Honour Among Thieves

Street and joined Dexter in the waiting car. 'Any problems, Professor?' asked the Deputy Director. 'No. Not unless you count two decent men who look as if they've aged ten years in the past two months.' The tenth chime struck on the Old Post Office Tower clock. The doors of the National Archives swung open and a television crew charged in. The Deputy Director's car moved out into the centre of Constitution Avenue, where it got caught up between the floats for Tennessee and Texas. A police officer ran across and ordered the driver to pull over into 7th Street. When the car came to a halt, Dexter wound down his window, smiled at the officer and said, 'I'm the Deputy Director of the CIA.' 'Sure. And I'm Uncle Sam,' the officer replied as he began writing out a ticket. THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR of the CIA phoned the Director at home to tell him that it was business as usual at the National Archives. He didn't mention the traffic ticket. The Conservator phoned his wife and tried to explain why he hadn't come home the previous night. A woman holding a carrier bag with a rope handle contacted the Iraqi Ambassador to the UN on her mobile phone and let him know that she had killed two birds with one stone. She gave the Ambassador an account number for a bank in the Bahamas. The Director of the CIA rang the Secretary of State and assured him that the document was in place. He avoided saying 'back in place'. Susan Anderson rang Scott to congratulate him on the part he had played in restoring the document to its rightful home. She also mentioned in passing the sad news that she had decided to break off her engagement. The Iraqi Ambassador to the UN instructed Monsieur Franchard to transfer the sum of nine hundred thousand dollars to the Royal Bank of Canada in the Bahamas and at the same time to close the Al Obaydi account. The Secretary of State rang the President at the White House to inform him that the press conference scheduled for eleven o'clock that morning had been cancelled. A reporter on the New York Daily News crime beat filed his first-edition copy from a phone booth in an underground garage on 75th Street. The headline read 'Mafia Slaying in Manhattan'. Lloyd Adams' phone never stopped ringing, as he was continually being offered parts in everything from endorsements to a feature film. The Archivist did not return a call from one of the President's Special Assistants at the White House, inviting him to lunch. A CNN producer called in to the news desk to let them know that it must all have been a hoax. Yes, he had verified the spelling of 'Brittish', and only Dan Quayle could have thought it had two ts. Scott phoned Hannah and told her how he wanted to spend Independence Day.
    THE END