Chapter 47 “Rachel Bloom”

The bull pen was as noisy as usual. Co-workers were typing, chatting and laughing. Printers and faxes buzzed as they spit out page after page, and the TV’s overhead were a constant source of background noise. But every sound seemed to be a little louder to Jimmy today. Even the gentle hum of his computer seemed to add to the growing ache in his forehead. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, trying to soothe his muscles and relieve some of the tension.

Everything was still very much the same when he opened his eyes again. His co-workers were still bustling all around him. Nobody seemed to have any trouble working today. Nobody, except for Jimmy, who couldn’t concentrate on a thing.

Only the monitor of his computer was tired of waiting for him. It had switched to stand-by mode, and a symbolic planet was now bouncing off the edges of the otherwise black screen. Jimmy jerked at the mouse to wake it up again. The black instantly vanished to make place for a very bright white. His cursor was blinking in the search engine he had opened half an hour ago. Jimmy sighed as he typed ‘Earl Basinger’ and hit search.

The reason for his distraction was obvious; the revelation that he had Superman for a co-worker had pushed all else from his mind. It seemed to trouble him alone though. No one else seemed to believe that Clark Kent could be wearing a spandex uniform under his brown suit. His knocking over coffee on a regular bases seemed to be all that was required to convince them. Jimmy sniffed irritably and clicked on the first link that appeared when the search engine finished its task.

A photo popped up. A mousy-looking man with dull eyes and matted brown hair looked back at him from the screen. He looked very normal—almost boring—and Jimmy had to remind himself that this man was dead. He wondered why. Apparently something had been going on, something that lay hidden under the boring appearance. You’re not the only one, Jimmy thought grumpily. He scrolled down so he wouldn’t have to look at the picture any longer.

Below the photo was Basinger’s personal information; born in Richmond, Virginia on the 26th of October 1974… moved to Toledo, Ohio in 1982 where he attended Beverly Elementary, St. Francis de Sales High School and the University of Toledo… Jimmy scrolled down further for more recent information. Earl Basinger had moved to Metropolis in 1996 and started working at Stanford&Young in that same year… he had a son with his fiancé, born in 2002… and he was reported missing last fall… Jimmy hit the ‘print’ button and the printer buzzed into life. A sudden small voice right behind him startled him;

“Can I have my drawing, please, Mr Jimmy?”

Jimmy turned around to face Jason. The drawing. With Lois and Clark holding hands. “Yeah, sure.” Jimmy grabbed it from the desk and handed it to the little boy. Was it really just two hours ago that Jason had been sitting on his lap drawing? Was it really just two hours ago that Jimmy had been fishing for information about Clark and Lois’ relationship? He had gotten so much more than he had bargained for. Jimmy smiled wryly to himself. Perry would be proud.

“Are you coming Jason?” Jimmy looked up to find Lois standing on the other side of his desk, holding out her hand for her son. “We’ll be late.”

“Bye, Mr. Jimmy!” Jason piped, and he was gone before Jimmy could reply. Jimmy stared at where Jason had been just a second ago, before his head snapped up to Clark, who just stepped in the elevator. No! Surely… Jason couldn’t be…Jimmy shook his head.

“Are you alright?” Lois’ worried voice asked. Jimmy realised his mouth was hanging open, and he closed it quickly. He knew Lois wasn’t particularly interested in his wellbeing—physical or otherwise. He smiled at her bravely and attempted to sound normal as he said; “Yeah. Hey, Lois. I looked up that information you asked about.” He grabbed the freshly printed paper from his printer. “About Earl Basinger.” He added when she didn’t immediately caught on.

“Oh! Right.”

“Well, his family lives in Ohio, but he’s got a fiancé right here in-“ Jimmy glanced at his monitor. “Midvale. Rachel Bloom. You might want to chat with her.”

“He was engaged?” Lois asked surprised. “Funny, he didn’t seem the type…”

“Well, he is. And he’s got a five year old boy too. So I’d say…” The expression on Lois’ face caused him to stop talking.

“Engaged, with a five year old boy?” Lois repeated with an unusually high voice. It took Jimmy a few seconds before he realised why she was so shaken by this.

“Yeah,” Jimmy tugged at the sleeve of his shirt, not wanting to look at her. He always felt entirely uncomfortable whenever the subject of Richard’s death came up, especially when Lois was around.

“Well, I’ll… I’ll talk to her.” Lois walked away a little faster than was absolutely necessary. Jimmy waited a few seconds, then packed his things and headed to the elevator. He was going home before this day could do any more damage.

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Rachel Bloom lived in a very small house in Midvale. The house seemed like it was squeezed between the taller buildings as an afterthought. Her garden was overflowing. It looks cosy… in a messy kina way. Lois mused as she walked the steps to the front door, which, she noted, could use a new paint-job. She rang the doorbell.

Rachel Bloom was a very plain-looking woman, Lois found out after a few seconds. She had a pale, heart-shaped face, and small grey eyes that lay very deep. Her brown hair was tied back into a sloppy ponytail. “Yes?”

