Jimmy and Irene stepped out of the elevator, they didn't have much time to waste. They had to find something on Luthor as soon as possible before he attempted anything else.

She just knew that ruining Superman's image wasn't going to be enough to satisfy him. Luthor wanted Superman dead.

He wanted Clark dead.

And Perry was right. She had already wasted two days feeling guilty about what had happened. Those they were valuable two days where she could have already stopped Luthor.

"Where are we starting?" Jimmy questioned as he adjusted the strap of his camera bag.

Irene had thought about it for a while and she knew that there was no perfect crime. "With Wallace Keefe."

"You mean the man who is very much dead." He replied and she didn't miss the doubt in his tone.

"Just because he's dead doesn't mean that he can't give us any clues." Irene told him as he came to a stop in the middle of the lobby. She needed to gather her thoughts and map out what she needed to do. "I just messaged a friend to see if she find who paid his bail after he vandalized the statue. Cause I know that he was working with Lex."

Jimmy also seemed deep in thought, although Jimmy remained pretty faithful to photography he was also a journalist. And he was just as good as any of the other reporters at the Daily Planet. "That shiny new wheelchair."

"Exactly." She said before her phone began to ring. Her heart stopped for a moment hoping that maybe it was Clark, but she was only met with disappointment. Not because she didn't want to talk to Martha, but because it meant that they still had no word on Clark. "Martha."

"Irene, sweetheart have you heard from him?" Clark's mother questioned. It surprised Irene that he hadn't gone back to Smallville, but that just spoke of how deeply the Capital affected him. He was too ashamed to even see his own mother.

"No Martha I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for? Don't you dare blame yourself." Martha scolded her.

"Martha... what if..." Irene began and she wasn't entirely sure if she wanted voice the thought that had been keeping her up at night. Maybe she was being foolish for thinking it, but she needed someone to tell her that she was wrong. "If he chooses to start over. I would understand if he did but..."

"Don't start speaking nonsense girl." Martha replied immediately, and she probably thought that Irene was losing her mind. "I don't think you can even imagine how much my boy loves you. He'll come back to you."

Irene knew that Clark loved her, she had never doubted it. But maybe what had happened at the Capital was too much for him. If he had given up the cape, maybe he wanted to start completely over.

"I'm sorry you're right." Irene said hating herself for making Martha worry about her too. "I'll call you if I have anything."

Jimmy placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. "If there's anyone that can figure this out Irene it's you."

It wasn't that Irene doubted herself. She knew that if she had enough time that she would be able to find the evidence she needed. But the one thing that she didn't have was time. She was afraid that by the time she found what she needed it would be too late.

That just like the Capital she would be too late and something horrible would happen again.

It didn't take Barbara Gordon very long to confirm that it had been Lex Luthor who had paid Wallace Keefe's bail.

It was evidence, but it wasn't strong enough evidence to claim that Luthor was also an accomplice of the Capital bombing. Irene and Jimmy needed something more solid that couldn't be questioned.

Luckily Barbara was also able to convince one of her contacts in the Metropolis PD to get get Irene and Jimmy into Wallace Keefe's home. It was still considered an active crime scene and they only had a limited time to look around.

The moment they stepped inside the home it was like they had stepped into the scenes of the movie. There were multiple items that Keefe had apparently used to building the explosive all around them.

There were architectural plans and newspaper cut outs covering the walls. Evidence markers attached to everything. Every item in the house made Wallace Keefe look guilty, his involvement in the bombing couldn't be questioned.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Jimmy questioned as he took pictures of the apartment.

Irene nodded having had the same thought. Every inch of the room was tagged with evidence markers, and everything was perfectly set up. As is someone had strategically placed it all up. "That this all looks staged?"

"All right, Miss Miranda. You gotta go." The officer urged, they weren't supposed to let the press see any of this yet. It was all an ongoing investigation, they were still trying to find evidence of Superman's involvement.

They weren't going to find any. But Irene knew that she was close to finding evidence against Luthor.

