"Bye, Erin," Clark said hastily. "I've got to get back." He followed John Neun, focusing his x-ray vision on the folder in the man's hand. The regular back-and-forth motion of the hand in walking gave him a queasy feeling as he tried to read the papers. But Clark persevered and was rewarded. The file contained nothing different than what Clark had left in the Belle Reve lawyer's briefcase after extracting the forged psychiatric reviews.

When Clark followed the Luthorcorp minion back into the courtroom, Mike was on the stand. Clark slipped into the seat next to Chloe.

"Everything's OK," he volunteered, before she started questioning him. "I'll tell you all about it later." Clark looked curiously at Reilly. "What's Mike doing there?" he asked Chloe.

"I think it's a case of the Belle Reve attorney grasping at straws," she said. "When he looked in his briefcase and couldn't find the papers, he called Mike to the stand. I think he's hoping to get Mike to look crazy."

"I hope Mike doesn't say anything about meteor powers," Clark said, concerned.

"I get the impression that James has done some coaching," Chloe said. "So far, Mike looks pretty sane."

Clark had to agree. The conservative suit, the neatly barbered hair, the polished shoes, and most of all, the erect bearing and confident attitude showed a man who bore no resemblance to the usual cringing or blustering Belle Reve inmate.

Clark turned his attention to the stand. Burns, the Belle Reve attorney, asked Mike, "Can you go over the circumstances of your committal in Belle Reve?"

Mike sat straight and looked the attorney in the eye. "After my wife passed away in a car accident, I had some trouble adjusting to daily life. The grief…"

"Please continue," Burns said in a silky tone.

"I went to Dr. Caselli for help coping with my loss. He put me into Belle Reve. I thought it would be a temporary thing. Now I've been there for over a year. I've been held a prisoner there."

"This is a very serious accusation, Mr. Reilly," the judge interjected. "Although it is my policy to give a great deal of latitude to Dr. Caselli and the other physicians at Belle Reve in regard to involuntary committals, they are required to submit frequent reviews of those cases." Judge Morandini sat back and speared the Belle Reve attorney with his glance. "Mr. Burns, what have you to say to this accusation?"

The lawyer kept an urbane countenance. "Mr. Reilly is mistaken, Your Honor. If I may call Dr. Caselli to the stand, we can refute Mr. Reilly's mistaken impression."

"A polite way of calling Mike a liar," Chloe whispered to Clark.

"Is there any objection?" Judge Morandini said, looking at Reilly's attorney James Cooney.

"None, your Honor," Cooney said cheerfully. "We want to get the whole thing out in the sunshine." He leaned back in his chair, crossed his feet confidently.

During the momentary pause while Dr. Caselli was called to the stand and sworn in, the Luthorcorp man, Neun, edged his way up to the attorney's table. He passed the manila folder to the Belle Reve lawyer. Burns opened the folder, paged through the papers, and swallowed. Clark extended his hearing again, and listened to Burns saying, "This isn't what we need!"

Neun replied, "It's what was there. That's what the clerk gave me."

Burns flipped the file shut with an air of finality. Clark saw him visibly compose himself. "How am I supposed to do my job when you're not doing yours?" he hissed under his breath. "Now we're in trouble!"

Neun shuffled nervously. "I'm sorry, Mr. Burns."

The bailiff finished swearing in Dr. Caselli. "Your witness," called Judge Morandini.

Burns turned to Neun for one last comment. "Make sure the clerk gets taken care of," he said, very quietly. Neun nodded, and headed back to his seat. Burns turned to face the bench again.

"Dr. Caselli, I know you have testified before this court numerous times before. To save time, I ask my colleague if he will stipulate to Dr. Caselli's professional qualifications."

Cooney smiled. "Your Honor, I'm familiar with Dr. Caselli's qualifications. To save time, I'm willing to stipulate that, subject to the right of cross-examination."

"So stipulated," the judge ruled.

The Belle Reve attorney addressed his questions to Dr. Caselli. "Doctor, in your own words, would you please tell us the circumstances surrounding Mr. Reilly's committal?"

Caselli sat back in the witness chair, outwardly calm. Clark, though, heard his heartbeat speed up.

"Mr. Reilly came to me a short time after his wife had been killed in a tragic auto accident. He was suffering from extreme grief and depression. I found him to be suicidal, and with his military background, there was a risk that he would arrange a confrontation that would involve innocent bystanders."

"A confrontation?" Burns asked.

"Yes. The common term for this is "suicide by cop", where a mentally ill person takes hostages or puts himself into a situation where a police officer is forced to kill that person." Dr. Caselli smiled slightly.

"And what has happened since then?" Burns probed.

"In regular sessions, we are making some progress, but in my professional opinion, Mr. Reilly is still a danger to himself and others," Caselli said.

Judge Morandini looked at Mike disapprovingly, and leaned slightly backwards in his seat.

James Cooney still sat casually at his table, smiling.

"Your witness," the Belle Reve attorney said.

