The man went to a computer. “Nobody would file from here to London,” he said, tapping some keys. “It would likely be for a general aviation airport near London, like Cambridge or Biggin Hill.” He scrolled through the flight plans on file. “Nothing for England at all.”

“Maybe they were refueling and filed for someplace in between?” Croft asked.

“I’ve got half a dozen flight plans for Teterboro, New Jersey. That’s New York.”

“May I have a list of the registration numbers?” Croft asked.

The man printed them out and handed them to the detective. “There you go. I can check the registrations if you like.”

“I like,” Croft said.

Shortly, he was handed a list of owners of the aircraft. “They’re all corporations,” Croft said. “Do you have a list of the owners?”

“Afraid not,” the man said. “You’ll have to do a legal search. A lot of airplanes are owned by Delaware corporations. You might start there.”

“Well,” Morales said, “I feel a dead end coming on.”

“Let’s go see an ADA,” Croft said. “The print might be enough for an arrest warrant, maybe even for an extradition.”

“Or maybe they’ll send us to London,” Croft said hopefully.

Morales had a thought. “Any departures for San Francisco today?”

“Let’s see,” he said, sitting down at the computer again. “Oakland would be the likely destination for a general aviation aircraft.” He tapped some keys. “I’ve got two—a Citation and a Gulfstream IV. The GIV left an hour ago.”

“Gotta be the Gulfstream,” Croft said. “That’s a transatlantic airplane. Let’s go talk to Captain Clark. He’ll spring for a San Francisco trip on a crime that’s getting as much TV time as this one.”

Chapter 39

Stone was back at The Arrington in time for lunch, and he persuaded Ann to join him. He explained what had happened to Eagle’s airplane.

“The ex-wife, then?”

“Undoubtedly.”

“Will the police be able to do anything?”

“They’re trying, but the only material witness is dead.”

“It’s time we talked,” Ann said. “The president left for Washington right after breakfast this morning. Kate is waiting for the new campaign plane to be delivered—should be here tomorrow.”

“Will you have to go with her?”

“We had a long talk this morning,” Ann said. “I suggested that I might be of more use to her by continuing to work out of the New York office. She has a good travel team without me, so she bought that.”

Stone broke into a big smile. “That’s wonderful news,” he said. “We can fly out of here tomorrow or the next day. We’re waiting for the return of the Strategic Services aircraft—it’s being flown back from Tokyo. So we’ll have a couple of soft days.”

“Not soft for me. I’ll be on the telephone constantly.”