[Baldwin:] Welcome back to STARTING POINT here. It could be a simple picture frame or a piece of history from the "Titanic."
[Berman:] It is a family mystery that begins a century ago in the dark waters of the Atlantic, an irresistible case for history detectives on PBS.
[Unidentified Male:] I always had a picture in my mind of my great grandfather in a rowboat reaching into the water.
[Unidentified Female:] And he pulled the wood out of the water.
[Unidentified Male:] And he had it fashioned.
[Unidentified Female:] Into this picture frame.
[Unidentified Male:] Into this picture frame.
[Unidentified Female:] That ship was called "The Lusitania."
[Unidentified Male:] This ship was called "The Titanic."
[Baldwin:] And Rob Martorana brought the frame to Elyse Luray and her team on "History Detectives." So welcome and good morning to both of you. I know this is so exciting and we are going to give away just part of what's going to happen a little later on the show. But let me just begin, Rob, with you. So you grow up and this piece of driftwood, this 2x4, basically collecting dust on your grandmother's shelf.
[Robert Martorana, Believes Family Heirloom Is From "the Titanic":] It was on the wall forever.
[Baldwin:] And you're thinking, what could this be?
[Martorana:] We were always told it was from "The Titanic." That's what I grew up. That was the story we always heard.
[Baldwin:] When did it go from, we were always told, might it be the "Titanic"? Either way, it's very, very old, from 1915. What then made you take this question to this show?
[Martorana:] Well, my brother, Paul, Paul Martorana decided to look into it and see if the oral history of my family was true.
[Berman:] Now, you know, two pretty famous ships, by the way. You're dealing with like two of the most famous ships in the last 100 years, the "Lusitania" and the "Titanic." But Elyse, let me ask you this, when they first came to you, you were pretty skeptical that this picture frame came from "The Titanic." Why?
[Elyse Luray, Host, Pbs' "history Detectives":] Well, you know, family folklore is always abundant and it usually doesn't pan out. And we hear it over and over and over again. And with the 100th anniversary of "The Titanic" this year, we were seeing a lot of people saying that they had things from "The titanic." So, yes, right and it's a beautiful picture frame. So if it did come from "The Titanic," why is it so beautiful?
[Berman:] That's the same thing I thought. Yes, right, "The Titanic."
[Baldwin:] Whatever. No way, but then with the trusty detective work of yours, Elyse, you go to you basically start looking at the tree rings. You're really looking closely, you know, at this particular piece of wood. Let's just play one clip of this.
[Unidentified Female:] Using image scans of the frame, Colin measures the width of the tree rings. Each ring reflects the amount of growth in a year and the series of measurements create a pattern.
[Unidentified Male:] In a better growing season, it will make a wider ring that will grow up higher. It a poorer growing year, it will make a narrower ring and it will be down below.
[Unidentified Female:] Colin compares our tree ring pattern with profiles for the Irish and Scottish forests drawn from the international tree ring databank.
[Baldwin:] So could you translate that for me? You know, when we're talking tree rings, right, how the heck did you figure this out?
[Luray:] Well, it's actually done chronologically. We actually went to a specialist who he could figure out where the rings came from. Did they come from Scotland or did they come from Ireland? Because that would determine which ship it actually would be from. One of the ships used wood from Ireland and one used wood from Scotland. And through, you know, researching the rings, there shall able to tell that the wood actually came from Ireland, which ruled out "The Lusitania."
[Baldwin:] The big reveal.
[Luray:] It did rule out "The Lusitania," but it didn't rule out did it come from "The Titanic"? We still had to prove that. That was the very first step in the investigation. That's not even towards the end. Because great, "The Lusitania" is almost ruled out, but is this really from "The Titanic"? That's the toughest part.
[Berman:] So Rob, when you did hear the ultimate conclusion, was that just an immense feeling of satisfaction or did some like vengeance on your cousin or something?
[Martorana:] No, nothing like that. I mean, my cousin, that part of it, there was never really any bad blood or anything about that. It was really just about the relief of hearing that it was really what we thought it was.
[Baldwin:] From your great-grandfather, right?
[Martorana:] Yes, yes.
[Berman:] Pride, I would imagine, to know for sure you have something that historical, that significant in your house is going to be amazing.
[Martorana:] Yes, it's fantastic.
[Baldwin:] There's even more. But we won't give it away, Berman, because they even found out correct me if I'm wrong, Rob they were able to find out where on "The titanic" this particular piece of wood was from. So that is why you have to stay tuned to the show, "History Detectives," tonight. Thanks to both of you. We appreciate it. It's amazing.
[Berman:] Very, very, very cool.
[Martorana:] Thank you.
[Baldwin:] On your grandmother's shelf.
[Berman:] She just kept sugar packets she stole from restaurants. It's 4 minutes before the hour now. Ahead on STARTING POINT, history will be made Thursday night when a woman takes the field as NFL's newest official, but not everyone thinks she's up to the job. Don't miss this morning's "Tough Call."
[Baldwin:] Also, we are piecing together a clearer picture clearer background of this man, Wade Michael Page, the man identified as the Sikh temple gunman. Hear from the organization that has been tracking him for 12 years. You're watching STARTING POINT.