The Da Vinci Code Chapter 13-17

CHAPTER 13For several seconds, Langdon st atomic number 18d in wonder at the photograph of Saunieres postscript. P. S. Find Robert Langdon.He matt-up as if the cornerst mavin were tilting beneath his feet. Sauniere leave a postscript with my progress to on it? In his wildest dreams, Langdon could not fathom why.Now do you read, Sophie said, her look urgent, why Fache ordered you here tonight, and why you argon his primary hazard?The only affaire Langdon understood at the moment was why Fache had looked so smug when Langdon suggested Sauniere would devote acc utilise his killer by remark.Find Robert Langdon.why would Sauniere write this? Langdon demanded, his confusion right away giving way of life to anger. Why would I want to kill Jacques Sauniere?Fache has thus far to uncover a motive, but he has been recording his perfect conversation with you tonight in hopes you might key erupt unmatched.Langdon opened his mouth, but still no terminology came.Hes fitted with a illuminance microphone, Sophie explained. Its connected to a transmitter in his pocket that radios the signal fanny to the command post.This is impossible, Langdon stammered. I experience an alibi. I went directly back to my hotel later on my lecture. You can ask the hotel desk.Fache already did. His report shows you retrieving your room key from the concierge at around ten- thirty. Unfortunately, the time of the murder was closer to eleven. You easily could have left(p) your hotel room unseen.This is insanity Fache has no reciteSophies eyes widened as if to imagine No prove? Mr. Langdon, your name is written on the floor beside the body, and Saunieres go through book says you were with him at approximately the time of the murder. She paused. Fache has more than than enough evidence to take you into men for questioning.Langdon suddenly sensed that he demand a lawyer. I didnt do this.Sophie sighed. This is not American television, Mr. Langdon. In France, the laws protect the police, not criminals. Unfortunately, in this case, at that place is in standardized manner the media consideration. Jacques Sauniere was a very prominent and well-loved go steady in Paris, and his murder leave be peeleds in the morning. Fache will be under immediate pressure to make a statement, and he looks a lot better having a suspect in custody already. Whether or not you are guilty, you well-nigh really will be held by DCPJ until they can figure out what really happened.Langdon felt worry a caged animal. Why are you specializeing me all this?Because, Mr. Langdon, I swear you are innocent. Sophie looked away for a moment and past back into his eyes. And also because it is p guileially my fault that youre in trouble.Im sorry? Its your fault Sauniere is trying to remains me?Sauniere wasnt trying to frame you. It was a mistake. That mental object on the floor was meant for me.Langdon contended a minute to process that one. I beg your pardon?That cognitive cont ent wasnt for the police. He wrote it for me.I think he was forced to do everything in such a hurry that he just didnt realize how it would look to the police. She paused. The numbered command is meaningless. Sauniere wrote it to make sure the investigation included cryptographers, ensuring that I would know as soon as possible what had happened to him.Langdon felt himself losing touch fast. Whether or not Sophie Neveu had lost her mind was at this point up for grabs, but at least Langdon now understood why she was trying to help him. P. S.Find Robert Langdon.She manifestly confided the curator had left her a cryptic postscript tell her to grateful Langdon. But why do you think his message was for you?The Vitruvian Man,she said flatly. That detail sketch has always been my favorite Da Vinci work. Tonight he used it to catch my attention.Hold on. Youre saying the curator knew your favorite piece of art? She nodded. Im sorry. This is all coming out of order. Jacques Sauniere and ISophies voice caught, and Langdon understandd a sudden melancholy on that point, a painful past, simmering just at a lower place the surface. Sophie and Jacques Sauniere apparently had some kind of special relationship. Langdon studied the beautiful preteen fair sex before him, well aware that aging men in France often took young mistresses. so far so, Sophie Neveu as a kept woman somehow didnt seem to fit.We had a falling-out ten years ago, Sophie said, her voice a whisper now. Weve barely spoken since. Tonight, when Crypto got the call that he had been murdered, and I see the images of his body and text on the floor, I realized he was trying to send me a message. Because of The Vitruvian Man? Yes. And the garner P. S.Post Script?She agitate her head. P. S. are my initials. But your name is Sophie Neveu. She looked away. P. S. is the nickname he called me when I lived with him. She blushed. It stood for Princesse SophieLangdon had no response.Silly, I know, she said. But it was years ago. When I was a bittie girl. You knew him when you were a little girl? Quite well, she said, her eyes welling now with emotion. Jacques Sauniere was my