INTRODUCTION
The Da Vinci Code is a 2003
mystery-detective novel written by American author Dan Brown and published by
the Doubleday Group in the United States
and Bantam Books in the United
Kingdom. It follows symbologist Robert
Langdon as he investigates a murder in Paris's Louvre Museum and discovers a
battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth having been married to and fathering a child with Mary Magdalene.
The novel describes
the attempts of Robert Langdon, Professor of Religious Symbology at Harvard
University, to solve the murder of renowned curator Jacques Saunière (see
Bérenger Saunière) of the Louvre Museum in Paris. The title of the novel refers
to, among other things, the fact that Saunière's body is found in the Denon
Wing of the Louvre, naked and posed like Leonardo da Vinci's famous drawing,
the vitruvian man, with a
cryptic message written beside his body and a pentacle drawn on his stomach in
his own blood.
The novel is the second book by Brown in which Robert
Langdon is the main character. The previous book, Angels & Demons,
took place in Rome and concerned the Illuminati Although Angels & Demons
is centred on the same character, the plots are not dependent upon each other.
The next book is tentatively scheduled for release in 2008. Its title is The
Solomon Key and it is reported to concern Freemasonry.
The Da Vinci Code Characters
Robert Langdon -- Harvard professor of Religious Symbology, art historian
Sophie Neveu -- Paris
police cryptologist, granddaughter of Jacques Saunière
Jacques Saunière -- world renowned curator of the Louvre museum in Paris, later determined
to be the Grand Master of the Priory of Sion, a secretive group involved in the
protection of the Holy Grail
Silas -- an albino devotee of Catholic conservative sect Opus Dei
Bishop Manuel Aringarosa -- leader of Opus Dei
Sir Leigh Teabing/The Teacher -- Teabing is a wealthy historian who invested
much of his life in a search for the Grail. He assumes a secret identity as
“the Teacher” in order to have Opus Dei identify and kill the leaders of the
Priory of Sion.
Rèmy -- Teabing’s manservant and accomplice
Vernet -- President of the Swiss bank where the Priory of Sion’s coded key device
has long been held for safekeeping.
Captain Fache -- top-ranking Paris
police official
Detective Collet -- Paris
police detective under Captain Fache
Brief Summary of The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci
Code is a fictionalized account of the search for the Holy Grail. Although the
events outlined in the novel are the product of the author’s imagination, many
of the claims and clues included in the novel have long been advanced by art
historians, symbologists, and conspiracy theorists.
Harvard
professor Robert Langdon is in Paris
presenting a lecture. He is awakened in the middle of the night by a call from Paris police, who inform
him that Jacques Saunière, the famous curator of the Louvre, has been found
murdered. Langdon is asked to assist the investigation, beginning with the
cryptic messages and bizarre placement of the body, much of which the victim
appears to have arranged himself in the moments before his death.
Saunière’s
granddaughter, police cryptographer Sophie Neveu, arrives on the scene and
clandestinely lures Langdon into a secret meeting, in which she reveals that he
is the prime suspect and that her grandfather identified him by name in another
cryptic message. Sophie and Langdon pretend to have escaped the museum by
throwing a GPS tracking device planted on Langdon out a window. They continue
their search, eventually finding a golden key that they use to open a safety
deposit box at a Swiss bank. The box yields a strange device called a cryptex,
which is used to store secret documents.
The bank is soon
surrounded by police, and the bank president agrees to help the two escape in
an armored car in order to minimize media coverage of the institution’s
involvement. The pair eventually leave the bank president on the roadside and
travel to the country estate of a renowned British Grail historian, Sir Leigh
Teabing, who offers them more information about the history of the Grail. He
claims that the Grail is not an object, but rather, a long-suppressed secret:
Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene and had at least one child with her.
Jacques Saunière is revealed as the leader of the secretive group charged with
the responsibility of protecting this knowledge, the Priory of Sion.
The albino lay
monk responsible for Saunière’s death has followed them to the estate, and he
attacks them, only to be ambushed by the disabled Teabing. The group escapes
from the police who have descended on the estate, eventually making their way
to London on
Teabing’s private jet. They follow a sequential series of clues found in the
cryptex, all of which lead to more clues. They are again attacked by the lay
monk, who works in tandem with Teabing’s manservant to kidnap Teabing, along
with the cryptex.
