Stark took a deep breath, then looked at Bucky and asked, "You said there was a secure case containing classified documents in the wreckage of the car. What was inside?"
Bucky shook his head. "I don't know. By the time I saw it, the case had already been burned into fragments."
But Stark immediately sensed the problem. "A secure case made by Stark Industries, burned into pieces by a car explosion and fire? Even in 1991, that would have been impossible..."
Bucky thought back carefully. "No, it didn't look like something made by Stark Industries. It didn't even seem particularly American in style."
Stark froze for a moment, then uttered a single word: "...The Soviet Union?"
After leaving Bucky, Stark no longer had the leisure to think about philosophical questions. A far more practical problem now stood before him: there might have been more to Howard's death than he had thought.
Back at Stark Tower, Stark began digging through old records. Yet the production records from that period were vague, and there was no mention of any secure case. With no other option, Stark went to find Obadiah. After all, Obadiah was the old friend who had stood by Howard's side all those years.
Obadiah had always handled Stark Industries' business affairs. He was not at all surprised that Stark had come looking for him, and he did not give a clear answer to Stark's questions. He only said:
"Tony, you had not officially inherited the company back then, so you may not know that around 1990, Stark Industries faced the largest sanctions in its history."
"Earlier, I heard that the military wanted to force you to hand over your technology. But have you ever considered that your father may have faced the same thing?"
Obadiah tapped lightly on the