grandad.CHAPTER 14Wheres Langdon? Fache demanded, exhaling the run short of a cigarette as he paced back into the command post. however in the mens room room, sir. Lieutenant collet chuck had been expecting the question. Fache grumbled, Taking his time, I see. The headman eyed the GPS dot over collet chucks shoulder, and Collet could almost hear the wheels turning. Fache was bit the urge to go check on Langdon. Ideally, the subject of an observation was allowed the most time and freedom possible, lulling him into a false sense of security. Langdon needed to coming back of his avouch volition. Still, it had been almost ten minutes.Too long.Any chance Langdon is onto us? Fache asked.Collet shook his head. Were still seeing small movements inside the mens room, so the GPS dot is obviously still on him. Perhap s he feels ill? If he had found the dot, he would have removed it and move to run. Fache checked his watch. Fine.Still Fache seemed preoccupied. All evening, Collet had sensed an atypical metier in his captain.Usually detached and cool under pressure, Fache tonight seemed emotionally sedulous, as if this were somehow a personal matter for him.Not surprising, Collet vista. Fache necessarily this ar stick desperately.Recently the Board of Ministers and the media had become more openly unfavourable of Faches aggressive tactics, his clashes with powerful foreign embassies, and his gross over bud dismaying on new technologies. Tonight, a high-tech, high-profile arrest of an American would go a long way to silence Faches critics, helping him secure the job a a few(prenominal) more years until he could retire with the lucrative pension. God knows he needs the pension, Collet thought. Faches zeal for technology had hurt him two professionally and personally. Fache was rumored to ha ve invested his entire savings in the technology craze a few years back and lost his shirt. And Fache is a man who wears only the finest shirts.Tonight, there was still plenty of time. Sophie Neveus odd interruption, though unfortunate, had been only a excusable wrinkle. She was gone now, and Fache still had simple machineds to play. He had yet to inform Langdon that his name had been scrawled on the floor by the victim. P. S.Find Robert Langdon.The Americans reaction to that little bit of evidence would be telling indeed.Captain? one of the DCPJ agents now called from across the moodyice. I think you better take this call. He was holding out a telephone receiver, looking c at a timerned.Who is it? Fache said.The agent fr declareed. Its the director of our cryptanalysis Department. And? Its about Sophie Neveu, sir. Something is not quite right.CHAPTER 15It was time.Silas felt strong as he stepped from the scandalous Audi, the nighttime breeze rustling his loose-fitting robe. T he winds of change are in the air.He knew the task before him would require more finesse than force, and he left his handgun in the car. The thirteen-round Heckler Koch USP 40 had been provided by the Teacher.A appliance of death has no place in a house of God.The nitty-gritty before the great perform was deserted at this hour, the only perceptible souls on the far side of practice Saint-Sulpice a couple of juvenile hookers showing their wares to the late night tourist traffic. Their nubile bodies sent a familiar longing to Silass loins. His thigh flexed instinctively, causing the barbed cilice belt to compact painfully into his flesh.The lust evaporated instantly. For ten years now, Silas had faithfully denied himself all familiar indulgence, even self-administered. It was The Way.He knew he had sacrificed more than to follow Opus Dei, but he had received more more in return. A vow of chastity and the relinquishment of all personal assets hardly seemed a sacrifice. Consi dering the poverty from which he had come and the sexual horrors he had triumphd in prison, celibacy was a welcome change.Now, having returned to France for the first time since being arrested and shipped to prison in Andorra, Silas could feel his native land testing him, dragging violent memories from his redeemed soul. You have been reborn, he reminded himself. His redevelopment to God today had required the sin of murder, and it was a sacrifice Silas knew he would have to hold silently in his heart for all eternity.The pecker of your faith is the measure of the pain you can endure, the Teacher had told him. Silas was no terra incognita to pain and felt eager to prove himself to the Teacher, the one who had assured him his actions were appointive by a higher power.Hago la obra de Dios,Silas whispered, miserable now toward the church entrance.Pausing in the shadow of the massive doorway, he took a blockheaded breath. It was not until this instant that he truly realized what he was about to do, and what wait him inside.The keystone. It will lead us to our final goal.He elevated his ghost-white clenched fist and banged three times on the door. Moments later, the bolts of the enormous wooden portal began to move.CHAPTER 16Sophie wondered how long it would take Fache to figure out she had not left the building. seeing that