Sophie and
Langdon research the remaining clues, eventually arriving at Westminster Abbey
to seek the answer to one of the final puzzles stored in the cryptex. It is
revealed that the mastermind behind the plot to kill Saunière was actually
Teabing, who faked his own kidnapping in order to complete the subterfuge.
After a tense stand-off, the police arrive and Teabing is arrested.
Chapter wise summary
Prologue
Famous Louvre
curator Jacques Saunière is ambushed in the darkened halls of the museum by an
armed albino man who demands to know the location of an unidentified object. In
the minutes before he dies, Saunière sets into motion the central mystery of
the book in the form of a coded message.
Chapter 1
Visiting Harvard
art history expert Robert Langdon is awakened in his Paris hotel room by a midnight phone call,
and summoned to help decipher the code at the scene of Saunière’s murder.
Langdon had originally been scheduled to have a meeting with the curator that
night, but Saunière never arrived.
Chapter 2
The murderer, an
albino lay monk named Silas, is revealed as a member of the radically
fundamentalist Catholic sect, Opus Dei. He was ordered to assassinate Saunière
as part of a secret plot to locate a mysterious keystone.
Chapter 3
Langdon surveys
the Paris
landscape as he is driven to the crime scene by a local detective, mourning the
loss of the legendary curator Saunière.
Chapter 4
At the Louvre,
Langdon is introduced to the lead investigator, the irascible Captain Bezu
Fache. He begins to question Langdon, and the professor senses that the
interaction is fraught with tension and unspoken undercurrents of hostility on
the detective’s part.
Chapter 5
At the Opus Dei
headquarters in New York City,
Bishop Manuel Aringarosa thinks about past encounters with aggressive reporters
questioning the legitimacy of the sect. He mentally defends many of the group’s
more controversial practices, including self-mortification.
Chapter 6
Langdon surveys
the bizarre crime scene in the Louvre’s grand gallery. Clues include the
placement of the body and a pentacle drawn by the victim in his own blood. The
investigators also reveal a secret message written in black-light marker.
Chapter 7
A nun at the
Church of Saint-Sulpice is awakened by an unusual request to allow a late night
visitor tour the church.
Chapter 8
Langdon studies
the cryptic messages left by Saunière at the crime scene. It is also revealed
that Langdon is under audio and GPS surveillance, and that he may be a suspect
in the murder.
Chapter 9
Police
cryptographer Sophie Neveu arrives on the scene, agitated and acting strangely.
She communicates to Langdon that he may be in danger by using a cell phone
message as a pretext.
Chapter 10
The lay monk
Silas pays a pre-dawn visit to the Church of Saint-Sulpice. His troubled childhood
as an abused and abandoned street urchin is revealed in a series of flashbacks.
A large sum of money is transferred to Opus Dei as payment for a service, the
nature of which is not yet revealed.
Chapter 11
Sophie attempts
to decipher a numeric sequence that was part of Saunière’s cryptic dying
message. She postulates that it is a garbled version of the Fibonacci sequence,
a famous mathematical value. Following Sophie’s clandestine instructions,
Langdon visits the museum’s public restroom, unaware that his movements are
being tracked by a GPS device the investigators have planted on him.
Chapter 12
Sophie meets
with Langdon in the men’s restroom. She informs him that he is under
surveillance, and that he is the prime suspect in Saunière’s murder. She also
shows Langdon that he was cited by name in Saunière’s cryptic message, a fact
that had been kept from him by the other investigators.
Chapter 13
Sophie tells
Langdon that the numeric sequence found near Saunière’s body is likely
meaningless, that it was just a ploy to ensure her own involvement in the
investigation, because she is Saunière’s estranged granddaughter. She also
tells Langdon she is helping him because she believes he is innocent.
Chapter 14
The police
continue to watch Langdon’s movements. They receive word that Sophie’s presence
at the crime scene is unofficial.
Chapter 15
The lay monk
Silas mentally prepares himself to carry out his orders in the Church of
Saint-Sulpice in the search for the keystone.
Chapter 16
Sophie thinks
back upon the circumstances of parents’ deaths in an automobile accident, as
well as her later estrangement from her grandfather, Saunière, after she
inadvertently witnessed him engaged in a mysterious, unsettling act. Convinced
of Langdon’s innocence, she decides to help him escape from the Louvre.
