“That’s right,” Paul said. “Thanks for seeing us. Hope it’s not an imposition.”
“Not at all. How may I help you?”
“We understand you were the one who discovered the long-lost Jefferson file,” Gamay said.
“That’s right. How did you hear about it?”
“The State Department contacted NUMA after the NSA deciphered the file.”
Angela had tried to reach her friend at the NSA cryptographic museum. Deeg hadn’t returned her call.
“Did you say the State Department?”
“That’s right,” Gamay said.
“I don’t understand. Why would they be interested?”
“Do you have any idea of what was in the file?” Gamay said.
“I tried to decipher the material. I’m only an amateur. I gave it to a friend at the NSA. What’s going on?”
The Trouts exchanged glances.
“Is there anywhere with a bit more privacy?” Gamay said.
“Yes, of course. There’s my office.”
Angela’s office was small but well organized. She took a seat behind her desk and offered the Trouts a couple of chairs. Paul Trout opened a leather portfolio case and extracted a folder. He placed the folder on the desk.
“This is our only copy, so we’ll have to summarize the contents,” Trout said. “The material you found indicates that Jefferson shared with Meriwether Lewis his belief that a Phoenician ship had crossed the Atlantic nearly three thousand years ago and that it carried a sacred relic, possibly a biblical object, to North America. The State Department is worried that the story, true or not, might stir up things in the Middle East.”
Angela listened, spellbound, as Paul and Gamay took turns explaining the file’s contents. Her mind was awhirl. Her tongue seemed stuck to the roof of her mouth. Her eyes were glassy, like those of a victim of shock.
“Angela,” Gamay said. “Are you all right?”
Angela cleared her throat. “Yes. I’m fine. I think.” She regained her composure.
Gamay continued.
“We realized we could only go so far delving into an ancient voyage. It seemed to us that the American Philosophical Society was the nexus for many threads of the story. Jefferson was president of the society. Lewis studied here for his great exploration. A fellow member told Jefferson that the vellum contained Phoenician words. The connections go on and on.”
“I’m not surprised,” Angela said. “Many people don’t even know this organization exists. Think of its history. Founded by Franklin. George Washington was a member, along with John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Rush, and John Marshall. Its reach extended worldwide: Lafayette, von Steuben, and Kos$$$ciuszko. Later, we had Thomas Edison, Robert Frost, George Marshall, Linus Pauling. Women too. Margaret Mead. Elizabeth Agassiz. This library has millions of documents and papers, including the original Newton’s Principia, Franklin’s experiments, Darwin’s Origin of Species. It’s simply breathtaking.”
“The collection’s scope is both a blessing and a curse,” Paul said. “We’re looking for a needle in an intellectual haystack of enormous size.”
“Our cataloguing system is second to none. Just point me in the right direction.”
“Meriwether Lewis,” Gamay said. “According to the artichoke file, Lewis had important information that he wanted to get to Jefferson.”
“I pulled some files on Lewis after talking to you on the phone. There’s lots of controversy about his death. Some think it was suicide. Others say it was murder.”
&
nbsp; “That would fit in with the air of mystery surrounding the Jefferson file,” Paul said. “Where do we begin?”
Angela opened a folder. “Even as a boy, Lewis was smart, adventurous, and intrepid. He joined the army, made full captain at the age of twenty-three, and was twenty-seven when he became Jefferson’s private secretary. Jefferson found Lewis to be bold, fearless, and intelligent. Three years later, Jefferson picked Lewis to lead one of the greatest expeditions in history. To prep for the journey, he sent him to study at the Philosophical Society.”
“Everything Lewis needed to know was contained here,” Paul said.