The Lincoln Myth(35)

“Take a look at this,” Luke said.

He stepped to the desk—huge, inlaid with ivory and decorated with an ornate onyx inkwell. Luke handed him a catalog for Dorotheum, one of the world’s oldest auction houses, headquartered in Austria. He’d dealt with them while on Billet assignments and with his bookshop.

“Seems there’s an event tomorrow night,” Luke said. “In Salzburg.”

He noted the date, time, and place from the catalog. Thumbing through, he discovered it was an estate sale. Furniture, porcelain, china, books. One page was dog-eared. An offering for a Book of Mormon. From March 1830. An original printing. Published by E. B. Grandin. Palmyra, New York.

He knew that volume.

There’d been many editions printed since 1830, but only a few of the original lot still existed. He recalled reading a few months ago how one had sold for nearly $200,000.

“Apparently Salazar wants to buy a book,” he said.

And not just any book. One of the rarest in the world.

He stepped from the desk and again studied the map. Someone had taken a pink highlighter to Texas, Hawaii, Alaska, Vermont, and Montana.

“Why are those states colored? And don’t tell me you don’t know.”

Luke stayed silent.

He placed his finger on Utah, which had been highlighted in yellow. “And this?”

“It’s the center of the whole damn thing.”

Utah was the home of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Several splinter groups of that religion existed, but its main body was headquartered there.

“The center of what?” he asked.

“Hard to believe, actually. But Stephanie told me on the phone there’s a connection between Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, James Madison, and Abraham Lincoln. One that she’s just been briefed on. It stretches straight back to the Founding Fathers.”

“Involving?”

“The U.S. Constitution.”

“Leading to what?”

“A whole bunch of really bad trouble.”





TWENTY-ONE





DENMARK

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9

9:20 A.M.


SALAZAR SPOKE INTO THE PHONE BUT STUDIED THE MAP. HE was in his study, finally connecting with Elder Rowan, explaining some of what had happened yesterday in Denmark. Their fears were now confirmed. The U.S. government was focused on him.

“They found you through me,” Rowan said. “There are people in Washington who do not want us to succeed.”

That he believed.

There’d always been animosity.

“From the beginning, Josepe,” the angel said in his brain.

Every Saint knew how Joseph Smith, in 1839, knocked on the door of the White House—which he described as a palace, large and splendid, decorated with all the fineries and elegance of this world—and requested to see President Martin Van Buren. When Smith asked to be introduced as a Latter-day Saint, the request was viewed as nonsense. When he insisted, Van Buren merely smiled at the label.

“With his arrogance, Josepe.”

Smith had brought a letter that outlined all of the violent atrocities Saints had faced in Missouri, detailing the shocking loss of life and property. He described the infamous Executive Order 44, issued by the Missouri governor, which called for the extermination of all Saints. He respectfully asked the federal government to intervene, but Van Buren did nothing.

“He said that to take up their cause would cost him the vote of Missouri,” the angel reminded him. “He judged us before he even knew us.”

Many presidents thereafter shared Van Buren’s apathy.

“The government has always been controlled by ignorance, folly, and weakness.”

The angel was right.

“What is the government’s strength? It is like a rope of sand, weak as water. There is little regard for truth or right. Shame on the rulers of the American nation.”

Just as prophets had been with presidents, he was careful with Elder Rowan. But not out of mistrust. Rowan had made clear from the beginning that he did not want details. So he omitted what happened to the American agent, the deaths of two of his own men, and the disappearance of Barry Kirk. He understood the line of demarcation between the Quorum of Twelve and the remainder of the church. Joseph Smith, and his successor Brigham Young, had utilized men just like him who likewise safeguarded the collective interest.

“Is the situation in hand?” Rowan asked.

“Totally.”

“It’s important that it stay that way. The government will try with all its might to stop us. It’s inevitable. We could only keep this secret for so long. Luckily, we’re approaching the goal.”

“Would it not be helpful to know the extent of their knowledge?” he asked.

“I plan to make inquiries on this end. Perhaps you could see what could be learned there?”