Chapter 17
The French
investigators realize that Saunière is Sophie Neveu’s grandfather as attempts
to reach her by cell phone are unsuccessful. The GPS tracking device indicates
that Langdon had jumped from the second floor of the museum, possibly to his
death.
Chapter 18
The GPS tracker
indicates that Langdon survived the jump and has entered a car, prompting the
police to begin pursuit. In truth, Sophie has thrown the tracking device on to
a truck driving on the street below the museum. Langdon and Sophie plan a route
out of the museum as most of the police leave the facility.
Chapter 19
Silas tours the
storied Saint-Sulpice church with the nun who lives on site. He requests
solitude to pray, but the nun experiences a sense of dread and decides to watch
him from the shadows.
Chapter 20
Moving through
the darkened museum, Langdon and Sophie continue to consider the mysterious
code left by the dying Saunière. The symbolic significance of pentacles and the
Fibonacci sequence are related to the concept of the sacred feminine and
goddess worship, both of which figure heavily in the entire book. At the end of
the chapter, Langdon decodes part of Saunière’s message as “Leonardo Da Vinci”
and “The Mona Lisa.”
Chapter 21
Sophie recalls
her grandfather’s lifelong fascination with Da Vinci, as well as his
longstanding interest in anagrams and wordplay. She convinces Langdon to escape
to the U.S.
embassy, but as he is leaving the building, he decodes another part of
Saunière’s message and returns to find Sophie.
Chapter 22
Silas surveys
the sanctuary of the Saint-Sulpice church, thinking of the strange history of
the church and its former role as the site of the prime meridian. As Silas
begins to search the church for the keystone, Bishop Aringarosa touches down in
Rome to attend
a meeting.
Chapter 23
Sophie and
Langdon are reunited in front of the Mona Lisa. In response to his query as to
the personal significance of the letters P.S., Sophie recalls a strange
key-like object emblazoned with the letters that she found in Saunière’s things
when she was a child. Langdon contends that this may signal Saunière’s
membership in a centuries-old, secretive group known as the Priory of Sion,
which is involved in goddess worship and other esoteric affairs.
Chapter 24
Silas digs in
search of the keystone under an obelisk in the Saint-Sulpice sanctuary. His
behavior prompts the nun to initiate a long-established procedure notifying a
secret network of his actions.
Chapter 25
Sophie’s ruse of
a cell phone message for Langdon earlier in the evening is revealed to the
detectives as a falsehood, as has the thrown GPS device. Detective Fache
realizes Sophie used the ploy to deliver her own message to Langdon.
Chapter 26
Langdon recalls
the goddess worship undertones of the Mona Lisa painting. He and Sophie find a
message written in black-light pen at the site of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre.
Chapter 27
The police
realize Sophie’s deception and recognize that she and Langdon are likely still
in the museum, prompting a return of the detectives to the facility in pursuit
of the fugitives.
Chapter 28
Sophie and
Langdon consider the implications of Saunière’s subsequent message, “so dark
the con of man.” Langdon contends that this proves Saunière’s membership in the
Priory of Sion, because that group has long protested the Catholic Church’s
denigration of the sacred feminine. They are found by museum security, and
Langdon is forced to lie down on the floor in a position of surrender.
Chapter 29
Silas digs
further within the church’s sanctuary, but realizes he has been thwarted by a
false lead. The nun, recognizing by his self-inflicted wounds that Silas is
likely a member of Opus Dei, begins to call four Paris phone numbers to report this turn of
events.
Chapter 30
Sophie attempts
to intervene in Langdon’s arrest, while also scanning another Da Vinci work for
clues. She finds a metal key engraved with “PS” at the base of the painting.
She rips the priceless art work from the wall, using it as body armor to aid
her and Langdon in their escape. Sophie reveals that “so dark the con of man”
was actually an anagram for Madonna of the Rocks, the painting where she found
the hidden key.
Chapter 31
The nun realizes
that all of the four Paris
contacts have been killed, indicating that the upper echelons of the secret
organization have been breached by an outsider. Silas hears her making the
phone calls and beats her to death.
Chapter 32
Sophie and
Langdon escape from the Louvre in her car, discussing the implications of
Saunière’s clues. Sophie reveals the key that she found to Langdon. She also
recalls the secret ritual that she witnessed during a surprise visit to her
grandfather’s home a decade ago, which prompted her estrangement from Saunière.
