Jonah Wexler is hunched over a glass case in the International Spy Museum in Washington. The display that has his attention is full of items documenting what is known in the espionage trade as the Canadian Caper. In 1980, Canadian diplomats hatched a plot using disguises, fake passports and forged Iranian visas to help six U.S. diplomats escape from Iran. "I never gave much thought to the history of spying in Canada," says Wexler, a former Montrealer who is now a D.C. criminal investigator. "But this exhibit is something everyone should see!"

Wexler is right, and not just because of the Canadian exhibit. The museum, the only one of its kind in the world, is full of artifacts and anecdotes from the shadowy world of international espionage. In a city full of great museums, it ranks among the most entertaining and creepy at the same time.