Page 109 of False Flag

“Convenient. And completely unprovable.” She turned to Gerard. “I’m going to insist that anything your team presents as proof or evidence that supports your theories be documented, just as everything I say to refute your claims is published and verifiable. I’ve already given you a list of references to post in the comments with this podcast and on the expedition site. I’ll continue adding to the list, so your listeners can do their own research.”

She again faced Casper. “Without any sort of documentation, your claims here cannot be part of this study.”

“You’re part of the cover-up. Archaeologists have known about this bioweapon since World War II. Hitler’s researchers were looking for it to add to their arsenal. There are references in his diaries.”

“The diaries that were a hoax?”

Casper paused. His mouth tightened. Did he even know the story of the forged diaries? Or was this a fabrication he’d just spewed in the moment?

He cleared his throat. “Not those papers. I have access to German archives that are closed to other people.”

She had no doubt that he could hack into digital archives for which his company provided digital security, but in this instance, she figured it was a spur-of-the-moment fabrication. It was highly unlikely that Nazi papers had been digitized.

“So you’re fluent in German, then?”

“I don’t need to be when my AI is fluent in two hundred languages.”

Right.

“It can translate handwritten documents?”

“Of course.”

“I need to review these documents for my report.”

“You can’t. Access is restricted. By the German government.”

“Then you can’t cite them in your reference material. This entire conversation should be redacted from the show. I mean it when I say the source material needs to be available for review. By me at minimum. By viewers if possible.”

“The show doesn’t have to adhere to the same parameters as a professional report,” Gerard said.

“But the expedition does. If you’re going to make a claim, you need to be able to back it up.” She flashed a smile. “Otherwise, it can be assumed to be a spur-of-the-moment fabrication.” She cocked her head. “How about you give me the name of the archive and the document number, so I can do the fact-checking I’ve been hired to do.”

“Even if they agreed, you wouldn’t be able to translate it.”

“I know an art historian fluent in German. She regularly translates handwritten documents from archives for just this kind of professional analysis.”

Casper’s smile was stiff. “Excellent.”

She wondered how long it would take him to realize he should have claimed it was typed. It would be much easier for him to fake a copy of a typed document that supposedly dated back to 1930s Germany.

Dr. Kira Hanson had done a fair amount of work transcribing documents regarding the seizing of art and artifacts by Nazis during the war. She would know exactly what symbols and seals to look for to prove authenticity.

“I also need the paleoethnobotany report from Taiwan, as well as geomorphology and any other scientific analysis that was conducted.”

“Everything was destroyed in the fire.”

“Everything? Even radiocarbon dating? Those would be sent to Beta Analytic or another reputable lab. It’s not the kind of thing that can be done in-house.”

“I don’t believe samples for radiocarbon dating were collected.”

“He collected samples for botanical testing and found some kind of mystery compound that survived thousands of years—except you don’t have a date for the stratigraphic layers, so that’s just a wild guess—because he didn’t collect samples for dating? Then everything conveniently burned in a fire? I’m afraid you were taken for a ride, Casper.”

She was in her groove now. Casper Osborne had fallen in the same trap Gerard hoped his audience would: a woman with big tits who knew how to apply makeup couldn’t possibly have a brain, no matter what her academic transcript said.

She had no doubt Beau told everyone she was a twit—and she had been one when it came to him—but the billionaire was a fool who believed his own hype.

Casper E. Osborne, Super Genius…