Chapter 1

You might think it is a strange piece of paper. Not everyone thinks it was real. In fact, many people think it is simply a joke by someone who has an unusual sense of humor. But when you look more closely, you will change your mind. You will believe the old saying that "truth is often stranger than fiction". Yes, the content of the paper is hard to believe. And yet, new days bring new things, and you must readjust your way of thinking to the new situation. It seems your world is always only steps away from danger. And that is why I am sharing the story with you here. You need to know the truth about what happened. Yes, this is the story of Armstrong, but it is also the story of Myrtle and Connor. These men all died the same way.

That strange piece of paper from Armstrong was discovered last September. A farmer found it in his field. First he saw some pieces of metal from an airplane. Then he saw some broken binoculars. Finally, among some weeds, he saw a notebook. Some pages had come loose and were scattered around. The farmer collected them, but now they are suspiciously lost. The farmer showed the notebook to the village leaders, and they sent it to a museum in the city, where it is now.

The first two pages are missing. Another at the end of the notebook is torn. However, you can still get the idea of the story it contains. Some people think the missing pages at the beginning are simply a record of Armstrong's qualifications as a pilot. But everyone knows that. Everyone thought. Armstrong was a smart, daring pilot. In fact, he often tested different types of airplanes and other new technology.

The body of the notebook is written in ink. The last few lines, however, are written in pencil. You can barely read them, and you might think that they look strange. They look like someone wrote them very fast from the seat of an airplane in the air. There are some blood stains, too. Detectives tested the blood and believe it is from Armstrong.

Armstrong had few friends. They say he was a poet, a dreamer, a mechanic, and an inventor. He had money. He loved airplanes. In fact, he owned four airplanes, and he flew them often. He liked to be alone, and he was usually in a bad mood. This made some people worry about him and his habit of carrying a gun with him in his plane.

His dark mood might be an effect of Myrtle's fall. Armstrong thought about this accident a lot. Myrtle was attempting the height record when he fell out of his plane from an altitude of over 30,000 feet. His body was found, but his head was not. At every gathering of pilots, Armstrong wore a weird smile and asked, "And where, please, is Myrtle's head?"

At another meeting, Armstrong argued about the dangers for pilots. One man mentioned air pockets. Another said poor construction. Armstrong shrugged his shoulders and said nothing. But he looked as if he had a different opinion.

Interestingly, after Armstrong disappeared, others found that he had made many plans for his death. That suggested that he thought some disaster might happen soon. All in all, Armstrong was a strange man, and so was this notebook he left behind.