Faust: Happy to have you in agreeement with the .303, G3A3 - in this case, an enfield.I didn't want the caliber of the weapon used to give away the nationality of the shooter.Not much chance of that if both the Germans and the English could get their hands on these rifles.

Trying to figure out the shooter's motivation will be quite difficult because he's never really seen until the end. There are only clues - shell casings, an old photograph, etc. - providing hints as to who he is. He could be an accomplished hunter - former instructor of snipers, as you suggest G3A3. Or, he could be someone else acting entirely on his own. If Marguerite arranged to sink the Black Prince, one of her own country's battle cruisers, killing a friend and a thousand other men during the naval engagement at Jutland, then, she did so for a very good reason. There was no other choice, Unless, of course, she was a double agent. Someone who escaped or was associated with the crew of the Black Prince might want revenge.

And then there is the matter of the submarine screen. If the subs had done their job,the British Grand Fleet may not have won a strategic victory ( the German High Seas Fleet beat them up pretty badly as it was ). And there is the fact that if a sea power is beaten, they suffer complete defeat. If Marge acquired a coded signal from German intelligence, which she might do as a close friend of Admiral Scheer, she might have used it to confuse or prevent concerted action by a wolfpack. She would also have known those submarines off the coast of England could only stay on station till June 1. She could have directed two submarines to attack the Black Prince with codes acquired. In that she oversaw a number of "Y" stations and had access to transmitters and triangulating devices, she had the means to communicate with one or more surfaced submarines. I'll admit that it's prttty tough to follow this line of reasoning logically. The Germans signaled all their submarines to warn them that the High Seas Fleet was coming out of Harbor. So, signaling them was possible, but, a wolf pack would have had its orders before reaching British waters - attack the Grand Fleet if it leaves harbor - and they would spend little time on the surface where they could receive radio transmissions while waiting for the fleet or during the battle of Jutland. It would be neat to find a way Marguerite could have done all this as the Germans might latter blame her for not only losing the strategic battle at Jutland, but the war with Britain as well. There is a good chance Scheer's plan of breaking up the British fleet and destroying portions of it would have worked if the subs had played their part. If Marge was an Austrian, she would be seen as a traitor, a spy at the very least. The shooter could be just about anyone on the German side.

It is likely that the shooter is part of an expedition. But what kind of expedition? Is he one of a group of mining investers - claim jumpers that have discovered that Mapple White encoded notes in his journal? Notes Marge could decipher and that have nothing to do with dinosaurs. Or, did the German pilot betray Marguerite's location - the consequence being a punitive expedition? Is an entire expedition involved in a hunt for Marge and anyone she's with, or has someone with an axe to grind secreted himself ( or herself ) in with an expedition bent upon different purposes? I think Gray would be a good name for the shooter, don't you Grea? ( just added that for kicks. There's no way she's reading this ):>

Well, G3A3, I shall Appreciate any additional perspectives you have to offer. You appear to be the only one that really gets beyond existing shows and personalities deeply on this board. That's not a put down, just an observation.
Steve Faust

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