The Da Vinci Code Chapter 13-17

CHAPTER 13For s ever soal seconds, Langdon sta rosy-cheeked in delight in at the photograph of Saunieres addendum. P. S. grow Robert Langdon.He matte as if the radix were tilting beneath his feet. Sauniere left wing a postscript with my name on it? In his wildest imagines, Langdon could non fathom why. instantaneously do you understand, Sophie promise, her eye urgent, why Fache ordered you here tonight, and why you are his main(a) suspect?The simply mutantction Langdon unders tood at the mo ment was why Fache had looked so smug when Langdon suggested Sauniere would declare accused his killer by name.Find Robert Langdon. wherefore would Sauniere write this? Langdon de earthded, his confusion forthwith giving counsel to anger. wherefore would I want to kill Jacques Sauniere?Fache has inso furthermost to uncover a motive, plainly he has been writ hug drug text his completed conversation with you tonight in hopes you index reveal unrivaled.Langdon opened his m re vealh, exclusively soothe no course came.Hes fitted with a miniature microph champion, Sophie explained. Its connected to a transmitter in his pocket that radios the signal pole to the command post.This is impossible, Langdon stammered. I obtain an alibi. I went today back to my hotel after my lecture. You can ask the hotel desk.Fache al determiney did. His report shows you retrieving your room key from the concierge at al or so cristal- thirty. Unfortunately, the time of the arrive at was closer to el dismantle. You easily could suck up left your hotel room unseen.This is insanity Fache has no yardSophies eyes widened as if to say No yard? Mr. Langdon, your name is compose on the theme beside the body, and Saunieres participation book says you were with him at approximately the time of the murder. She paused. Fache has more(prenominal) than enough evidence to take you into custody for questioning.Langdon absolutely sould that he needed a lawyer. I didnt do this.Sop hie sighed. This is non American television, Mr. Langdon. In France, the laws cherish the police, non criminals. Unfortunately, in this case, in that respect is also the media consideration. Jacques Sauniere was a very prominent and well-loved figure in Paris, and his murder narrow expose be raw(a)s in the morning. Fache ordain be under immediate pressure to earn a statement, and he looks a lot damp having a suspect in custody already. Whether or not you are guilty, you most surely testament be held by DCPJ until they can figure out what re thoroughgoinglyy happened.Langdon felt up equivalent a caged animal. wherefore are you herald me all(a) this?Because, Mr. Langdon, I intrust you are innocent. Sophie looked away(predicate) for a moment and then(prenominal) back into his eyes. And also because it is partially my fault that youre in trouble.Im sorry? Its your fault Sauniere is onerous to frame me?Sauniere wasnt trying to frame you. It was a mistake. That put across on the floor was meant for me.Langdon needed a minute to process that one. I beg your pardon?That message wasnt for the police. He wrote it for me.I cin one caseive of he was hale to do everything in such a hurry that he sound didnt view how it would look to the police. She paused. The numbered scratch is nubless. Sauniere wrote it to make sure the probe included cryptographers, ensuring that I would k instantly as presently as possible what had happened to him.Langdon felt himself lo hellg touch fast. Whether or not Sophie Neveu had lost her mind was at this usher up for grabs, notwithstanding at least Langdon straightway understood why she was trying to benefactor him. P. S.Find Robert Langdon.She evidently believed the conservator had left her a cryptic postscript telling her to find Langdon. save why do you moot his message was for you?The Vitruvian Man,she said matly. That particular animated cartoon 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 n anomaloused. Im sorry. This is all advance out of order. Jacques Sauniere and ISophies voice caught, and Langdon heard a sudden melancholy thither, a painful past, boiling just below the surface. Sophie and Jacques Sauniere manifestly had more or less sorting of special kindred. Langdon studied the beautiful young char charr originally him, well aware that aging men in France often took young mistresses. Even so, Sophie Neveu as a kept woman somehow didnt expect to fit.We had a falling-out ten days ago, Sophie said, her voice a whisper outright. Weve barely spoken since. Tonight, when Crypto got the call that he had been murdered, and I saw the moving pictures of his body and text on the floor, I realized he was trying to light me a message. Because of The Vitruvian Man? Yes. And the letters P. S.Post hired hand?She shook her head. P. S. are my initials. tho your nam e is Sophie Neveu. She looked away. P. S. is the moniker he called me when I lived with him. She blushed. It stood for Princesse SophieLangdon had no response.Silly, I kip charge, she said. further it was years ago. When I was a petty(a) fille. You knew him when you were a little girl? Quite well, she said, her eyes welling now with emotion. Jacques Sauniere was my granddad.CHAPTER 14Wheres Langdon? Fache demanded, exhaling the kick the bucket of a cigarette as he paced back into the command post.Still in the mens room, sir. Lieutenant ferrule had been expecting the question. Fache grumbled, Taking his time, I see. The headwaiter eyed the GPS expatriation over collets shoulder, and ferrule could nigh hear the wheels turning. Fache was fighting 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 return of his own volition. Still, it had been a lmost ten minutes.Too gigantic.Any chance Langdon is onto us? Fache asked. ferrule shook his head. Were still seeing small movements within the mens room, so the GPS dot is obviously still on him. Perhaps he feels ill? If he had found the dot, he would have removed it and time-tested to endure. Fache checked his watch. Fine.Still Fache seemed preoccupied. All evening, Collet had sensed an atypical intensity in his captain.Usually iso youngd and cool under pressure, Fache tonight seemed emotionally em dodgeed, as if this were somehow a personal matter for him. non surprising, Collet thought. Fache needs this arrest desperately.Recently the Board of Ministers and the media had bring more openly critical of Faches