The Fortress of Barnitude. Chloe walks in. Still pimpin'. She asks Clark if she can talk to him for a second. He doesn't say anything. She asks how he's doing. "That depends if it's on the record or not," he says. Damn, Clark. Quit being a bitch already. Chloe says she deserved that, and apologizes. Clark says she was just being a journalist. Chloe apologizes again, saying she'd much rather have a friend than a "subject." I'm a journalist, and we don't go around performing autopsies. They're called "sources," Chloe. Not "subjects." Clark accepts her apology. Chloe asks if she can ask something. Clark gives her a look. Chloe smiles, big-toothed, and says that it's off the record. She asks whether Clark ever wonders about his biological parents. "Every day of my life," he says. Chloe finds some Club Zero clippings lying around. She asks about the incident. Clark says it's something Lex asked him to stay out of. Chloe hands Clark some photo printouts from the cow incident. There's a close-up picture of Parker Lewis. "It's the same guy," Clark says, holding the picture next to one of the newspaper clippings. How did Parker let himself get photographed like that? And why didn't Chloe see what was happening to Lex? And what's that huge gaping plot logic vortex opening up above Clark! Noooooo! It's sucking up everything! Sweet, black nothingness!

Finally. More bondaged-up Lex. He's tied up in straps in a straitjacket. Hey, if he were in black, he could be Batman! Heh. Because he's hanging upside down and...bats hang upside down and...er...Moving on. "Help! Somebody!" Lex calls. Oh, just sing the song already, Lex. "Somebody saaaaaaaaave me!" You know you want to. Lex starts to swing and jolt like he's Harry Houdini, but less wet and dead. More yelling from Lex.

The Torch office. Clark still can't reach Lex by phone. Chloe has figured out that the van belonged to a guy from Metropolis named "John Smith" who doesn't work for the CEP. Chloe tries to connect it to her former nosiness, making it seem like a good thing. Clark tells her to call Metropolis PD and tell them to go to the address she looked up. What makes him think that it's not a bogus address? "I think Lex is in serious trouble," Clark says, and heads out.