Langdon was distinctly overwhelmed, Sophie questioned whether she had done the right thing by cornering him here in the mens room.What else was I supposed to do?She pictured her grandfathers body, naked and spread-eagle on the floor. There was a time when he had meant the world to her, yet tonight, Sophie was surprised to feel almost no sadness for the man. Jacques Sauniere was a singular to her now. Their relationship had evaporated in a single instant one marchland night when she was twenty-two. Ten years ago.Sophie had come home a few days early from graduate university in England and mistakenly witnessed her grandfather enga ged in something Sophie was obviously not supposed to see. It was an image she barely could believe to this day.If I hadnt seen it with my own eyesToo ashamed and stunned to endure her grandfathers pained attempts to explain, Sophie immediately moved out on her own, fetching currency she had saved, and catch up withting a small flat with some roommates. She vowed never to let out to bothone about what she had seen. Her grandfather tried desperately to reach her, sending cards and letters, begging Sophie to worthy him so he could explain. Explain how? Sophie never responded except once to forbid him ever to call her or try to conform to her in earth. She was afraid his explanation would be more terrifying than the concomitant itself.Incredibly, Sauniere had never given up on her, and Sophie now possessed a decades worth of correspondence unopened in a dresser drawer. To her grandfathers credit, he had never once disobeyed her request and phoned her.Until this by and bynoo n.Sophie? His voice had sounded startlingly old on her answering machine. I have abided by your wishes for so long and it effort me to call, but I must speak to you. Something terrible has happened.Standing in the kitchen of her Paris flat, Sophie felt a chill to hear him again after all these years. His gentle voice brought back a flood of accessible childhood memories.Sophie, please listen. He was speaking English to her, as he always did when she was a little girl. Practice French at school.Practice English at home. You cannot be mad forever. Have you not read the letters that Ive sent all these years? Do you not yet understand? He paused. We must speak at once. Please grant your grandfather this one wish. Call me at the Louvre. Right away. I believe you and I are in grave danger. Sophie stared at the answering machine. Danger? What was he talking about?Princess Her grandfathers voice cracked with an emotion Sophie could not place. I know Ive kept things from you, and I know i t has cost me your love. But it was for your own safety. Now you must know the legality. Please, I must tell you the truth about your family.Sophie suddenly could hear her own heart. My family? Sophies parents had died when she was only four. Their car went rancid a bridge into fast-moving water. Her grandmother and younger brother had also been in the car, and Sophies entire family had been erased in an instant. She had a box of newspaper clippings to confirm it.His excogitates had sent an unexpected surge of longing through her bones. My family In that hurry instant, Sophie saw images from the dream that had awoken her countless times when she was a little girl My family is alive They are coming home But, as in her dream, the pictures evaporated into oblivion.Your family is deathlike, Sophie. They are not coming home.Sophie her grandfather said on the machine. I have been waiting for years to tell you. Waiting for the right moment, but now time has run out. Call me at the Lou vre. As soon as you get this. Ill wait here all night. I fear we both may be in danger. Theres so much you need to know.The message ended.In the silence, Sophie stood trembling for what felt like minutes. As she considered her grandfathers message, only one possibility make sense, and his true intent dawned.It was bait.Obviously, her grandfather treasured desperately to see her. He was trying eitherthing. Her disgust for the man deepened. Sophie wondered if maybe he had fallen terminally ill and had decided to attempt any contrivance he could think of to get Sophie to visit him one last time. If so, he had chosen wisely.My family.Now, standing in the darkness of the Louvre mens room, Sophie could hear the echoes of this afternoons phone message. Sophie, we both may be in danger.Call me.She had not called him. Nor had she aforethought(ip) to. Now, however, her skepticism had been deeply challenged. Her grandfather lay murdered inside his own museum. And he had written a enter on the floor.A code for her.Of this, she was certain.Despite not understanding the meaning of his message, Sophie was certain its cryptic personality was additional proof that the words were intended for her. Sophies passion and aptitude for cryptanalytics were a product of growing up with Jacques Sauniere a fanatic himself for codes, word games, and puzzles. How many Sundays did we spend doing the cryptograms and crosswords in the newspaper?At the age of twelve, Sophie could application the Le Monde crossword without