The pair finds the area surrounding the U.S.
embassy to be blocked by Paris
police.
Chapter 33
Barred from the
embassy, Sophie and Langdon mull their escape options and head for a train
station. They also try to determine what type of key they have found,
speculating about what it might open.
Chapter 34
Bishop
Aringarosa arrives in Vatican City
and is transported to a meeting, mentally preparing his defense for the
continued existence of Opus Dei. He thinks back to a prior meeting held at the
Church’s astronomy center, during which he was given six months to carry out an
unnamed task.
Chapter 35
Sophie and
Langdon buy train tickets to confuse the police, and then take a taxi out of Paris. They find an
address written in black-light pen on the back of the key and direct the driver
to take them there.
Chapter 36
The detectives
learn of the fugitives’ decoy tactics and initiate more thorough search
procedures. Arrest bulletins are issued for both Sophie and Langdon.
Chapter 37
As Sophie and
Langdon travel through a part of the city overrun with prostitutes and other
forms of public debauchery, Langdon provides her with a detailed account of the
Priory of Sion’s formation and activities throughout history. He notes that the
protection of a cache of secret documents is the mission of the group, and that
these documents constitute the “Holy Grail” of lore.
Chapter 38
Langdon relates
more details of the Holy Grail and its relationship to the sacred feminine, a
topic which happens to be the subject matter of the book he is in the process
of completing. The pair is forced to hijack the taxi at gunpoint after the
driver recognizes them and attempts to report their location by radio.
Chapter 39
Ensconced in a
room at the Paris Opus Dei boardinghouse, Silas regrets his impulsive murder of
the nun and worries that his actions will endanger Bishop Aringarosa. He
engages in more of the self-mortification that is a central pillar of the
controversial Opus Dei rites.
Chapter 40
Langdon reflects
on Da Vinci’s past involvement with the Priory of Sion. He and Sophie discover
that the address written on the key is a Swiss-style bank, which allows
customers to access their safety deposit boxes in complete anonymity.
Chapter 41
At his meeting
with Church leaders, Bishop Aringarosa is given a large sum of currency in
Vatican-issued bonds. The implication is that Opus Dei is to carry out an
important task in return for the payment, although the exact nature of the task
is not yet revealed to the reader.
Chapter 42
Langdon and
Sophie use the golden key to open several gates and doors, finally entering the
Swiss bank. They are immediately recognized as the two fugitives the guards
have seen described on Paris
television. The two are led to a private room and instructed on how to access
their deposit box, but are prompted for an account number that they cannot
provide. Bank employees clandestinely alert the police to Langdon and Sophie’s
presence.
Chapter 43
The bank
president arrives on the scene, seeking to remove the fugitives from the
premises before the police arrive in order to keep the bank out of the media
spotlight. He recognizes Sophie and is shocked when he is told that her
grandfather has been murdered, but tells them he has no access to account
number information. Langdon suggests using the numeric code that was part of
Saunière’s message.
Chapter 44
Before entering
the number into the bank computer, Sophie realizes it is too simple. After
discussing possible alternatives, they decide to try the Fibonacci sequence,
instead, which uses the digits of the original number in a slightly rearranged
order. This proves to be correct, and the automated safety box retrieval system
is activated. However, the box that is brought to them does not contain the
Holy Grail chalice they had expected to find.
Chapter 45
The police have
barricaded the roads outside the bank, and Vernet, the bank president, seeks a
way to smuggle the two fugitives out of the facility undetected. They escape in
the back of an armored truck, which is driven by the bank president himself
disguised as a truck driver.
Chapter 46
Silas thinks
back on the chain of events that led to his current predicament. Opus Dei was
prompted by a mysterious figure called the Teacher to seek the keystone that
would lead to the Holy Grail. Although Silas believes he has failed the Bishop,
he is told that the secret location of the keystone may have been passed on
before Saunière died.
Chapter 47
Inside the cargo
hold of the armored truck, Sophie and Langdon survey the object they took from
the safety deposit box, which appears similar to a wooden jewelry box. They
determine that it is actually a locked device called a cryptex, originally
devised by Da Vinci. A cryptex is a device used to carry secret messages. It
destroys the sensitive documents encased in it if tampered with or broken.
Langdon thinks it may be the keystone that will lead to the Holy Grail.