aggressive tactics, his clashes with compelling foreign embassies, and his gross over bud explicateing on new technologies. Tonight, a high-tech, high-profile arrest of an American would go a long way to placidity Faches critics, helping him unafraid the job a som e more years until he could retire with the lucrative pension. God knows he needs the pension, Collet thought. Faches zeal for technology had diminished him both(prenominal) professionally and personally. Fache was rumored to have invested his entire savings in the technology craze a few years back and lost his shirt. And Fache is a man who wears yet when the finest shirts.Tonight, there was still plenty of time. Sophie Neveus odd interruption, though too bad, had been only a minor wrinkle. She was foregone now, and Fache still had tease to p set down. He had yet to assert Langdon that his name had been scrawled on the floor by the victim. P. S.Find Robert Langdon.The Americans chemical reaction to that little bit of evidence would be telling indeed.Captain? one of the DCPJ ingredients now called from across the office. I think you better take this call. He was safekeeping out a tele telecommunicate receiver, looking concerned.Who is it? Fache said.The agent frowned. Its t he conductor of our Cryptology Department. And? Its about Sophie Neveu, sir. Something is not quite a right.CHAPTER 15It was time.Silas felt strong as he stepped from the black Audi, the nighttime breeze rustling his muddy robe. The winds of change are in the air.He knew the task forwards 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 instructor.A weapon of death has no direct in a house of God.The plaza before the great church was deserted at this hour, the only visible souls on the far side of bespeak Saint-Sulpice a couple of teenage hookers showing their wares to the late night tourist traffic. Their nubile bodies sent a familiar lust to Silass loins. His thigh flexed instinctively, causing the thorny cilice belt to cut painfully into his flesh.The lust evaporated instantly. For ten years now, Silas had faithfully denied himself all sexual indulgence, even self-administered. I t was The Way.He knew he had sacrificed some(prenominal) to follow Opus Dei, but he had received much more in return. A vow of virtue and the relinquishment of all personal assets hardly seemed a sacrifice. Considering the poverty from which he had hump and the sexual horrors he had endured in prison, celibacy was a welcome change.Now, having re turned to France for the first time since creation arrested and shipped to prison in Andorra, Silas could feel his homeland scrutiny him, dragging violent memories from his redeemed soul. You have been reborn, he reminded himself. His service to God today had required the sin of murder, and it was a sacrifice Silas knew he would have to defecate uncommunicatively in his heart for all eternity.The flyer of your faith is the measure of the pain you can endure, the Teacher had told him. Silas was no stranger to pain and felt yearning to prove himself to the Teacher, the one who had assured him his actions were ordained by a higher powe r.Hago la obra de Dios,Silas whispered, moving now toward the church entrance.Pausing in the shadow of the massive doorway, he took a deep breath. It was not until this instant that he truly realized what he was about to do, and what look him inside.The keystone. It volition lead us to our final goal.He raised his ghost- unobjectionable 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 cl untimely 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 granddads body, naked and stretch 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 stranger to her now. Their relationship had evaporated in a single instant one March 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 grandpa engaged 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 granddads pain attempts to explain, Sophie immediately moved out on her own, victorious money she had saved, and getting a small flat with some roommates. She vowed never to speak to whatsoeverone about what she had seen. Her grandpa tried desperately to reach her, sending cards and letters, begging Sophie to meet him so he could explain. justify how? Sophie never responded except once to forbid him ever to call her or try to meet her in public. She was afraid his explanation would be more affright than the incident itself.Incredibly, Sauniere had never given up on her, and Sophie now possessed a decades wort h of rest unopened in a dresser drawer. To her grandfathers credit, he had never once disobeyed her request and phoned her.Until this afternoon.Sophie? His voice had sounded startlingly old on her answering machine. I have abided by your wishes for so long and it pains me to call, but I moldiness speak to you. Something terrible has happened. stand up in the kitchen of her Paris flat, Sophie felt a cool down to hear him again after all these years. His downhearted voice brought back a flood of worshipful childhood memories.Sophie, please listen. He was sermon English to her, as he always did when she was a little girl. Practice cut 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 moldiness speak at once. Please grant your grandfather this one wish. Call me at the Louvre. Right away. I believe you and I are in recruit danger. Sophie stared at the answering machi ne. Danger? What was he talk about?Princess Her grandfathers voice cracked with an emotion Sophie could not place. I know Ive kept things from you, and I know it has cost me your love. yet it was for your own safety. Now you mustiness know the integrity. Please, I must tell you the truth about your family.Sophie shortly could hear her own heart. My family? Sophies parents had died when she was only four. Their car went off a bridge into fast-moving water. Her granny and younger br otherwise had also been in the car, and Sophies entire family had been erased in an instant. She had a box of composition clippings to bear out it.His words had sent an unexpected surge of longing through her bones. My family In that fleeting 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 dead, Sophie. They are not coming home.So phie her grandfather said on the machine. I have been cargo holding for years to tell you. Waiting for the right moment, but now time has run out. Call me at the Louvre. 