Send 404 header even if page exists

Can you substitute the .htm file into a php file? PHP can override the statuscode header? Put [1] at the top of the file. An other way would be with apache 2.2:

Change your RewriteRules into
     RewriteRule ^...  - [R=404]
with
     ErrorDocument 404 /404.html
present.

Prior apache 2.2:
     RewriteRule ^...  /nonexistant [L]
     ErrorDocument 404 /404.html

but both cases won't catch a direct request of /404.htm.

[1]
<?
header("HTTP/1.0 404 Not Found");
header("Status: 404 Not Found");
?>

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php is not an option for this project.

So none of your ideas will catch a direct hit for the 404 page?

Maybe the best way would be to create a 404 page at:
/404/adfdasasdfadsfasdffdasfdsfdsfdasf.htm

And then this in .htaccess?

Would that work?

Options +FollowSymlinks
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^404($|/) [LR=404]
RewriteRule ^hideThisDir($|/) 404/index.htm [LR=404]
ErrorDocument 404 /404/adfdasasdfadsfasdffdasfdsfdsfdasf.htm

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