Chapter 48
Sophie and
Langdon discuss his conclusion, also addressing the way that the keystone fits
into the organizational structure of the Priory of Sion. Sophie remarks that
her grandfather may have been the leader of the group, based on the troubling
scene she witness years ago. As they contemplate the mystery, they are
confronted at gunpoint by Vernet, the bank president who was driving the
vehicle.
Chapter 49
Vernet demands
the box from Sophie and Langdon, claiming that he is attempting to protect
Saunière’s assets. He claims that the fugitives have been accused of three
other murders, in addition to Saunière’s. After a scuffle, Langdon and Sophie
escape with the box and the armored car, leaving Vernet on the side of the
road.
Chapter 50
Aringarosa
leaves the meeting, contemplating the implications of the massive payoff he has
received from the Church. He begins to feel anxious that the mysterious figure
known as the Teacher has not contacted him.
Chapter 51
Sophie and
Langdon make their getaway in the badly damaged armored truck. Sophie attempts
to open the cryptex, with no luck. Langdon convinces Sophie that they should
travel to the estate of a British historian who is very knowledgeable about the
legend of the Holy Grail, and after some persuasion, she finally agrees.
Chapter 52
Sophie and
Langdon travel to Versailles
and arrive at the sprawling estate of British historian Sir Leigh Teabing.
Chapter 53
Stranded bank
president Vernet contacts his facility and asks them to track the missing
armored truck using the GPS system installed on the undercarriage of all of the
bank’s vehicles.
Chapter 54
Sophie and
Langdon are brought into the parlor of Teabing’s estate by his butler. Langdon
prompts Teabing to tell Sophie the full story of the Holy Grail.
Chapter 55
Teabing, a
renowned Grail historian, begins to regale Langdon and Sophie with a history of
the development and spread of Christianity. He contends that little of the
organized institution of religion reflects the beliefs and values of Christ.
Teabing further asserts that the Grail is not an object, but rather, a person.
Chapter 56
Teabing goes on
to explain that in ancient astronomical symbology, the symbol for female was
called a chalice. Ancient Christianity revered the sacred feminine,
particularly the embodiment of this spirit in a particular historical woman.
The identity of this person and the documentation of her role in Church
history, Teabing explains, is the Holy Grail.
Chapter 57
The police are
prevented from searching the bank facility until they produce a search warrant.
They are finally given the coordinates to the current location of the armored
truck, and the gathered force rushes off to pursue this lead. Meanwhile, Silas
arrives at Teabing’s estate with a loaded gun and stealthily surveys the scene.
Chapter 58
Teabing leads
Sophie and Langdon to a large-scale print of Da Vinci’s The Last Supper as part
of his explanation. Although it is commonly believed that the painting depicts
Christ and his 12 male disciples, Teabing makes a convincing case that a
central figure in the painting is actually a woman. He also points out numerous
other clues that support his shocking central argument: Mary Magdalene and
Jesus were married and had a child.
Chapter 59
Bishop
Aringarosa calls the New York Opus Dei headquarters to check his messages. The
number he is given connects him to the police headquarters in Paris where the investigation of Saunière’s
death is ongoing. A detective asks the Bishop to answer some questions.
Chapter 60
Teabing and
Langdon further explain some of the symbols associated with Mary Magdalene,
including the rose that features so prominently in discussion of the Holy
Grail. Teabing tells Sophie that the Holy Grail is the physical body of Mary
Magdalene, along with a vast array of documents that provide her personal
account of her life with Christ. He also explains that part of the
responsibility of the Priory of Sion is protecting the royal bloodline of
Christ, known as the Merovingians. Sophie suspects that she may be a member of
this line.
Chapter 61
Langdon tells
Sophie that she is probably not of the Merovingian blood line, because her
surname does not match those known to be affiliated with Christ’s progeny.
Langdon recounts some of the many cultural artifacts that refer to Mary
Magdalene’s true identity, ranging from art to classical music to cinema. Their
discussion is interrupted when Teabing returns from a discussion with his
butler, angered and accusatory, demanding an explanation from the two fugitives
about the true nature of their visit.
Chapter 62
Sophie and
Langdon tell Teabing about the series of events that led them to his estate.
Teabing is shocked to hear of the deaths of Saunière and the three other
leaders of the Priory. He tells the pair that the Church may be trying to
locate and destroy the Grail documents before the Priory makes public the
secret history of Christ. Silas enters the estate, seeking the keystone.
