Zavala had returned to the ROV control and brought the vehicle back to the surface. He hoisted the compact vehicle out of the water, and Austin coiled the umbilical and laid it neatly on deck, which was when he noticed his stuff bag. He opened the bag and pulled out the tablet. It had been greenish gray under water, but it turned to more of a brown color as it dried. Several intersecting straight lines were incised about a half inch deep on one side. He handed it to Zavala.

“I found this near the helmet. I thought the lines were natural strata variations, but now I’m not so sure.”

Zavala held the tablet at different angles to test the light on the surface. “These lines are too regular and deep to be natural,” he said. “The parallel sides are perfectly even. Definitely man-made. How’s your Phoenician?”

“Pretty rusty,” Austin said. He retrieved the tablet and slipped it into the bag.

They reran the pictures taken by the ROV on its initial pass over the wreck and came up with a new estimate for the length of the ship. After his dive, Austin put it more at two hundred feet.

“One thing’s sure,” Zavala said. “This was no rowboat.”

Austin’s cell phone jingled.

“Looks like you snagged yourself a real prize,” said Jennifer, the NUMA researcher. “You’ve got an authentic twelve-bolt, four-light navy MK diving helmet. Morse was a Boston brassware company that started fiddling around with helmet designs during the Civil War.”

“This looks much newer,” Austin said.

“It is. Your helmet was made in 1944. The MK design has been around since the turn of the century. They improved it through the years. It was a real workhorse for the navy, used for all submarine recovery work during World War Two.”

“Does that mean it was last used during the war?”

“Not necessarily. Someone could have found it at a surplus warehouse or store. If it’s in good shape, it could bring serious money on the collectors’ market.”

“Too bad we don’t know who the owner is,” Austin said.

“I can’t tell you who the diver is, but I tapped into naval records and found out who used it during the war. Navy diver named Chester Hutchins. Navy records say he bought the helmet as surplus after the war. Hometown listed as Havre de Grace, Maryland.”

Austin was familiar with the waterfront town near the mouth of the Susquehanna River. “I know the place. Thanks. Maybe his relatives still live there.”

“At least one does. A Mrs. Chester Hutchins. Got a pen handy?”

Austin found a ballpoint in a box of spare parts and jotted the number down on the margin of the chart. He thanked Jennifer and relayed the information to Zavala.

“Sounds like a solid lead,” he said.