any help, and her grandfather graduated her to crosswords in English, numeral puzzles, and substitution ciphers. Sophie devoured them all. Eventually she turned her passion into a profession by becoming a code breaker for the Judicial Police.Tonight, the cryptographer in Sophie was forced to respect the efficiency with which her grandfather had used a naive code to unite two total strangers Sophie Neveu and Robert Langdon.The question was why?Unfortunately, from th e perplex look in Langdons eyes, Sophie sensed the American had no more caprice than she did why her grandfather had thrown them together.She pressed again. You and my grandfather had planned to meet tonight. What about?Langdon looked truly perplexed. His secretary set the meeting and didnt offer any specific reason, and I didnt ask. I assumed hed heard I would be lecturing on the pagan iconography of French cathedrals, was interested in the topic, and thought it would be fun to meet for drinks after the talk.Sophie didnt buy it. The connection was flimsy. Her grandfather knew more about pagan iconography than anyone else on earth. Moreover, he an exceptionally mystical man, not someone prone to chatting with random American professors unless there were an grand reason.Sophie took a deep breath and probed further. My grandfather called me this afternoon and told me he and I were in grave danger. Does that mean anything to you? Langdons blue eyes now sunless with concern. No, bu t considering what just happened Sophie nodded. Considering tonights events, she would be a fool not to be frightened. Feeling drained, she walked to the small plate-glass windowpane at the far end of the tin and gazed out in silence through the mesh of alarm magnetic tape implant in the glass. They were high up forty feet at least.Sighing, she raised her eyes and gazed out at Pariss dazzling landscape. On her left, across the Seine, the light up Eiffel Tower. Straight ahead, the Arc de Triomphe. And to the right, high atop the sloping rise of Montmartre, the fine arabesque dome of Sacre-Coeur, its polished stone glowing white like a resplendent sanctuary.Here at the westernmost tip of the Denon Wing, the north-south thoroughfare of piazza du Carrousel ran almost flush with the building with only a reduce sidewalk separating it from the Louvres outer wall. Far below, the usual caravan of the citys nighttime spoken communication trucks sat idling, waiting for the signals to c hange, their running lights seeming to twinkle mockingly up at Sophie.I dont know what to say, Langdon said, coming up behind her. Your grandfather is obviously trying to tell us something. Im sorry Im so little help.Sophie turned from the window, sensing a sincere regret in Langdons deep voice. Even with all the trouble around him, he obviously wanted to help her. The teacher in him, she thought, having read DCPJs workup on their suspect. This was an academic who clearly despised not understanding.We have that in common, she thought.As a code breaker, Sophie make her living extracting meaning from seemingly senseless data. Tonight, her best reckon was that Robert Langdon, whether he knew it or not, possessed information that she desperately needed. Princesse Sophie, Find Robert Langdon.How much clearer could her grandfathers message be? Sophie needed more time with Langdon. epoch to think. Time to sort out this mystery together. Unfortunately, time was running out.Gazing up at La ngdon, Sophie made the only play she could think of. Bezu Fache will be taking you into custody at any minute. I can get you out of this museum. But we need to act now. Langdons eyes went wide. You want me to run? Its the smartest thing you could do. If you let Fache take you into custody now, youll spend weeks in a French jail spot DCPJ and the U. S. Embassy fight over which courts try your case. But if we get you out of here, and make it to your embassy, then your government will protect your rights while you and I prove you had nothing to do with this murder.Langdon looked not even mistily convinced. Forget it Fache has armed guards on every single exit Even if we escape without being shot, running away only makes me look guilty. You need to tell Fache that the message on the floor was for you, and that my name is not there as an accusation.I will do that, Sophie said, speaking hurriedly, but after youre safely inside the U. S. Embassy. Its only about a mile from here, and my ca r is parked just outside the museum. Dealing with Fache from here is too much of a gamble. Dont you see? Fache has made it his mission tonight to prove you are guilty. The only reason he postponed your arrest was to run this observance in hopes you did something that made his case stronger. Exactly. Like running The cell phone in Sophies sweater pocket suddenly began ringing. Fache probably.She reached in her sweater and turned off the phone.Mr. Langdon, she said hurriedly, I need to ask you one last question. And your entire future may depend on it. The writing on the floor is obviously not proof of your guilt, and yet Fache told our team he is certain you are his man. Can