Chapter 63
The police
arrive at Teabing’s estate and find the discarded armored truck. They also find
the black Audi Silas arrived in, but are unsure as to its ownership. Following
a conversation with the Paris detectives, Bishop
Aringarosa is anxious about the ominous turn of events in France. He
reveals an inside connection with lead detective Captain Fache, but is
uncertain whether this relationship will be sufficient to protect both Opus Dei
and himself from suspicion in the case.
Chapter 64
Teabing gingerly
opens the box holding the cryptex, savoring the fruition of years of Grail
research. Meanwhile, Langdon examines the box, studying its construction
carefully. He removes a carved rose and finds four lines of text in an
unfamiliar language. Then, Silas suddenly appears, striking Langdon with enough
force to render him unconscious.
Chapter 65
After Silas’
ambush, he tries to compel Sophie and Teabing to hand over the keystone.
Teabing, who is disabled and uses crutches to walk, cleverly disarms Silas by
hitting him with a crutch. The police in the driveway hear the weapon being
discharged, and decide to enter the estate. Langdon, Sophie, and Teabing decide
to leave the estate, along with the butler and a restrained Silas.
Chapter 66
Using the
house’s intercom system, the escaping party tricks the police into thinking
they are upstairs, when they are actually in the garage selecting a suitable
vehicle in which to escape the estate.
Chapter 67
Rolling across
the darkened fields of Teabing’s estate in a custom-equipped Range Rover,
Teabing calls ahead to have his private jet prepared for immediate take-off. He
then unsuccessfully attempts to interrogate Silas as to his motives. Langdon
calls his New York
publisher to ask an important question.
Chapter 68
After speaking
to his publisher, Langdon determines that Saunière found out about his
expertise on the subject of the Holy Grail when a manuscript copy of his book
was sent to the curator for a pre-publication review. The group arrives at the
air field and, with some persuasion, convince the pilot to fly all of them to England.
Chapter 69
On the plane,
the group once again turns to the puzzle of the cryptex. Teabing tells Sophie
that her possession of the keystone confers upon her a grave responsibility. He
urges her to make the Grail documents known to the world as soon as they are
discovered.
Chapter 70
The police are
told that bank president Vernet is willing to admit to abetting the fugitives
in exchange for no media coverage and a return of the property that Langdon and
Sophie took from the safety deposit box. They also discover that Teabing’s
private jet has taken off en route to England.
Chapter 71
Langdon and the
others attempt to decipher, or even to recognize, the strange text beneath the
inlaid rose on the cryptex box. Finally, Sophie recognizes it as English
written in reverse, similar to a technique Da Vinci used to render his private
journals illegible to outsiders.
Chapter 72
The reversed
text is revealed to be a kind of riddle in verse. Teabing, Langdon, and Sophie
attempt to decipher it.
Chapter 73
The French
police interrogate the employees of the private airfield from which Teabing’s
jet took off. They determine that it is extremely likely that the aircraft will
be landing in Kent
within 15 minutes. The police attempt to contact local law enforcement in the Kent area.
Chapter 74
Langdon presses
Sophie to tell him more about the incident that estranged her from her
grandfather years ago. He guesses, correctly, that she witnessed him
participating in a sex rite. He identifies the ceremony as Heiros Gamos, an
ancient ritual held in the spring as a celebration of the eternal recurrence of
the sacred feminine. Langdon points out that the ancient view of sex was very
different from our own, and that this ritual had more to do with religious
mysticism than eroticism.
Chapter 75
After receiving
a clandestine update from Captain Fache when he is mid-flight, a shaken Bishop
Aringarosa implores the pilot of his plane to change directions. He is forced
to give up his cherished golden ring to get the pilot to agree. He returns to
his seat, dejected and worried about the unforeseen course of events that has
unfolded.
Chapter 76
Once again
tackling the cryptic poem, the group determines that the “headstone praised by
Templars” is probably a stone head called “Baphomet.” They then use a decoding
method called the Atbash cipher, also named in the poem, to try to translate
“Baphomet” into a five-letter word that will fit in the space provided on the
cryptex.
Chapter 77
The group
applies the Atbash cipher, which is based on the Hebrew alphabet, to the word
“Baphomet.” They discover that the code word is “Sofia,” the Greek rendering of Sophie’s name,
meaning “wisdom.” This matches the poem’s call for an “ancient word of wisdom,”
while also reinforcing the fact that Saunière did, in fact, intend for the
keystone to go to his granddaughter.
