Chapter Six
Weeks had passed with no lead insight until Clark got lucky after calling in a favor to Dan Turpin, a detective for Metro PD that Clark had helped bust a couple of dirty cops back in their rookie days as a cop and a reporter.
Scans of the police report appeared on his screen along with photos of what was in the box that was delivered to the victims a week after they were robbed, "Is that a doll?" Lois's voice caused him to collapse the window and turn around to face her.
"Can I help you with something Lane?"
"Oh its back to the last names now." She retorts crossing her arms over her chest, "I don't know what skills you picked up while you were gallivanting around the world but in here its dog eat dog. You can get chewed up and spit out if you're not careful."
Lois immediately regretted her words when the towering reporter stood up unaware that their bodies were standing so close as he just stared right back at her with a matching challenging look and that smile that made her weak in the knees, "Is this your way of asking if I need help?"
"No…I was just looking out for you." She punches him in the arm, "I've got bigger fish to fry." She starts walking back to her desk mentally berating herself over the little tap she had given him.
"I wouldn't mind it if you did want to help."
The intrepid reporter went over the possible outcomes of joining forces with him and the repercussions it could have on the wall she had built back up around herself but her determination to show him up got the better of her, "You're on Kent." She appeared right back in front of him so fast he had to double take, "First things first. I want there to be an agreement between us."
"Only if you let me buy you lunch."
"There will be no heart to heart moments between us while we work, my name is first on the byline and last but not least I'm in charge."
He shakes her hand before she could say anything else as he reached over to grab his coat and turned off his monitor, "The first place to get hit was a pawn shop downtown." He walks past her but stops when he notices that she's not following, "You coming?"
"I'll be right there." She clears her throat walking back towards her desk oblivious to the confused look that crossed Clark's face as she took a sip of her stale coffee which caused her face to contort in disgust before dumping the contents into the already dead planet, "Let's get this show on the road." She grabs her coat and bag walking alongside her new partner, "Headline's not gonna write itself."
When they got to the pawn shop they could tell right away why it was a target, the place was full of items that someone could fence on the street and make a large sum of money.
"The police report said that the only thing that was stolen was a ventriloquist dummy that supposedly belonged to Edgar Bergen." Stated Clark as he went though the notes he was quickly scribbled on pieces of paper on the way here.
"Who's Edgar Bergen?"
He immediately looked up at her surprised but realized she hadn't been working this case long enough to do research, "He was a famous ventriloquist that was in the entertainment business for almost fifty years. A lot of the performers today were inspired by his work."
"Right so whoever stole the dummy might have ties to other Bergen enthusiast."
"Except for one problem." She looks back at him clearly interested in hearing the new development, "The original dummy Bergen used is in the Smithsonian Institution. Whoever sold the dummy made an exact replica."
"But who would go out of their way to build the thing, sell it and then go through all the trouble of stealing it?"
"Why don't we ask that guy?" Clark says looking towards the skinny looking man with greasy hair, pimples galore and large red framed glasses that reminded the reporters of Sally Jessy Raphael.
"You might just get the hang of this reporting thing Smallville." She says heading off towards the clerk unaware of the slip of the special nickname she had given him when they were in DC.
"Excuse us?" Lois says to the skinny man who nearly choked on his half eaten burger and quickly whipped his mouth before looking up towards them, "Lois Lane and Clark Kent of the Daily Planet. We'd like to ask you a few questions about the item that was stolen from your workplace."
"All I can tell you is what my boss told me to say if the press was the come asking questions. I don't know anything." He clumsily wraps up his lunch and starts walking away unaware that Lois was following close behind.
"I think you know something." He immediately turns around to face them with a wide eyed expression, "My gut tells me that something else was stolen. Something your boss didn't want the cops finding."
The man gulped and Clark just smirked at Lois's sharp investigative work, "I-I've got nothing to say to you." He starts to walk only this time its Clark preventing him from leaving, "Get your damn hands off me stretch."
Clark didn't back down and simply gave the man a look that would give any criminal or nervous person a cold shiver, "Who do you think is gonna take the fall when the cops start digging around? The only way you can avoid jail time is by taking to us."
"Alright I'll tell you what you wanna know but you can't tell my boss that I told you." The man looks from Clark over towards Lois to say, "This guy showed up in the shop one day looking to pawn off this dummy he said was worth a lot of money. When my boss wouldn't take the deal he said something that changed the bosses mind, a couple weeks later someone breaks into the place and steals the dummy along with a few jewels that were in the back safe. That's all I know."
