theory was that it somehow happened at a jewelry store and wanted to have the team investigate that angle.

The team reserved the conference room and discussed options over lunch. Perry wanted a report of a starting point by the end of the week. "Why is he giving us so much time? News happens fast and he's not too concerned about it," said Lois.

"I think he realizes this could be a huge story and wants us to be cautious. We can't just run in and start playing detective without any forethought," said Jimmy. "We need to have a plan; a good plan but first we need to do research."

They worked through lunch and all afternoon. They decided to start by looking closely at the two high-end private jewelry stores that the more affluent people frequented. Jimmy noted that there was one particular appraisal firm that was working for all four of the stores. Apparently appraisals were done on a less frequent basis so several stores used the same appraiser. Repairs however were different. Each store had its own master jeweler who was responsible for making the repairs and doing any necessary cleaning. Jimmy also quickly figured out that the jewelry business was pretty sophisticated. "How are we going to do this and look like we know what we are doing?

"What if we get a crash course in jewelry 101?" suggested Lois.

Chloe thought about it. "Perry would probably go for it if we have a good plan for what we're going to do after we got done with said education. What happens after we become rock scientists?"

"Well, we…get jobs in the stores to check things out. If we notice something strange, we can investigate from there," suggested Lois.

"We will eventually need some jewels, too, that can be protected, and traced," said Chloe, suddenly getting an idea. Ok. We go to school, and get some education about jewels so we know what we are looking at and for. We place ourselves in the stores to pay attention to things. If the stores are indeed where the action is, we bring in our traceable jewels to tempt them and catch 'em. Mr. White will go for that, I'm sure of it."

They broke for the evening, and Chloe went upstairs to pitch her idea to the Chief. He didn't like it when they called him that to his face but like it or not, it was what everyone called him. "Chloe, the proposal sounds great. Do you think you can find a place to teach you what you need to know in 40 days? Find a way to get that quickie education and go. See you when you get back."

The next day, Lois found just the place. It appeared that you could get a degree in anything from San Juan. "Just think! I'm going to learn all about a girl's best friends, AND get a fabulous tan!"

They lucked out and a course was starting right away and they were off. The next six weeks were awesome. They actually had fun learning about the different types of gems and how to grade them, as well as some of the basics of jewelry repair and cleaning. They would be able to get a job in any fine store and know what they were talking about, as well as perform minor tasks with competence.

Chloe prayed every night that Jor-El would really keep Clark for 6 months, because she'd be cutting it pretty close, getting back just days before Clark was due back. He'd sort of predicted he'd be home on a Friday night but said it wasn't exactly up to him. She felt silly hoping he'd stay away the full six but it would not do for his mere 24 hours home to occur while she was unavailable. Not at all.

They returned and brought back some stories on life at quickie universities in San Juan, as they needed a cover story for why they were down there. Lois commented that they were living the 'Life of Ryan' at the moment and loved it. They decided to look for jobs after St. Patrick's Day. Jimmy really wanted some time with Gretchen and pushed to wait, and when Chloe didn't argue (she had secret plans of her own), Lois went with it. She talked the Chief into letting her work on some little assignments of her own while she waited. More experience writing couldn't hurt, right?

Chloe drove to Smallville early Friday afternoon and was looking forward to a quiet weekend at the farm, catching up on what the men had been doing, working on the books, and checking once again through the Lex Luthor file of riddles.

She had found that she enjoyed feeding the chickens on the days she was at the farm, and missed them while she was in San Juan. She loved how they heard her coming and would run up to her when she came out of the barn with their food. The sight always reminded her of the "Chicken Run" movie and she smiled as she saw them coming. "Here, Chick, Chick, Chick," she called to them, and bent down to stroke her favorite, a large white cochin rooster she'd named Cool Hand Luke. He was gorgeous and he knew it. She straightened and threw some more corn for them.

She looked out over the farm and saw the most beautiful sunset and smiled. She felt the bantams pecking at her feet so she poured more corn out for them, the little pigs. As she reached for the rest to scatter it, she was puzzled to discover it was already on the ground and instead of a handful of corn, she held a bouquet of flowers.