The ordered facsimile arrived before he was hired - did they swap it in time?

A conservator receives a facsimile before the hire - did they swap a 700-year-old Mixtec codex in time? The ordered facsimile arrived before he was hired - did they swap it in time? In this episode, we lay out the timeline and players behind a substitution at a mid-size Ohio museum and follow the sequence of orders, hires, and contacts that led to the discovery. How did a high-quality facsimile arrive before the inside man walked through the museum doors, and what does that gap reveal? Person: Gary Perry Person: Nora Hatch Person: Valerie Peterson Location: Harwick Regional History Museum, Harwick, Ohio Event: Patterns of the Ancient Americas exhibition - A seven-hundred-year-old Mixtec codex fragment was on loan from the Cartwright Foundation and valued at $340,000. - An order for a high-resolution facsimile was placed on November 17, 2020, paid with a prepaid card linked to Nora Hatch’s Dayton address. - Gary Perry applied for the part-time facilities coordinator role three months before the exhibition and was hired January 3, 2021; by mid-April he had the maintenance code for the codex case. - Nora Hatch, age twenty-nine, worked in conservation assistance and had email contact with Perry about the Foundation’s itinerary from October 2020. - Valerie Peterson, age forty-one, installed exhibitions professionally and was photographed speaking with Perry at the director’s retirement dinner on February 12, 2021. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].