“The man who built this cabin. His name was Charlie Smith, Congresswoman Loren Smith’s father.”

Steiger sat there silently for a few moments, digesting the enormity of Pitt’s statement. Finally he said, “What proof can you offer?”

” Quite literally bits and pieces. I have it on good authority that Charlie Smith’s obituary says that he was blown to smithereens in an explosion of his own making. All that was ever found were a boot and one thumb. A nice touch, don’t you think? Very neat and precise. I must keep it in mind the next time I want to do somebody in. Set off a blast, then as soon as the dust settles throw a recognizable piece of footwear and a slice of the victim’s most identifiable anatomy at the edge of the smoking crater. Friends later identify the boot and the sheriff’s department can’t miss with a positive ID once they pull a print from the thumb. In the meantime I’ve buried the rest of the body where hopefully it will never be found-My victim’s death goes down as an accident and I go merrily on my way.”

“You’re telling me the skeleton in the aircraft was missing a boot and a thumb?”

Vixen 03 I 49

Pitt merely nodded an affirmative.

At half past nine Giordino was ready. He started by lecturing Pitt and Steiger as he would a class of high-school chemistry students. “As you can see, after more than three decades of submersion, the vinyl cover, because it’s organic, is virtually as good as new, but the paper inside has nearly returned to pulp. Originally the contents were mimeographed-a common process prior to the miracle of Xerox. The ink, I’m sorry to say, has all but disappeared, and no laboratory on earth can bring it back, even under supermagnification. Three of the sheets are hopeless cases. Nothing vaguely legible remains. The fourth looks like it might have contained weather information. A few words here and there refer to winds, altitudes, and atmospheric temperatures. The only sentence I can partially decipher says ‘Skies clearing beyond Western slopes.’ “

” ‘Western slopes’ indicating the Colorado Rockies,” said Pitt.

Steiger’s hands gripped the edge of the table. “Christ, do you have any idea what that means?”

“It means O3’s flight didn’t originate from California, as stated in the report,” said Pitt. “Her departure point must have been east of here if the crew was concerned about weather conditions over the Continental Divide.”

“So much for data sheet number four,” said Giordino. “Now then, compared to the rest, sheet five is a veritable treasure trove of information. Here we can faintly make out several word combinations, including the names of two crew members. Many of the letters are missing, but with a bit of elementary deduction we can figure the meanings. Look here, for instance.”

Giordino pointed to the sheet of paper, and the other two leaned in closer.