still sceptical about what he was telling her.

'Well,' Bradley said, 'according to what I learned at MIT, it was

certainly more advanced than is generally known. For instance,

Cornell's courses at the time included mechanical and electrical

engineering and machine design and construction. As for specific

aeronautical texts of the time, they were surprisingly advanced and

would have included the Smithsonian Inst.i.tution's Experiments in

Aerodynamics, published in 1891; the Lawrence Hargraves experiment

reports of 1890 to 1894; the 1893 reports on Sir Hiram Maxim's

experiments on engines, propellers, airplanes, and flying machines; and

the Aeronautical Annual of 1895, 1896, and 1897, which contained

original contributions from most of the leading aeronautical scientists...

So a.s.suming that Wilson was some kind of genius, he certainly could

have attained the knowledge necessary to design airships.'

'Oh, boy! ' Gladys exclaimed softly, obviously intrigued. 'And

question two?'

'Could a man of such talents have worked in America for thirtyfive years, possibly designing airships, without leaving any tracks

behind?' Bradley nodded emphatically. 'Yes, Gladys, it's certainly

odd, but I think it's possible. The period we're talking about was the

greatest so far in the history of aviation the first successful flight of

S. P. Langley's flying machines; Santos-Dumont's flight in an airship

from Saint Cloud to the Eiffel Tower; the Wright brothers' first

successful heavier-than-air manned flight at Kitty Hawk, North

Carolina; G.o.ddard's first experiments in rocketry; Wilbur Wright's

seventy-seven-mile flight in two hours and thirty minutes; then, only

seven months later, in 1909, Louis Bleriot's flight across the English

Channel; the dogfiights and airship raids of the Great War of 1914, and

the continuing advances made since then so yes, Wilson could

certainly have designed airships... or even more advanced forms of

aircraft.'

'But could he have done so in secret?'

'Yes, that, too, is possible. In fact, it was a time when financiers were in fierce compet.i.tion with one another to sink money into experimental aeronautical projects so most of those projects were wrapped in the strictest secrecy. Wilson could, therefore, have worked in almost total anonymity with the full support, even encouragement, of his financial backers. And the US government,' he continued, practically talking to himself, 'quietly backed more than one aeronautical project particularly during the late 1930s and usually insisted that such projects be kept secret. They also occasionally took over civilian aeronautical projects and either ran them in strict secrecy or, for one reason or another, quietly aborted them.' He scratched his nose, coughed into his clenched fist, and spread his hands on the table.

'So,' he said, 'there it is.'