"What was this guy's name?"
"I don't know…all I know is that he said he worked for Lex Luthor."
Lois and Clark look at each other knowing that this story might be bigger than a few small time robberies.
LuthorCorp
When the doors to Lex Luthor's office slid open and his secretary announced who the visitors were a smile crept onto his face as he immediately rose from his seat to greet to reporters, "When I heard you were back in town I almost couldn't believe it." The two embrace in a friendly almost brotherly hug which causes some confusion for Lois as she watches the two have a private conversation completely forgetting about her.
"How's my goddaughter?"
"She'll be upset when she hears I went to see you. Maggie's wanted to visit you since we settled in." Clark immediately stops their conversation when he hears someone clear their throat, "Oh. Lex Luthor this is Lois Lane." He introduces oblivious to the looks the crossed their faces as they greeted each other.
"I get the feeling that this isn't a social visit." Lex says looking from Lois back to his friend, "What can I do for you?"
"We need information on an employee of yours." Lois interrupts, "He probably would've been an engineer or one of your lab guys and he has an obsession with toys."
"Straight to the point, I could use a woman like you in the boardroom. People these days tend to drag things out for their own selfish purposes hoping to get some money out of it even if it means stealing from my company." Lex walks back towards his desk and begins typing something at his computer, "Lucky for you Ms. Lane that I keep a database of all ex-employees that have a grudge against me and LuthorCorp."
"That's a long list." Lois whispers to herself earning a smirk from Clark unaware that he had heard her, "Did this person steal from you? Is that why he has a grudge against LuthorCorp?"
Lex just smirked which was a rarity he ever showed to the press, "Quite the opposite in fact. Mr. Schott used all his resources to build toys disguised as explosives; I couldn't endorse something like that so I had him fired. He came back a month later and blew up his old facility killing three of my workers." He grabbed the printed pieces of paper and handed them over to Lois, "Winslow Schott is a very disturbed man who just so happens to be a genius. He would've been a great asset to LuthorCorp if it wasn't for this unfortunate incident."
"There's no recent address listed."
"He dropped off the grid a year ago after being released from Belle Reeve because the therapist there said he wasn't a danger to society anymore. I'm sorry I couldn't help you anymore Ms. Lane but if the stories I've heard about you are true then I'm sure you'll have no problem finding him."
She just nods and starts walking back towards the exit while Clark shook hands with Lex thanking him for the help, "You weren't kidding when you said she was a handful but I'm sure you can handle her." Lex pats Clark on the arm before turning back towards his desk, "Next time don't forget to bring Maggie. I want to see how she's doing."
Clark just smirked and headed out, "You never told me you knew Lex Luthor." Lois says as the two walk side by side out of LuthorCorp Plaza.
"Its something I don't tell people. Lex likes to keep his private life separate from his ruthless businessman persona but he's not the heartless monster everyone makes him out to be."
"Well your connection has paid off otherwise we would've been escorted off the premises and had to go a different more difficult route." Lois states folding the pieces of paper and putting it in her bag.
"Great now I can buy you that lunch I owe you." he says causing Lois to look up only to take a step back on account of their close proximity, "There's this great place on third that cooks the best tri-tip sandwiches."
"Actually I think I'm gonna head on back the Daily Planet and see if there's anything on this Winslow Schott character."
He reaches out stopping her from walking away from him, "Come on Lo. You've been avoiding me since I got here and it's been even harder not talking to you."
"There's a reason for that." She rips her arm out of his hand, "You can't just come back into my life and expect everything to be okay between us."
"I'm not trying to hurt you. I just want us to be friends like we were before."
"Well I don't." She turns and walks away ignoring Clark's repeated attempts at calling her back until finally she was pulled back around and crashed into his chest, "Will you stop manhandling me!" she exclaims pulling away from his embrace to fix her attire, "Let's just finish this up tomorrow and go back to ignoring each other like we promised."
"Lo."
His shortened nickname for her fell off his lips causing an unforeseen reaction from Lois who immediately stared up at him and said, "Goodbye Clark." She walks away this time without Clark trying to stop her from walking away as she just left him there standing alone on the street corner with a pained look crossing his face as he watched her walk away.
TBC
I like a little angst once and a while. This chapter focused mainly on Clois while revealing some things about their past relationship with each other that will probably go further into development in the next chapter. Also were any of you surprised to learn that Lex is Maggie Kent's godfather?
READER QUESTION: I've been planning a few time jumps in the near future and wanted to know what you guys think of that. Yes or No?
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