Honour Among Thieves

able to identify the mistake, and then later meeting with Lloyd Adams, he began to believe, like the other sceptics, that switching the Declaration might just be possible. Over the years, Butterworth had served the Cavalli family well. Meetings had been arranged with politicians at a moment's notice, words were dropped in the ears of trade officials from someone thought to be well placed in Washington, and the odd piece of inside information had been passed on, ensuring that Butterworth's income was commensurate with his own high opinion of his true worth. As he lay awake that night thinking about the proposition, he also came to the conclusion that Cavalli couldn't take the next step without him, and more important, his role in the deception would probably be obvious within minutes of the theft being discovered, in which case he could end up spending the rest of his life in Leavenworth. Against that possibility he had to weigh the fact that he was fifty-seven years old, had only three years to go before retirement, and a third wife who was suing him for a divorce he couldn't afford. Butterworth no longer dreamed of promotion. He was now simply trying to come to terms with the fact that he was probably going to have to spend the rest of his life alone, eking out some sort of existence on a meagre government pension. Cavalli was also aware of these facts, and the offer of a million dollars - a hundred thousand the day he signed up, a further nine hundred thousand on the day the exchange took place - and a first-class ticket to any country on earth, almost convinced Butterworth that he should agree to Cavalli's proposition. But it was Maria who tilted the balance in Cavalli's favour. At a trade conference in Brazil the previous year, Butterworth had met a local girl who answered most of his questions during the day and the rest of them at night. He'd phoned her the morning after Cavalli's first approach. Maria seemed pleased to hear from him, a pleasure which became more vocal when she learned that he'd be leaving the service and, having come into 'a reasonable inheritance', was thinking of settling down somewhere abroad. The President's Special Assistant joined the team the following day. He had spent most of the hundred thousand dollars by the end of the week, clearing his debts and getting up to date with his first two wives' alimony. With only a few thousand left, there was now nothing to do but commit himself wholeheartedly to the plan. He didn't give a moment's thought to changing his mind, because he knew he could never hope to repay the money. He hadn't forgotten that the man he had replaced on Cavalli's payroll had once neglected to repay a far smaller sum after making certain promises. Once had been enough: Cavalli's father had had him buried under the World Trade Center when he'd failed to secure the promised contract for the building. A similar departure did not appeal to Butterworth. The phone rang on Butterworth's desk, as he had predicted, in under two minutes, but he allowed it to continue ringing for some time before he picked it up. His temporary secretary announced that there was a Mr Marshall on the line and asked if he wanted to take the call. 'Yes, thank you, Miss Daniels.' 'Mr Butterworth?' enquired a voice. 'Speaking.' 'This is Calder Marshall over at the National Archives. I understand you phoned while I was in a meeting. Sorry I wasn't available.' 'No problem, Mr Marshall. It's just that I wondered if it would be possible for you to drop by to the White House. There's a private matter I'd like to discuss with you.' 'Of course, Mr Butterworth. What time would be convenient?' 'I'm up to my eyes the rest of this week,' Butterworth said, looking down at the blank pages in his diary, 'but the President's away at the beginning of next week, so perhaps we could schedule something for then?' There was a pause which Butterworth assumed meant Marshall was checking his diary. 'Would Tuesday, 10 a.m. suit you?' the Archivist eventually asked., 'Let me check my other diary,' said Butterworth, staring into space. 'Yes, that looks fine. I have another appointment at 10.30, but I'm confident we'll have covered everything I need to go over with you by then. Perhaps you would be kind enough to come to the Pennsylvania Avenue entrance of the Old Executive Office building. There'll be someone there to meet you and after you've cleared security they'll bring you up to my office.' 'The Pennsylvania Avenue