Why does the VersionNumber attribute on the Account entity not get returned using a RetrieveMultiple request

Using the retrievemultiple request with the below query expression does not include the versionnumber field in the response, even if the field contains data.

var queryExpression = new QueryExpression("account");

However when the same query expression to request the specific attributes the data is returned for the same records.

var queryExpression = new QueryExpression("account");

queryExpression.ColumnSet = new ColumnSet(new string[] { "versionnumber","name" });

Retrieving all records is a must for the implementation and only the entity name is available at the time the query is run. Is there some way to get the versionnumber for account without having to specify the attribute name? Also is there some kind of indicator in metadata that would identify an attribute as not available when attempting to retrieve all attribute?