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A sweet young thing looked up, pursed an ever so small smile and said, "Can ah help you, sir?"

Pitt stared into the ined her as a for queen "I called from the airport and set an appointment with Mr Hunley My name is Pitt"

The recognition was automatic and the smile didn't alter soyou Please come this way"

She led him into an office decorated entirely in brown tones

Pitt was suddenly overwhel in oat little man rose from behind an enormous kinney-shaped desk and extended his hand

"Mr Pitt I'm Charlie Hunley"

"Mr Hunley," Pitt said, shaking hands "Thank you for seeing me

"Not at all Your phone call ticked my curiosity You're the first person to ask about our boiler olly, must be forty years"

"You're out of the business?"

"Heavens, yes Gave it up during the suranddandy rolled armor plate for the Confederate ironclad fleet After World War Two, e He retooled the plant and started fabricating s turned out, it was a shrewd decision"

"did you, by chance, save any of your old production records?" Pitt asked

"Unlike you Yankees, who throw out everything," Hunley said with a sly s our women"

Pitt laughed politely and didn't bother asking how his California upbringing had qualified him as a Yankee

"After your call," Hunley continued, "I ran a search in our file storage rooive me a date, but since we only supplied forty water-tube boilers with the specifications youthe serial number in question in fifteen minutes Unfortunately, I can't tell you what you don't already know"

"Was the boiler shipped to the coines or direct to the shipyard for installation?"