“Miss Bloom?” Lois asked, and waited for the woman’s nod before she continued. “My name is Lois Lane. I am a reporter for the Daily Planet.”

Rachel Bloom frowned, and a brief flicker of annoyance shot across her face. “How can I help you?” she asked carefully.

“I would like a moment of your time to talk about your fiancé, Earl Basinger. I-” Lois was cut short when Rachel Bloom started talking, the expression on her face suddenly angry.

“As a matter of fact, Miss Lane, I don’t think I have a moment to talk about him with you.” She shook her head irritably. “The police warned me reporters might come over, but I never thought there would be so many.” Rachel took a step back, no doubt with the intention to close the door, but Lois took a quick step forward.

“Miss Bloom, unlike other journalists that might have visited you, I am not here for a few cheap quotes. I’m investigating your fiancé’s murder.” Lois wished Clark was here. She would never admit this out loud, but he was much better at handing situations like these. His farm-boy appearance seemed to have a soothing effect of people. Indeed, Lois’ attempt to get in Rachel’s good graces failed as the woman set her jaw.

“They all said that. But in the end, all you guys want is some cheap human-interest story.” Rachel really seemed to get angry now, and her eyes narrowed to slits. “Well, lady, here is something you can quote: Earl was far too good to be used in a cheap article! How dare you even come over here? You’ve got no idea what it’s like to loose the love of your life, and then having to battle off reporters too!”

Lois’ indignation, which had been growing during Rachel’s rant, disappeared at this last part. She took a step back. “I know exactly what that’s like.” Whatever reply Rachel Bloom had expected, that wasn’t it. She didn’t reply and merely stared, so Lois elaborated. “My fiancé died a little over a year ago. He was inside one of the buildings that collapsed last summer. I have a little boy I have to take care of, just like you. So, truly Miss Bloom, I know what you are going through.”

Rachel Bloom opened and closed her mouth without making a sound. “I’m sorry,” she said eventually. “I didn’t know... well, of course I didn’t…” she said a little sheepish.

“It’s okay.” Lois smiled faintly. “I understand. The last thing you want to deal with right now is a nosy reporter. Believe me, I wouldn’t be bothering you if… Earl… hadn’t contacted me in—what I realized now—were one of his last days before he disappeared. He seemed frightened.”

Rachel stepped back and opened the door without another word. Lois followed in after her, privately pleased with herself for solving this situation without Clark.

The interior was just like Lois had expected; narrow, crammed and messy. Rachel seemed to possess too many things to fit into her small house. Lois almost tripped over a toy-train set as she stepped into the living room.

“Sorry for the mess…” Rachel said as she pushed the train, and it’s rails, aside with her foot to make some room. “I wasn’t expecting visitors today. Please…” she pointed at a chair at a small round dinner table. “Sit down. You said he contacted you?”

“Yes,” Lois stepped over a stack of papers and sat down. “He called me at my office over a year ago. He wanted to meet with me, said he had information.” She paused suddenly. “Do you mind if I record this conversation?” When Rachel shook her head, Lois grabbed her recorder out of her purse and put in on the table. “Well… he said he had information, but during our meeting he seemed too scared to say anything. Wouldn’t even tell me his name. He left early, with a promises to contact me again, but he never did.”

Rachel looked sombre as she nodded. “He wasn’t really much of a nervous person, but something had happened before he disappeared. Whatever it was, it had frightened him greatly. He wouldn’t even tell me what was going on.”

“Hmm…” Lois looked around her. “Do you have any idea when this…something… scared him?”

Rachel frowned and her eyebrows knit together. “A few weeks. Four, maybe five. Yeah, it was five, I remember now. Around the time that building came down.” She suddenly looked at Lois. “Do you think that has anything to do with it?”

Lois recalled the limited amount of information Earl Basinger had told her. “He seemed to think so, at least.” She explained how he had contacted her after the publication of her article, and that he had seen something at work that had lead him to believe there were illegal activities going on.

“ So… according to you this building was brought down to hide something?” Rachel summarized. She had been rubbing her forehead during Lois’ explanation, and her temples were now distinctly red.

“According to Earl," Lois corrected.

“Why?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out, isn’t it?” Lois sighed and crossed her legs. “Is there anything, anything, that you can tell me about the weeks before he disappeared?”

Rachel nodded. “I already told the police this, but he seemed to have frequent contact with a woman. For a whle, I actually suspected he had an affair…” she laughed mirthlessly.

“And you don’t happen to know who this woman is?” Lois inquired hopefully.

“I caught her name once; Kathy. That’s all I know,” Rachel said apologetically. “Earl didn’t talk much to me at all those last few weeks. We had a bit of an argument.” She continued after Lois raised an eyebrow. “He’d been spending a lot of money, and he wouldn’t tell me what he’d used it for. You can imagine how much I regret fighting with him now.”

“And you told the police about this?” Lois asked.

Rachel nodded. “Everything.”

Lois shut off the voice recorder, pocketed it again, and made a mental note to give Inspector Henderson a call. Maybe, if he’d found something, this visit wouldn’t have been a total waste of time.

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