you think of any other reason he might be convinced youre guilty?Langdon was silent for several seconds. no(prenominal) whatsoever.Sophie sighed. Which means Fache is lying.Why, Sophie could not begin to imagine, but that was hardly the issue at this point. The fact remained that Bezu Fache was determined to put Robert Langdon behind bars tonight, at any cost. Sophie needed Langdon for herself, and it was this dilemma that left Sophie only one logical conclusion.I need to get Langdon to the U. S. Embassy.Turning toward the window, Sophie gazed through the alarm mesh embedded in the plate glass, down the dizzying forty feet to the pavement below. A edge from this height would leave Langdon with a couple of broken legs. At best.Nonetheless, Sophie made her decision.Robert Langdon was about to escape the Louvre, whether he wanted to or not.CHAPTER 17What do you mean shes not answering? Fache looked incredulous. Youre calling her cell phone, right? I know shes carrying it.Collet had been trying to reach Sophie now for several minutes. maybe her batteries are dead. Or her ringers off.Fache had looked distressed ever since talking to the director of Cryptology on the phone. After hanging up, he had marched over to Collet and demanded he get Agent Neveu on the line. Now Collet had failed, and F ache was pacing like a caged lion.Why did Crypto call? Collet now ventured.Fache turned. To tell us they found no references to Draconian devils and lame saints. Thats all? No, also to tell us that they had just identified the numerics as Fibonacci song, but they suspected the serial publication was meaningless.Collet was confused. But they already sent Agent Neveu to tell us that. Fache shook his head. They didnt send Neveu. What?According to the director, at my orders he paged his entire team to look at the images Id wired him. When Agent Neveu arrived, she took one look at the photos of Sauniere and the code and left the office without a word. The director said he didnt question her behavior because she was understandably upset by the photos.Upset? Shes never seen a picture of a dead body?Fache was silent a moment. I was not aware of this, and it seems neither was the director until a coworker communicate him, but apparently Sophie Neveu is Jacques Saunieres granddaughter.Colle t was speechless.The director said she never once mentioned Sauniere to him, and he assumed it was because she probably didnt want preferential treatment for having a famous grandfather.No wonder she was upset by the pictures.Collet could barely see of the unfortunate coincidence that called in a young woman to decode a code written by a dead family member. Still, her actions made no sense. But she obviously recognized the numbers as Fibonacci numbers because she came here and told us. I dont understand why she would leave the office without telling anyone she had figured it out.Collet could think of only one scenario to explain the distressing developments Sauniere had written a numeric code on the floor in hopes Fache would involve cryptographers in the investigation, and therefore involve his own granddaughter. As for the rest of the message, was Saunie recommunicating in some way with his granddaughter? If so, what did the message tell her? And how did Langdon fit in?Before C ollet could ponder it any further, the silence of the deserted museum was burst by an alarm. The bell sounded like it was coming from inside the Grand Gallery.Alarme one of the agents yelled, eyeing his feed from the Louvre security center. GrandeGalerie Toilettes MessieursFache wheeled to Collet. Wheres Langdon?Still in the mens room Collet pointed to the blinking red dot on his laptop computer schematic. He must have broken the window Collet knew Langdon wouldnt get far. Although Paris fire codes required windows above fifteen meters in public buildings be breakable in case of fire, exiting a Louvre second-story window without the help of a hook and ladder would be suicide. Furthermore, there were no trees or grass on the western end of the Denon Wing to jolt a fall. Directly beneath that rest room window, the two-lane Place du Carrousel ran within a few feet of the outer wall. My God, Collet exclaimed, eyeing the screen. Langdons moving to the window ledgeBut Fache was already in motion. Yanking his Manurhin MR-93 revolver from his shoulder holster, the captain dashed out of the office.Collet watched the screen in befuddlement as the blinking dot arrived at the window ledge and then did something utterly unexpected. The dot moved outside the perimeter of the building.Whats going on? he wondered. Is Langdon out on a ledge or Jesu Collet jumped to his feet as the dot shot farther outside the wall. The signal seemed to shake for a moment, and then the blinking dot came to an abrupt stop about ten yards outside the perimeter of the building.Fumbling with the controls, Collet called up a Paris street map and recalibrated the GPS. Zooming in, he could now see the pick out location of the signal.It was no longer moving.It lay at a dead stop in the middle of Place du Carrousel. Langdon had jumped.