Clark had no problem finding parking for the truck in the downtown lot; as he and Chloe got out of the truck, they saw the lawyer parking his small BMW in the next space. The three met in the lot, and James said, "I guess the courthouse is pretty obvious."

"Right in the middle of downtown," Chloe agreed. They walked up the granite steps, past the landscaped shrubs and manicured lawn surrounding the imposing nineteenth-century building. As they entered, Chloe pointed down a hall, "You'll probably want to head that way to make your petitions."

The lawyer raised an eyebrow, and Chloe said, "I'm a reporter. I come here all the time. I know where all the departments are."

"OK," James replied. He headed down the hallway, the brass chandeliers high above adding their tiny bit of candlepower to the bright sun that shone through the corridor windows. His footsteps echoed off the terrazzo floor.

"Let's go down to Records and get a copy of Mike's file," Clark suggested, having done that the other day. Chloe nodded and they set off down the long corridor. Despite the courthouse containing most of the government departments for Lowell County, there were surprisingly few people walking around. Clark had subconsciously expected it to be busier, then realized that he'd mostly been there before during lunch or afternoon hours. Maybe their early morning arrival had beaten the usual crowd.

Around the next corner would be the counter for the Records Office. Clark began to turn the corner, then stopped, stepped back, and kept Chloe from advancing.

"What?" she asked.

"I see one of Lex's security guys at the counter," Clark told her.

"What's he saying?" Chloe asked. She was too far away to hear, but knew that was no barrier to Clark.

"Give me a minute," Clark whispered, and extended his senses.

"We've got a bunch of papers for you to file, Mrs. Daugherty," Lex's security guy was saying.

"How are you, Mr. Neun?" Clark could hear Mary Daugherty reply.

"I'll be fine once you take care of these papers," the man persisted.

"They haven't come through the proper channels. I can't take them." Mary sounded outwardly firm, but Clark could hear a waver in her voice.

Lex's guy sighed. "Mrs. Daugherty, we've been through this before. Do I have to say it again?"

Mary was silent.

Mr. Neun continued in a didactic tone, as if instructing a mentally-impaired person. "You take the papers. You file the papers. Your husband keeps his job. Your family keeps their health insurance."

Silence again. Clark, not wanting to show himself, but wanting to know more, switched to X-ray vision. He saw Mary hesitate, then slump. She reluctantly took the papers.

Lex's man said, "Thank you, Mrs. Daugherty." No reply from her.

Clark saw the man coming towards them. He knew this particular security guy from his previous trips to the mansion, and the man knew Clark. Also, John Neun was a smart cookie, and one of the guards who reported to Lex quite a bit. Clark didn't want any awkward meetings now.

Quickly Clark slipped into superspeed and picked up Chloe. He raced down the corridor, going past another turning, till they were out of possible contact with Lex's man. He slipped back into regular time and set Chloe down.

Her eyes widened at the sudden change. "Do you mind?" she asked acidly. Then, as she overcame the disorientation, she challenged him. "I'm guessing that you had a good reason to teleport us here?"

"It's not teleportation, Chloe – " Clark said tiredly.

"That was a joke, Clark. I know it's not teleportation." Chloe kicked herself as she realized she might have brought up inadvertent memories of Alicia, Clark's erstwhile wife, now dead. In a warmer tone, Chloe asked, "What was it?"

"One of Lex's security guys was at Mary Daugherty's counter. We know each other and I didn't want him to see us. He was giving Mary some papers to file." Clark turned to look at Chloe. "I'm guessing it's illegal somehow, because he was using extortion."

"Extortion?" Chloe's voice became reportorial. And interested.

"What he said was, 'You take the papers. You file the papers. Your husband keeps his job. Your family keeps their health insurance.' "

"So that's it," Chloe mused. "The old lose-your-job ploy again." She sounded bitter. "Why not? It worked against me and my dad."

"Only for a while," Clark said soothingly. "And your father was proud of you. And it worked out OK in the end."

"Only because you know another billionaire who wasn't afraid of the Luthor blacklist," Chloe replied bitterly. "And there were only the two of us. And we were healthy. We could go without insurance for awhile."

Clark felt like hitting himself. Of course! Mary didn't dare lose the insurance. Perdita in a coma….

"We've got to talk with her," he said to Chloe.

Together they walked back down the long hallway to the Records Office. The folder that Lex's man had brought was still sitting on the marble counter, and Mary stood staring at it as if it were a snake.

"Mrs. Daugherty," Chloe began.

Mary looked up. Clark saw an expression of desolation cross her face for just a moment; he wondered if Chloe had caught it before Mary put on her "serve-the-public" smile.

"Chloe Sullivan? How are you? I heard that you were working for the Daily Planet now!" Mary gushed. "I always knew you were headed there. All the times you came in here to research something for the Torch…"

"Mrs. Daugherty, we heard Mr. Neun talk to you." Chloe stared Mary straight in the eye. "And we know something isn't right. What are those papers you're supposed to file?"

Mary looked away guiltily. "Nothing," she said lamely.

Chloe, annoyed, reached for the folder. "If they're nothing, you won't mind me looking at them."

Mary pulled the file out from under Chloe's hand. "Court papers are confidential," she hissed.

Clark stepped forward, defusing the coming Chloe blowup. "Mrs. Daugherty," he said in a calming voice, "we're not accusing you of anything." He caught Chloe rolling her eyes out of the corner of his vision; he hoped Mary hadn't seen that. "Let's just talk hypothetically here."

"OK," Mary said warily.

"Let's just say, hypothetically, that we had a friend in Belle Reve, and that he had been involuntarily committed." Clark stared her in the eye. She stared back, saying nothing.

Clark continued. "And, let's say, that powerful people have an interest in keeping him in Belle Reve, although of course we couldn't say why.' He caught a glimpse of interest in Mary's eyes; she was no stranger to the police reports, property damage, and court cases generated by the meteor freaks using their powers for ill. Obviously, she'd made the connection here.

"But he really doesn't belong there, and he hasn't had a chance to state his case in front of a judge. Even though he's supposed to get that chance. Or those chances – at least one every six months." Clark kept his tone serious. Mary looked away again.

"And, again, just hypothetically speaking, if he got a lawyer and could prove he hadn't had those reviews, he'd get out of Belle Reve."

Mary stood straighter, seemed to gather herself. "This is all very interesting, Clark, but what does it have to do with me?"

"Well, again just speaking of something that wouldn't happen in the real world, of course –"

"Of course," she echoed sarcastically.

"—those powerful people might result to using forged papers to keep someone in Belle Reve. But they'd need to get the papers into the system somehow."

"Go on," Mary said stiffly.

"And I think they'd have a hard time at first, because, you know, the Smallville court system just doesn't work like that. The courthouse workers here are really dedicated." Clark gave her another hard glance. "And honest." Mary looked away again. "But if these powerful people had a handle on someone…"

Mary sighed and slumped. She eyed Chloe, standing there, alert but silent. Clark sat still, awaiting her answer. Then Mary pulled the file further away from the other two.

"I'm sorry, Clark, I can't help you," she said deliberately. Clark heard her whisper under her breath, so low that only superhearing could have picked it up, "I don't dare."

Chloe came forward to the counter again, leaned over the edge. She spoke in a low, tense voice. "It's going to come out, you know. You can't hide it forever."

Mrs. Daugherty didn't reply. She looked away, then pulled the folder off the counter, and carried it to the shelves in the back. "Good-bye," she told them, walking away.