Chapter 7

Maddock and Bones climbed into the Zodiac and removed their dive gear while Watanabe motored back to shore. They had seen no signs of the whale despite their wariness. The swim back to the boat had been thankfully uneventful. To their surprise, Watanabe asked them how the dive went, saying that he lost radio contact with them for most of the time they were in the plane, probably because the cave blocked the radio signals. This meant that he didn’t yet know they had found the plane’s serial number and confirmed it to be that of Earhart’s plane. There was no way they could have a conversation in the small boat without Watanabe hearing or at least becoming suspicious, so Maddock thought things through to himself.

He and Bones could keep the discovery of the serial number to themselves and actually fabricate a story that they found some other serial number, meaning it was not Earhart’s plane, in the hopes that Spinney would take their word for it and leave the island. Maddock had to suppress a laugh as he realized how unlikely that was. Spinney would never take anyone’s word for it when it came to the identification of the plane which had become his life’s obsession. They might as well tell the truth and get in Spinney’s good graces, then keep diving the site in the company of the EARHART team. They would just have to deal later with how to snoop around the plane without Spinney’s divers being any the wiser.

“It’s Earhart’s plane!” Maddock told Watanabe, who actually slowed the boat to make sure he’d heard him right.

What?”

Maddock repeated himself, adding that they had found the serial number. Watanabe let out a howl of joy that would have made a werewolf jealous. Then he picked up the radio and broke the news to base camp. When they got to the pier, the whole team was waiting for them.

Spinney was the first one to the boat. “Pictures? Did you get any pictures?”

Maddock was surprised to feel a twinge of anger for not being taken at their word, but then realized it was probably for the media. He looked over at Bones and saw that it rankled him, too. But they did in fact have pictures, so the hefty Indian turned on his digital camera and brought the shots of the brass number plate up on the screen, then handed it over to Spinney.

Maddock watched as a grin consumed the EARHART leader’s features. The bearded man nodded in exaggerated fashion, as if convincing himself it was real before mentioning it to anyone else.

“We got it!” he said, handing the camera off to his researcher.

Carlson stared at the miniature screen intently. “These are the winning lotto numbers! You know, it’s funny. Electra was a prophetic model of plane for Earhart. It was named by Lockheed, as all of their planes of that era were, after a constellation. In this case, for the lost star in the constellation of Pleiades. But now it is lost no more!”

He passed the camera to one of the divers, everyone wanting to see it for themselves, to somehow be a part of the historic event even though they weren’t in the water to personally make the discovery. Maddock supposed the fact that the two newcomers had made the big discovery might even become a source of irritation for the divers, and he made a mental note to be aware of that. Their objective was difficult enough without making enemies along the way.

As Maddock passed the camera to one of the divers, he saw the man’s eyes look down, to Maddock’s waist. Once he took the camera Maddock looked down and realized that the man had been staring at what he had written on his underwater slate during the dive: NEXT TIME. By itself it wasn’t incriminating, but it did expose the concept that they were communicating outside of the facemask comm units. Maddock mentally kicked himself for the lapse. He had to remember to erase whatever he wrote before they got back to the boat.

Spinney motioned to Carlson. “Let’s get back to camp. What do you think about a press conference announcing we found it?”

Carlson stared past the pier to the dive site beyond while he spoke. “It would have so much more impact if we also found their bodies…” He trailed off while he turned to face Maddock and Bones.

“I assume you didn’t find any bodies? No bones?”

The two undercover SEALs both shook their heads and Carlson immediately went back to addressing Spinney. “I think it’s worth one more search of the surrounding site to see if anything else can be found.” He turned back to Maddock and Bones.

“How did you get into the plane, by the way?”

Maddock explained the tunnel system he and Bones found, and then Carlson continued. “Okay, so it’s possible that there are human remains that were washed deep into this tunnel system. The world has waited over sixty years, it can wait another day, right?” He directed this at Spinney, holding his hands palms up as if to say, it’s worth a shot.

After a moment of what appeared to be genuine deliberation, Spinney nodded. But it looked to Maddock as though the man really wanted to make the announcement right now and claim the fame that he’d been seeking for so long.

“It can wait a half a day. One more dive this afternoon to search the tunnels. If no remains are found, then we contact the media anyway and say that we found Amelia Earhart’s plane based solely on the serial number plate. Let’s go, people!”

The dive team helped Maddock and Bones grab the gear out of the Zodiac and started back to camp. However, as Maddock fell into stride behind them, he felt Spinney’s hand grip his arm.

“You there.” Maddock was somehow offended that the man had already forgotten his bogus name, nor did he even ask what it was again. He was literally nothing but an anonymous worker to him.

“You took photos, too?” He pointed to the digital camera dangling from Maddock’s weight belt. Maddock nodded, unclipping it and turning it on to display the images. He was glad he hadn’t taken any of the crates. He showed Spinney a shot of the exterior cockpit, taken from inside the cave.

Upon looking for the first time at the shots he’d taken, Maddock was surprised to see evidence of 50-caliber strafing near the underside of the nose section, as well as what they saw before near the tail. He made a remark about it to Spinney.

“Yeah, we saw the bullet holes in the tail section.” He looked at Maddock and shrugged. “There are theories that Earhart was captured by the Japanese after her plane went down…” He said nothing further, his mind appearing almost hypnotized by the image on the tiny screen. He advanced to the next photo, a wider shot of the front of the plane they accessed via the tunnel system. He furrowed his brow.

“What is it?” Maddock prompted.

Spinney ignored Maddock and called Carlson back over. “Take a look at this. It’s the nose section. You notice anything strange?”

He handed Maddock’s camera off to his researcher, who held it up close to his face and squinted. He alternately held the camera at arm’s length and then right in front of his eyes before handing it back to Spinney. “It’s a Lockheed Electra all right, but from this angle it’s clearly not a model 10-E, which is what she was supposed to have been flying.” He turned to Maddock as he said the last part of the sentence, since he knew Spinney was already aware of this fact. Maddock nodded while Carlson went on.

“It actually looks more like an Electra 12, which was their largest and fastest plane in the Electra line during that period.”

Spinney nodded. “Electra 12, that’s what I thought.”

“Does that mean it might not be her plane?” Maddock asked, eliciting scowls from both men.

Spinney pushed the camera back into Maddock’s hands. “No, that serial number is ironclad proof.”

“Especially when combined with this location,” Carlson piped in, waving an arm at their surroundings.

Spinney looked at Maddock. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from looking for this airplane the last thirty years, it’s that Amelia Earhart is like a mystery wrapped in a riddle and punched in the face by a conundrum or however the hell that old saying goes.”

“Definitely one of the most enduring mysteries of modern times,” the researcher added.

“It’s why the conspiracy theorists love her. Now we’re finally going to set the record straight. Let’s go prepare those press releases, Steve!” Then, to Maddock: “Carry on.”

He and Carlson left Maddock behind while they started up the path to camp.

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