Chapter 78
When the group
opens the cryptex, they find, instead of a map to the Holy Grail, a second,
smaller cryptex, wrapped in a paper scroll upon which is written another code
in verse. It mentions London,
indicating that they are headed in the correct direction. Meanwhile, Kent police
begin to arrive at the local airfield where Teabing’s jet is headed.
Chapter 79
At Teabing’s
estate, detectives peruse his vast library of Grail research materials, bagging
some of his documents as evidence. Bank president Vernet calls Detective
Collet, who recognizes his voice as being the same of the driver whose armor
truck was later discovered to have helped the fugitives escape.
Chapter 80
Teabing
indicates his plan is to bribe the airport officials to allow Sophie and
Langdon’s undocumented entry into England. An unusual delay at the Kent airport
makes the group suspicious that they are going to be met by law enforcement
officers, and Teabing begins to devise a plan.
Chapter 81
After landing at
the Kent
airport, Teabing feigns bemusement and outrage when faced with the police and
officials waiting there for him. He allows a friendly airport employee to check
the plan for fugitives. When no sign of Langdon or Sophie is found, Teabing is
allowed to leave. The others have managed to hide in Teabing’s limousine. The
group safely escapes the airport and heads toward London.
Chapter 82
Arriving in
town, the group continues to attempt to decipher the coded poem, particularly a
reference to a “knight interred by a pope.” Teabing suggests a Templar church
in the city as a possible site. They discuss the potential ramifications of the
release of the Grail documents for Christianity and for the world.
Chapter 83
At the Temple Church,
which is a circular medieval edifice, Teabing uses deception to convince the
staff to allow them to tour the crypt before official visiting hours have
begun. Viewing the eerie burial chamber, Langdon is convinced they have found
the site that will yield more clues to the location of the Grail.
Chapter 84
Waiting in the
car outside the church, Teabing’s manservant Rémy wields a knife at the bound
Silas, who remains captive with the group. However, he does not stab the lay
monk, but instead, releases him from his bonds and offers him a shot of vodka.
Teabing’s manservant reveals himself to be a friend of Opus Dei. At the Kent airport,
Captain Fache speaks with Bishop Aringarosa and urges him to direct the pilot
of his plane to the same airport. Aringarosa expresses concern that Fache has
not yet rescued Silas.
Chapter 85
Sophie and
Langdon closely scrutinize the tombs in the Temple Church.
Something appears to be amiss, and they are informed by an altar boy that the
tombs are effigies, rather than actual burial sites. As he leaves the building,
the altar boy is ambushed and threatened by Rèmy, who is wielding a gun.
Chapter 86
Silas and Rèmy
confront Sophie, Teabing, and Langdon, demanding the keystone. They threaten
Teabing with death, and Langdon surrenders the cryptex. Silas and Rèmy take
Teabing with them as a hostage when they leave the church.
Chapter 87
The detectives
searching Teabing’s villa run a background check on Rèmy, finding that he has a
history of petty crime, as well as a peanut allergy. They also discover a state-of-the-art
surveillance center on the second story of a barn on the property.
Chapter 88
Langdon travels
to a historical library to research knights’ tombs in London. Sophie decides to report Teabing’s
kidnapping to the authorities. Her call is immediately patched through to
Captain Fache, who tells her that he knows they are innocent and that she and
Langdon must turn themselves in.
Chapter 89
Vernet contacts
Fache and asks that the stolen property be returned to the bank. Fache assures
him that the bank will not be mentioned in press reports, and that the stolen
property is secure.
Chapter 90
It is discovered
that the surveillance center in Teabing’s barn contains audio files of
conversations in Saunière’s office, as well as the offices of several other
curators and historians around Paris.
The surveillance device was hidden in a knight figure on Saunière’s desk.
Chapter 91
Rèmy ties and
gags Teabing in the back of the limousine. Soon afterwards, Silas receives a
phone call from the Teacher. He tells Silas that Rèmy will deliver the keystone
to him. Then, talking to Rèmy, the Teacher orders that Silas be dropped off at
the London Opus Dei Residence.
Chapter 92
Langdon and
Sophie enlist the help of a research librarian to search the massive electronic
databases at King’s College, seeking reference to the tomb of a knight interred
by a pope.
