Life In Smallville {7}

Chapter 15: Veritas

Liana's at the Daily Planet struggling to write a story, Jimmy walks over and says, "Aren't articles supposed to have words?" Liana says, "Well, I just start with the best part and work backwards." Jimmy says, "Oh. Well, my photo card has an equally big blank spot that's dying to be filled, and I was... just wondering if... Well, if you needed some eye candy to complement those prose, but it looks like..." Liana says, "Don't they put you guys on assignment?" Jimmy says, "Yeah, yeah, the, uh, um, the little stuff. But now that the news is brought to you by LuthorCorp... I need something really, really big to stay off the gallows." Liana says, "Don't worry. Lex couldn't hate you more than he hates me." Jimmy says, "So why not give him a double whammy? Liana Lane and Jimmy Olsen in their big debut." Liana says, "What about Chloe?" Jimmy says, "Well, I know this isn't gonna shock you, but Clark called, and Chloe ran off on some big secret project." Liana nods and softly says, "Oh." Liana then gets a message in her email about Patricia Swann's coroner report. Liana says, "Okay, better make sure that camera is loaded with ammo because I got tomorrow's headline. 'Daughter of Nobel-winning astronomer murdered.'" Jimmy says, "That Swann woman they fished out of the lake last night?" Liana softly says, "Yeah." Jimmy says, "I thought that she drowned." Liana says, "More like sank. Kind of hard to swim after you've been shot." Later, Liana and Jimmy are dressed like workers because they needed a disuse to sneak into LuthorCorp. Liana and Jimmy are cleaning the fake plants, when Lionel walks past them into his office. Liana walks into his office with Jimmy behind taking photos. Liana says, "Mr. Luthor, do you have any comment on the death of Patricia Swann?" Lionel says, "Put the camera down. Put it down! Put it down." Jimmy does as he's told, and Lionel says, "Very resourceful. I realize that an appointment or a press conference would be too, uh... conventional for you, Miss Lane--" Liana cuts Lionel off and says, "Oh, come on, you wouldn't take an interview with me if your life depended on it." Lionel says, "So what makes you think I'll respond to, uh, an ambush?" Jimmy says, "This is your chance to tell the truth." Lionel says, "The truth?" Liana says, "Before you're hauled away for murder." Lionel chuckles and says, "I can't decide. Is it boundless courage you have or is it incorrigible stupidity?" Liana says, "You were the last person to speak with Swann before the poor woman ended up sucking pond water." Lionel says, "Alright. This, uh, clever conversation is now over." Liana says, "Suit yourself, but I'm not gonna be the only one asking questions." Jimmy says, "According to phone records, you had five calls in one day from a woman who was previously sequestered overseas. Just happened to be the day that she ended up dead." Lionel says, "Business calls, evidence of a business transaction, which it was." Liana says, "Oh, I don't doubt that." Jimmy shows Lionel some photos and says, "Look. Every photo ever taken of Patricia Swann shows her wearing this family locket. And not only was this locket missing when they fished her out of the lake... there was a burn... right here on her neck where the chain was forcibly removed." Lionel takes the photo, and he says, "Very sad. My heart goes out to her family." Liana says, "Mr. Luthor." Lionel says, "Now if that is all from the dynamic duo... security will be very happy to help you find your way out." Later, Lana's at the Isis Foundation, when the lights start flickering and her computers start frits out. Lana walks over to the computers to fix it and then the screen goes black, and she sees Brainiac. Lana turns around and he says, "Hello, Lana." Lana goes to run, but Brainiac's faster and grabs her and she says, "Let me go." Lana watches as his finger goes inside her head.