The Last Patriot

CHAPTER 77

Scot gave Susan Ferguson as many details as he dared, and as he spoke, the curator of Monticello sat riveted.

When he was finished, there were undoubtedly a million questions she wanted to ask, but Ferguson stayed focused. “So what you’re looking for is a mechanical item that uses gears, which was designed by this al-Jazari, and was brought back to Jefferson by the Marines who were at the Battle of Derna in 1805, correct?”

Everyone nodded as the curator reached for the other document and then said, “We also have a second set of drawings that look like architectural details of some sort.”

“Carpentry work?” said Harvath.

“Definitely carpentry work.”

“Does it look familiar at all?” asked Nichols.

Ferguson examined it under her magnifying glass again. “Monticello was a woodworker’s paradise. Jefferson designed every frieze, every cornice, and every pediment himself. They’re everywhere.”

“So you don’t recognize it, then?”

The curator reached for a book titled Les Édifices Antiques de Rome and opened it to page fifty. “This is a detail of the Corinthian temple of Antoninus and Faustina in Rome. Jefferson based the frieze in the entrance hall on this design.”

Harvath looked at the Jefferson drawing and the page in the book side-by-side. “They’re nearly identical.”

Ferguson nodded. “You said this Islamic inventor was famous for his clocks?”

“Yes,” answered Harvath. “Why?”

“Because,” replied Nichols, “the entrance hall is the location of Jefferson’s Great Clock.”

Ferguson looked at him. “Which has never been removed from Monticello since its installation in 1805.”

“We need to see that clock,” said Harvath.

“But it didn’t come from an Islamic inventor. It was built by a clockmaker in Philadelphia named Peter Spruck.”

Nichols recognized a book about Monticello that was sitting on the table and picked it up. He flipped through it until he found the section regarding the Great Clock. “Spruck might have built it,” he replied, “but Jefferson designed it, right down to the size of the gears and how many teeth each one has.”

“When was it built?” asked Harvath.

Nichols searched for the exact date. “1792. Three years after he returned from Paris.”

Harvath looked back at Susan Ferguson and repeated, “We really need to see that clock.”

The curator looked at her watch. “Monticello opens to the public in half an hour. We need to be fast.”