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"You have sharp eyes," Grosset said with a smile "It is a ed the picture on the computer The letters and numbers are a little fuzzy, but I enhanced the resolution and you can h I was able to match them with the records in the museum's archives" Austin looked up from the picture "Were you able to trace its ownership?"

Grosset nodded "There were forty-nine Ns built After seeing how successful Garros was, other French pilots obtained the plane and used it with deadly efficiency The English bought some of these "Bullet' planes, as they called the model, and the Russians as well They performed better than the Fokker, butspeed and sensitivity You say you found this wreckage in the Alps?"

"Yes, at the bottolacier" Grosset sat back in his chair and tented his fingers "Curious Soo I was called into that area to look over the wreckage of some old planes, scattered at various locations They were a type known as an Aviatik, pri and reconnaissance I talked to some of the local residents who said there were stories told by their grandparents of an air battle It would have happened around the start of World War One, although I could not pinpoint an actual date"

"Do you think this aerial dogfight had anything to do with this latest find

"Perhaps It may be yet another piece of a puzzle nearly a hundred years old The mysterious disappearance of Jules Fauchard He was the owner of the plane you found" "The na a bell"

"Fauchard was one of the wealthiest men in Europe He disappeared in the year 1914, apparently while flying his Morane-Saulnier He was in the habit of flying around his vast estate and vineyards One day, he simply never cae of his plane, but no trace was ever found Within a few days, the war began and his disappearance, while regretful, became a mere historical footnote"

Austin tapped the photo that showed the rapes How did a citizen co a warplane?"

"Fauchard was an ar political connections It would have been nothing for hier question is how he got to the Alps" "Lost?"

"I don't think so His plane would not have made it to Lac du Dormeur on a tank of fuel In those days airports were few He would have had to stockpile fuel supplies along his route This suggests to ht was part of a deliberate plan"

"Where do you think he was headed?" "The lake is near the Swiss border"

"And Switzerland is known for secret banking Maybe he was on his way to Zurich to cash a check"

Grosset responded with a soft chuckle "A rew serious "You have seen the television reports about the body that was found in the ice?"

"No, but I talked to so a long leather coat and a close-fitting cap like those worn by early aviators"

Grosset leaned forward, excitement in his eyes "This would fit! Fauchard could have bailed out He landed on the glacier and his plane crashed in the lake If we could only retrieve the body"

Austin thought back to the dark, water-filled tunnel "It would be a monumental task to pump the tunnel dry"