Chapter 93
Silas arrives at
the London Opus Dei Center. Soon after his arrival, the police contact the
front desk personnel and confirm his presence at the center.
Chapter 94
Rèmy meets the
Teacher at St. James’s Park in the middle of London. After handing the Teacher the
cryptex, the two celebrate with a shared sip of cognac from the Teacher’s
flask. Rèmy soon enters anaphylactic shock, as the peanut particles mixed in
the cognac causes his throat to swell shut. As Rèmy dies, the Teacher relishes
the fact that he, alone, knows the answer to the coded challenge set forth in
the poem’s reference to a knight’s tomb. Aringarosa, arriving in Kent, directs the driver of the car Fache
arranged for him to take him to London’s
Opus Dei center.
Chapter 95
At the library,
Langdon realizes that the knight in question is Sir Isaac Newton, who was
buried in London
not by a Catholic Pope, but by the famous English poet Alexander Pope. The two
rush to the site of his tomb in Westminster Abbey.
Chapter 96
Silas is
attacked in his room at the Opus Dei Center by police. In the confusion of the
scuffle, Bishop Aringarosa, who had just arrived to try to find Silas, is shot.
Chapter 97
Sophie and
Langdon arrive at Westminster Abbey and begin searching for Newton’s tomb. The Teacher, who is there
lying in wait, sees them and plans an ambush in order to eliminate all
witnesses who know about the cryptex. He tries to develop a plan to lure the
two to a less public part of the grounds.
Chapter 98
Arriving finally
at the tomb, the two find a message indicating that Teabing’s kidnappers are on
site, and that they should walk to the public garden to negotiate with the
captors for his release. In a deserted area closed for renovations, Sophie and
Langdon meet Leigh Teabing himself.
Chapter 99
Faced with
Langdon and Sophie’s shock and betrayal, Teabing attempts to justify his
actions. He claims that Saunière shirked his duty to the Grail by failing to
release the documents to the world. Teabing also tells Sophie that the deaths
of her family when she was a child were murders committed by the Church to
pressure Saunière into remaining quiet. Teabing refuses Langdon’s request to
release Sophie, but gives Langdon the cryptex. Sophie vows never to help
Teabing.
Chapter 100
After being
shot, Bishop Aringarosa tells Silas they were both betrayed by the Teacher. He
reveals that at his first meeting at the Vatican five months ago, he received
word that Opus Dei would have its preferential title revoked, and would no
longer be regarded as a prelature of the Vatican, within six months’ time. On
his deathbed, Aringarosa urges Silas to forgive, rather than seek revenge
against his killers.
Chapter 101
Langdon takes a
moment to think carefully about his course of action. He decides to try to
break the code to help Sophie’s chances of escape. Sophie resists, holding fast
to her vow to refuse help to Teabing. At an impasse, Langdon launches the
cryptex into the air, and its landing initiates the self-destruct process built
into the device. However, it is soon revealed that Langdon had already removed
the innermost scroll, having figured out that the code word was “apple.” The
police arrive, and Teabing is detained.
Chapter 102
Silas prays and
asks for forgiveness in Kensington
Gardens.
Chapter 103
The police
continue to unravel the complex details of Teabing’s surveillance operation.
Bishop Aringarosa makes a miraculous recovery from his gunshot wound. He asks
Captain Fache to distribute the Vatican bonds among the victims of Silas’
murderous rampage in Paris.
Fache returns the ring with which Aringarosa bribed the pilot.
Chapter 104
The final clues
in the search for the Grail lead Sophie and Langdon to Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland.
Sophie remembers visiting the church as a very young girl. There, the two find
Sophie’s brother and grandmother, whom she had believed to be dead, living in a
house on the church property.
Chapter 105
It is learned
that Sophie’s family had to be separated in order to protect their true
identity as descendents of Christ. Sophie’s grandmother reveals that the Grail
documents are not, in fact, hidden underneath the church at Rosslyn. Langdon
and Sophie agree to meet in Florence
later in the year to get to know each other better.
Epilogue
After returning
to Paris,
Langdon has a revelation about the location of the Grail documents. Remembering
that Paris,
too, was once the location of the prime meridian, or “rose line,” he considers
a new interpretation of the last clue from the cryptex. Although it is not
fullly confirmed, Langdon strongly suspects that the Grail is hidden beneath
the two glass pyramids at the entrance of the Louvr
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