As Irene and Jimmy were about to leave she noticed something that she hadn't before. On the dinning table there was a bowl of fruit, fresh fruit considering that the heating had only been two days ago.

Seeing the bowl of fruit made something in her mind click. Why would a man who planned on dying have a fresh bowl of fruit on his table?

"Irene?" Jimmy questioned as he followed her across the kitchen.

She almost held her breath as she opened the refrigerator, afraid that maybe she was wrong. But she couldn't help but smile as she was met with a refrigerator full of groceries. "He didn't know he was gonna die. He just bought groceries."

It was a discovery that changed everything. Wallace Keefe was just as much of a victim in all of this as everyone else. He was only a pawn for Luthor to use. And it wasn't fair for him to be framed as the one responsible for the Capital bombing.

Irene wished that they had more, but it was enough. As she headed back to the Daily Planet with Jimmy she was deep in thought about what she was going to write. Perry had to let her publish this time.

As Jimmy and Irene crossed the street to the Daily Planet her phone rang again. She wasn't surprised to see that it was Barbara, she had been expecting another call from her all day.

And yet Irene couldn't help but once again feel a little disappointed that it wasn't Clark. All she needed was a phone call from him confirming that he was okay. He could have all the time to himself that he needed but she just needed to hear his voice.

"What did you find at Keefe's apartment?" Barbara asked immediately not bothering with any of the formalities of a proper greeting. She had become just as invested in trying to get Luthor and Irene couldn't be more grateful for all of her help.

If it wasn't for Barbara all of this would have taken much longer to figure out.

"Groceries."

Barbara remained silent for a moment probably thinking that Irene had finally lost it. "Is that supposed to mean something?"

"Fresh groceries." Irene clarified.

"He didn't know he was going to die." Barbara stated though her tone wasn't necessarily surprised but concerned or confused. "Well this makes what I'm about to tell you a lot more crazy."

Irene paused not sure if she could handle any more bad news. "What is it?"

"The wheelchair and the bullet from the desert were made from the same metal." Barbara informed confirming what Irene had been suspecting.

"The desert. The hearing. Everywhere Superman goes, Luthor wants death."

Barbara sighed and Irene could hear her typing something quickly. "But, Luthor goes through all of that trouble... Creates a bomb out of a wheelchair, and then alters it to reduce the blast?"

"What do you mean?" Irene looked at Jimmy who was waiting impatiently for to fill him in. He was just as desperate to clear Superman's name, and for everything to just go back to normal.

"The inside of the chair was lined with lead." Barbara's word caused her to stop the realization hitting her.

Selfishly Irene couldn't help but feel a little relieved. Clark wouldn't have been able to see it even if he was looking. The Capital booming wasn't something that he could have prevented. And that made the difference.

"He couldn't stop it. He couldn't see it." Irene muttered mostly to himself as she looked to Jimmy who was looking at her with wide eyes. Although he couldn't hear their conversation she could see that he was still putting it together with what she was saying. "Superman can't see through lead."

"I'm sending everything to your email now." Barbara said quickly as the realization hit her too. Superman's weaknesses weren't public knowledge, Irene had made sure of that.

Which only left another unanswered question. How did Lex Luthor know?

"Thank you for everything Babs." Irene said feeling like she would spend her whole life being grateful for everything that she was doing.

"Anytime."

"We got him?" Jimmy questioned once Irene lowered her phone.

Irene smiled and nodded. "We got him."

Not another word needed to be said as the rushed inside the Daily Planet needing to make sure that they had everything ready for the afternoon edition of the paper. This had to be front page, and hopefully in a couple of hours Lex Luthor would be behind bars.

They had all the evidence that they needed to prove that it was Luthor who had orchestrated the desert and the Capital. Soon the whole world would know that Superman was innocent.

A/N: Only 7 more chapters until the end of Book 3! They are some of my favorite chapters so be ready. Tell me what you all are hoping to see in the last few chapters before we get into the ZS Justice League.