The Secretary passed the document over to the Archivist who, accompanied by the Conservator and Dollar Bill, walked across to the large window overlooking the South Lawn. The first word they checked was “Brittish,” and the Archivist smiled.
But it was only a few moments more before Calder Marshall announced their combined judgment. “It’s a fake,” was all he said.
“How can you be so certain?” asked the President.
“Mea Fecit,” said Dollar Bill, looking a little sheepish.
“So does that mean that Saddam is still in possession of the original?” asked the Secretary of State in disbelief.
“No, sir, he has the copy Scott took to Baghdad,” said Dollar Bill. “So clearly he was already in possession of a fake before Scott did the exchange.”
“Then who has the original?” the other four asked in unison.
“Alfonso Mario Cavalli would be my guess,” said Dollar Bill.
“And who’s he?” asked the President, no wiser.
“The gentleman who paid me to make the copy that is currently in the National Archives,” said Dollar Bill, “and to whom I released the only other copy, which I am now holding in my hands.”
“But if the word ‘Brittish’ is spelled with two t’s, how can you be so certain it’s a fake?” asked Dexter Hutchins.
“Because, of the fifty-six signatures on the original Declaration, six have the Christian name George. Five of them signed Geo, which was the custom of the time. Only George Wythe of Virginia appended his full name. On the copy I presented to Cavalli I made the mistake of also writing Geo for Congressman Wythe, and had to add the letters rge later. Although the lettering is perfect, I used a slightly lighter shade of ink. A simple mistake, and discernible only to an expert eye.”
“And even then, only if they knew what they were looking for,” added Mendelssohn.
“I never bothered to tell Cavalli,” continued Dollar Bill, “because once he had checked the word ‘Brittish’ he seemed quite satisfied.”
“So, at some time Cavalli must have switched his copy with the original, and then passed it on to Al Obaydi?” said Dexter Hutchins.
“Well done, Deputy Director,” said Dollar Bill.
“And Al Obaydi in turn handed the copy on to the Iraqi Ambassador in Geneva, who had it delivered to Saddam in Iraq. And, since Al Obaydi had seen Dollar Bill’s copy on display at the National Archives with ‘British’ spelled correctly, he was convinced he was in possession of the original,” said Dexter Hutchins.
“You’ve finally caught up with the rest of us,” said Dollar Bill. “Though to be fair, sir, I should have known what Cavalli was capable of doing when I said to you a month ago: ‘Is there no longer honor among thieves?”
“So, where is the original now?” demanded the President.
“I suspect it’s hanging on a wall in a brownstone in Manhattan,” said Dollar Bill, “where it must have been for the past ten weeks.”
The light on the telephone console to the right of the President began flashing. The President’s Chief of Staff picked up an extension and listened. The normally unflappable man turned white. He pushed the “hold” button.
“It’s Bernie Shaw at CNN for me, Mr. President. He says Saddam is claiming that the bombing of Baghdad last weekend was nothing more than a smokescreen set up to give a group of American terrorists the chance to retrieve the Declaration of Independence, which a Mafia gang had tried to sell him but as an act of good will, he has personally handed over to a man called Bradley. Saddam’s apparently most apologetic about the state the Declaration is in, but he has television pictures of Bradley spitting and stamping on the document before nailing it to a wall.
“If you don’t believe Saddam, he says you can check the copy of the Declaration that’s on display at the National Archives, because anyone who can spell ‘British’ will realize it’s a fake. Shaw’s asking if you have any comment to make, as Saddam intends to hold a press conference tomorrow morning to let the whole world know the truth.”
The President pursed his lips.
“My bet is that Saddam has given CNN an exclusive on this story, but probably only until tomorrow,” the Chief of Staff added.
“Whatever you do,” said Hutchins, “try to keep it off the air for tonight.”
The Chief of Staff hesitated for a moment until he saw the President nodding his agreement. He pressed the button to reengage the call. “If you want to go on the air with a story like that, Bernie, it’s your reputation on the line, not mine.”
The Chief of Staff listened carefully to Shaw’s reply while everyone else in the room waited in silence.
“Be my guest,” were the last words the Chief of Staff offered before putting the phone down.
He turned to the President and told him: “Shaw says he will have a crew outside