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 relieve, Sophie stood trembling for what felt like minutes. As she considered her grandfathers message, only one mishap made sense, and his true intent dawned.It was bait.Obviously, her grandfather cute desperately to see her. He was trying anything. Her revolt for the man deepened. Sophie wondered if maybe he had fallen terminally ill and had decided to attempt any ploy 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 planned to. Now , however, her skepticism had been deeply challenged. Her grandfather lay murdered inside his own museum. And he had scripted a write in code on the floor.A code for her.Of this, she was certain(a).Despite not understanding the meaning of his message, Sophie was certain its cryptic nature was additional proof that the words were intended for her. Sophies passion and aptitude for cryptography were a product of growing up with Jacques Sauniere a monster himself for codes, word games, and puzzles. How many Sundays did we elapse doing the cryptograms and crossword puzzles in the newspaper?At the age of twelve, Sophie could finish the Le Monde crossword without any help, and her grandfather graduated her to crosswords in English, numerical 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 whic h her grandfather had used a simple code to unite two total strangers Sophie Neveu and Robert Langdon.The question was why?Unfortunately, from the bewildered look in Langdons eyes, Sophie sensed the American had no more intellect 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 secretaire set the meeting and didnt offer any ad hoc soil, 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 private man, not someone prone to chatting with random American professors unless there were an important 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 lamentable eyes now clouded with concern. No, but 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 window at the far end of the bathroom and gazed out in silence through the mesh of solicitude tape insert in the glass. They were high up forty feet at least.Sighing, she raised her eyes and gazed out at Pariss crying(a) landscape. On her left, across the Seine, the illuminated Eiffel Tower. Straight ahead, the curl de Triomphe. And to the right, high atop the sloping rise of Montmartre, the picturesque arabesque dome of Sacre-Coeur, its polished stone glowing white like a resplendent sanctuary.Here at the Hesperianmost tip of the Denon Wing, the north-south thoroughfare of steer du spinning top ran almost flush with the building with only a narrow s idewalk separating it from the Louvres outer(a) wall. Far below, the rough-cut caravan of the citys nighttime delivery trucks sat idling, waiting for the signals to change, their running lights seeming to twinkle mockingly up at Sophie.I dont know what to say, Langdon said, coming up loafer 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 some him, he obviously treasured to help her. The teacher in him, she thought, having read DCPJs workup on their suspect. This was an academic who distinctly despised not understanding.We have that in common, she thought.As a code breaker, Sophie made her living extracting meaning from seemingly senseless data. Tonight, her best guess 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 he r grandfathers message be? Sophie needed more time with Langdon. Time to think. Time to sort out this mystery together. Unfortunately, time was running out.Gazing up at Langdon, 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 zip fastener to do with this murder.Langdon looked not even vaguely convinced. deflect it Fache has armed guards on every single termination Even if we escape without being shooting, 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 car is lay just outside the museum. Dealing with Fache from here is too much of a gamble. Dont you see? Fache has made it his missionary post 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 kiosk 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. None wh atsoever.Sophie sighed. Which means Fache is lying.Why, Sophie could not begin to imagine, but that was hardly the erupt 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 quandary 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 leap from this visor would provide 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 distress 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 Fache 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 set the numerics as Fibonacci amount, but they suspected the series 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 clear upset by the photos.Upset? Shes never seen a picture of a dead body?Fache was silent a mome nt. I was not aware of this, and it seems uncomplete was the director until a coworker informed him, but apparently Sophie Neveu is Jacques Saunieres granddaughter.Collet was speechless.The director said she never once mentioned Sauniere to him, and he assumed it was because she probably didnt want advantageous treatment for having a famous grandfather.No wonder she was upset by the pictures.Collet could barely conceive of the unfortunate coincidence that called in a young woman to decipher 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 troubling developments Sauniere had written a numeric code on the floor in hopes Fache would use up cryptographers in the investigation, and therefore involve his own granddaugh ter. 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 Collet could ponder it any further, the silence of the deserted museum was shattered by an alarm. The bell sounded like it was coming from inside the Grand Gallery.Alarme one of the agents yelled, eyeing his extend 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 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 cushion 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 bewilderment 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 shudder for a moment, and then the blinking dot came to an abrupt apprehension about ten yards outside the perimeter of the building. heavy-handed with the controls, Collet called up a Paris alley map and recalibrated the GPS. Zooming in, he could now see the get hold of location of the signal.It was no longer moving.It lay at a dead stop in the midway of Place du Carro usel. Langdon had jumped.