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"That can't be" Magee began, then stopped, his eyes wide in un comprehension He started over

"That can't bethey were experienced railroad menthey couldn't be fooled"

"Meechu was bent over the safe, his back to the tracks All they saere lights All they heard were sounds Sounds fro train"

"But the bridgeit collapsed under the weight of the train That couldn't be faked"

"Massey blew the bridge in sections He knew one big bang would have alerted half the valley So he detonated ses of black powder at key structure points, coinciding the blasts with the thunderclaps, until the center span finally gave way and dropped in the river"

Magee, still puzzled, said nothing

"The robbery of the station was only a shas on his hteen dollars He was after a two-old-coin shipment carried on the Manhattan Limited"

"Why go to all the trouble?" Magee asked doubtfully "He could have simply stopped the train, held it up and made off with the coins"

"That's how Hollywood ht have filmed it," said Pitt "But in real life there's always a catch The coins in question were twenty-dollar pieces called St Gaudens They each weighed close to one ounce Simple arithmetic tells us that it took a hundred thousand coins to make two million dollars Then allow sixteen ounces to a pound, do a little dividing and you co over three tons Not exactly a bundle a few ured the cause of the train's delay and sent a posse charging down the tracks"

"All right," said Giordino "I'll bite and ask the question on everyone's h here and take a dive in the Hudson, where did it go?"

"I think Massey took over the locomotive, diverted the train from the main track and hid it where it remains to this day"

If Pitt had claimed to be a visitor from Venus or the reincarnation of Napoleon Bonaparte, his words couldn't have received a ht apathetic Only Annie had a thoughtful expression

"In some respects, Mr Pitt's theory isn't as farfetched as it sounds," she said

Magee stared at her as if she was an errant child "Not one passenger or creho survived to tell the tale, or a robber confessing on a deathbed, not even a corpse to point a finger? Not a fraght after all these yearsnot possible"

"It would have to be the greatest vanishing act of all time," added Chase