Fortunately for them, Napoleon had managed to see some of the call letters and numbers on the side of the chopper as it flew away. He was rewarded when he contacted the local FAA and was able to find out that a helicopter with an identifying number containing the letters and numbers he had seen had filed a flight plan from Canaan to Derby, New York. He reported this immediately to Mr. Waverly and requested that one of UNCLE's choppers take them to Bradley International so they could have an UNCLE jet fly them into Buffalo.

As they rode in the chopper Illya asked, "What is the plan?"

"Well, when I spoke to the Old Man, he made it clear that we have cart blanche to spend whatever we need to spend to apprehend the Traitor. So, when we land, we're going to rent a car to drive the seventeen miles to Derby and try to keep an eye on the waterfront in order to keep him from entering Canada.

The Russian whistled in amazement. "Cart blanche? It must have killed Mr. Waverly to grant that to us."

"Mr. Waverly will do anything and allow us to do anything to catch the Traitor."

Less than ninety minutes later, the agents found themselves on the US coast of Lake Erie scanning the area with high – powered binoculars. There was nothing to see.

After scanning the coast and the lake, Napoleon said, "I'm starting to think he's not going to show. That would have been too easy."

Lowering his binoculars, Illya wiped his eyes and looked at his partner. "I agree. What do you think is happening?"

Napoleon signaled for Illya to follow as he headed back to the car. When they got inside he said, "I'm thinking that he is deliberately misleading us, trying to see how we'll react. I think he flew here knowing we would assume he would try to cross into Canada and hoping we would follow."

Illya arched his eyebrows as he reached for his thermos of water and took a drink. "So, you believe he is still in the US?"

"I do. I think we need to take a breath, slow down and start fresh in the morning. We'll get a clue, I guarantee."