James rose, walked slowly to Dr. Caselli. "Doctor, I respect your professional qualifications. You've been a psychiatrist for…how long is it?"

"Twenty-two years," Caselli snapped.

"And you've seen many of the patients at Belle Reve? That is, many of the seriously mentally ill patients?"

"Thedangerous patients," Caselli said.

"I'm sure you have quite a bit of clinical experience," Cooney said soothingly. "You must have a heavy caseload."

"The residents and other staff members, we divide up the cases so no one doctor is overloaded," Caselli replied.

"Nonetheless, I would hope that, with such a serious condition, that you would have a good knowledge of Mr. Reilly's background and condition at this time," Cooney said.

"We have had many sessions together," the doctor said warily.

"Then I'm sure you remember that Mr. Reilly was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps four years ago, after a stint in hazardous conditions."

The doctor said nothing.

"Hazardous conditions being a euphemism, doctor, for a war zone." James' voice took on a more strident tone. "Mr. Reilly lost members of his unit in very stressful conditions. And what did he do?"

The doctor said nothing again at this obviously rhetorical question.

Cooney continued, gesturing. "He got his unit out of a difficult situation. Mr. Reilly finished his tour of duty and was honorably discharged. Then he was hired with Excel Industries in Metropolis, where his employment record shows he performed steadily and well, with several commendations in his employee record. But I'm sure you're aware of that, doctor," Cooney said sarcastically.

"Yes," Caselli replied shortly. Frankly, based on the man's heartbeat, Clark thought he was lying.

"Mr. Reilly resigned his position with Excel Industries after his wife died, and he moved to Smallville for a change of scenery," James continued. "I submit to you," James said, overtly addressing Caselli but looking up at Judge Morandini, "how likely is it that a man who has faced death of close friends in extremely stressful conditions before, and has remained stable, will suddenly turn into a homicidal-suicidal maniac?"

Caselli swallowed. "Each person responds to grief and loss differently at different times." He grew a little more confident. "If you will review my case notes in the medical record, you will see the basis for my diagnosis."

"And you have filed updates with the court as required by law?" Cooney asked intently, staring Caselli in the face.

"Yes, sir," Caselli replied.

James turned back to his table. "I subpoenaed Mr. Reilly's medical record yesterday." He pulled out a thick binder. "I'm very interested in the sessions you've had with Mr. Reilly."

Caselli blanched.

Cooney continued. "I see that you've had a total of six sessions with him." He turned to face the judge. "Six sessions. In twelve months. And the last session was three months ago."

Caselli said nothing. He'd gotten sloppy. He used to make some fictitious case notes after each real session – the information-gathering, Luthorcorp-sponsored, scanning/monitoring sessions – but the past few times, he'd been busy reviewing the data, sending it to Lex Luthor, and thinking about his own financial trouble. He'd planned on inserting some case notes this week, but the sudden hearing had caught him by surprise.

"Not only that, Your Honor," James said, now obviously addressing the bench, "there is no record of the required six-month court reviews. As I'm sure the Court is aware, a person who is involuntarily committed to Belle Reve must have his case reviewed at least every six months and the court must agree to extend the committal. Mr. Reilly's file is lacking these."

Judge Morandini frowned. "Let me see that record," he said. James brought it to him, and the courtroom sat in a hushed silence while the judge turned page after page. Finally the judge looked up.

"Mr. Burns?" the judge asked in a stern voice. "You're here on behalf of Belle Reve. Where are the commitment reviews for Mr. Reilly?"

"Your Honor, um…we thought we had them, but we, um, seem to have mislaid them."

The judge sat back in his chair with an air of finality. "Mislaid them?" he asked in a dangerous voice.

Before the Belle Reve lawyer could reply, James Cooney said, "Your Honor, my client, an upstanding and stable man, has been the victim of bureaucratic neglect. He's been thrown in Belle Reve and left to rot." The lawyer gestured widely. "I ask that the court order my client released and an apology from Belle Reve and Dr. Caselli placed into his medical and legal records."

Caselli looked like he'd swallowed a lemon.

Judge Morandini looked at Caselli and Burns. "Gentlemen, are you able to present any evidence to refute Mr. Cooney's statement?"

Both remained silent.

The judge continued. "I am very disappointed, gentlemen. A man is not a piece of trash, to be thrown away and forgotten. Such flagrant violation of Mr. Reilly's rights...I expected better of you, Dr. Caselli, Mr. Burns." The withering tone was at odds with the mild words. The two men looked at the floor.

Judge Morandini straightened his shoulders and spoke in a commanding judicial voice. "Mr. Reilly will be released from Belle Reve, effective immediately. Dr. Caselli, Mr. Burns, you will complete the paperwork per Mr. Cooney's request. Mr. Cooney, and this court, will review the paperwork no later than three days from now, to make sure it is satisfactory."

Caselli now looked like he'd swallowed twolemons.

The judge banged his gavel. "So ordered. Court is adjourned."