The Machine Maker:
Issue 126: 14th July 1973
Harry and Caroline are relaxing at her villa in the Italian Alps when a strange device flies out of nowhere. The beautifully made wood and feather contraption holds a message on a parchment, "Besieged at Castlevinci, in the name of science - help save my secret." and signed Leonardo. Harry thinks it is an elaborate joke but Caroline knows Castlevinci, an old ruin, is quite near and someone may need help. Using a runabout buggy, the two drive up the mountain, only to be shot at. Harry and Caroline continue on foot but the open ground top the ruin would make them easy targets. Their movements are being watched from the Castle and a bolt of blazing scrub fired from the Tower reveals bandits in hiding. Harry and Caroline break cover and reach the Castle - only to be met by an aged man who appears to be Leonard Da Vinci himself! Leonardo is fighting Malatesta and his men, in reality bandits after an ancient notebook which belonged to the real Leonard Da Vinci and is worth millions. Caroline also finds Leonardo's passport, revealing him as Leonard Vincey who believed he was a descendant and came to Italy years ago. Vincey has become so obsessed that he believes he is Da Vinci but the bandits have broken in and the only means of escape is his Flying machine. The short erratic flight scares off the bandits and ends back at Caroline's Villa. A Museum will look after the lost notebook but Harry hopes they can find Leonard's real relatives - before he invents something else like an Atom bomb!
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