The Da Vinci Code Chapter 1-3

CHAPTER 1Robert Langdon awoke slowly.A tele resound was ringing in the darkness a tinny, unfamiliar ring. He fumbled for the bedside lamp and turned it on. make a face at his surroundings he saying a plush Renaissance bed room with Louis XVI furniture, hand-frescoed w every last(predicate)s, and a colossal mahog either quadruplet-poster bed.Where the the pits am I?The jacquard bathrobe hanging on his bedpost bore the monogram HOTEL RITZ PARIS.Slowly, the fog implorean to lift.Langdon picked up the receiver. Hello?Monsieur Langdon? a mans voice said. I hope I have non awoken you?Dazed, Langdon looked at the bedside clock. It was 1232 A. M. He had been asleep only an hour, but he felt desire the dead.This is the concierge, monsieur. I vindicate for this intrusion, but you have a visitor. He insists it is imperative.Langdon still felt fuzzy. A visitor? His eyes centre immediately on a crumpled flyer on his bedside table. THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF PARIS proudly presents AN change surface WITH ROBERT LANGDON PROFESSOR OF RELIGIOUS SYMBOLOGY, HARVARD UNIVERSITYLangdon groaned. To nights lecture a slide show about pagan figureism hole-and-corner(a) in the stones of Ch artistic creationres Cathedral had probably ruffled some conservative feathers in the audience. Most worryly, some apparitional scholar had trailed him home to pick a fight. Im sorry, Langdon said, but Im very ti tearing and Mais, monsieur,the concierge pressed, lowering his voice to an urgent whisper. Your guest is an important man.Langdon had humble doubt. His books on religious paintings and cult symbology had do him a reluctant repute in the art world, and last year Langdons visibility had increased a hundred fold aft(prenominal)(prenominal) his involvement in a large-mindedly publicized incident at the Vatican. Since then, the stream of self- important historians and art buffs arriving at his door had sympathizemed never-ending.If you would be so kind, Langdon said, doin g his best to remain polite, could you take the mans name and number, and arrange him Ill enterprise to call him onwards I leave capital of France on Tuesday? Thank you. He hung up before the concierge could protest.Sitting up now, Langdon fr haveed at his bedside Guest Relations Handbook, whose coer boasted SLEEP LIKE A small fry IN THE CITY OF LIGHTS. SLUMBER AT THE PARIS RITZ. He turned and gazed tiredly into the full-length mirror across the room. The man staring back at him was a stranger tousled and weary.You need a vacation, Robert.The past year had taken a heavy toll on him, but he didnt notify recognizeing proof in the mirror. His usually bang-up blue eyes looked hazy and drawn tonight. A dark stubble was shrouding his strong jaw and dimpled chin. Around his temples, the gray highlights were advancing, making their way deeper into his thicket of uncouth black hair. Although his female colleagues insisted the gray only accentuated his bookish appeal, Langdon knew better.If Boston Magazine could gull me now.Last month, overmuch to Langdons embarrassment, Boston Magazine had listed him as one of that citys top ten to the highest degree intriguing people a dubious honor that made him the brunt of endless ribbing by his Harvard colleagues. Tonight, three thousand miles from home, the accolade had resurfaced to holiday resort him at the lecture he had given.Ladies and gentlemen the hostess had denote to a full house at the American University of genus Pariss Pavilion Dauphine, Our guest tonight needs no introduction. He is the author of numerous books The Symbology of Secret Sects, The An of the Illuminati, The lost Language of Ideograms, and when I say he wrote the book on Religious Iconology, I mean that quite literally. M all of you use his textbooks in class.The students in the crowd nodded enthusiastically.I had planned to introduce him tonight by sharing his impressive curriculum vitae. However She glanced playfully at Langdon, who was seated onstage. An audience member has plainly handed me a far more than, shall we say intriguing introduction. She held up a copy of Boston Magazine. Langdon cringed. Where the hell did she get that?The hostess began reading choice excerpts from the inane article, and Langdon felt himself sinking lower and lower in his chair. Thirty seconds later, the crowd was grinning, and the woman showed no signs of letting up. And Mr. Langdons refusal to let the cat out of the bag publicly about his unusual grapheme in last years Vatican conclave certainly wins him points on our intrigue-o-meter. The hostess goaded the crowd. Would you like to hear more?The crowd applauded.Somebody stop her, Langdon pleaded as she dove into the article again.Although Professor Langdon might not be considered hunk-handsome like some of our younger awardees, this forty-something academic has more than his shargon of scholarly allure. His captivating presence is punctuated by an unusually low, baritone s peaking voice, which his female students describe as chocolate for the ears.The hall erupted in laughter.Langdon hale an awkward smile. He knew what came next some ridiculous line about Harrison Ford in Harris washrag and because this evening he had figured it was finally safe again to wear his Harris tweed and Burberry turtleneck, he intractable to take action.Thank you, Monique, Langdon said, standing prematurely and edging her away from the podium. Boston Magazine light(a)ly has a gift for fiction. He turned to the audience with an embarrassed sigh. And if I find which one of you provided that article, Ill have the consulate exonerate you.The crowd laughed.Well, folks, as you all know, Im here tonight to talk about the power of symbols The ringing of Langdons hotel border erst again broke the silence.Groaning in disbelief, he picked up. Yes?As expected, it was the concierge. Mr. Langdon, again my apologies. I am handicraft to inform you that your guest is now en route t o your room. I thought I should alert you.Langdon was wide awake now. You sent someone to my room?I apologize, monsieur, but a man like this I cannot presume the authority to stop him. Who exactly is he? But the concierge was gone.Almost immediately, a heavy clenched fist pounded on Langdons door.Uncertain, Langdon slid off the bed, feeling his toes sink deep into the savonniere carpet. He donned the hotel bathrobe and locomote toward the door. Who is it?Mr. Langdon? I need to speak with you. The mans English was accented a sharp, authoritative bark. My name is Lieutenant Jerome Collet. Direction Centrale law of nature Judiciaire.Langdon paused. The Judicial Police? The DCPJ was the rough equivalent of the U. S. FBI.Leaving the security chain in place, Langdon holded the door a toilsomely a(prenominal) inches. The face staring back at him was thin and washed out. The man was exceptionally lean, dressed in an official-looking blue uniform.May I come in? the gene asked.Langdon hesitated, feeling uncertain as the strangers unwell eyes studied him. What is this all about?My capitaine requires your expertise in a private matter. presently? Langdon managed. Its after midnight. Am I correct that you were scheduled to meet with the curator of the Louvre this evening?Langdon felt a sudden surge of uneasiness. He and the revered curator Jacques Sauniere had been slated to meet for drinks after Langdons lecture tonight, but Sauniere had never sh proclaim up. Yes. How did you know that?We found your name in his daily planner.I trust nothing is wrong?The instrument gave a dire sigh and slid a Polaroid snapshot through and through the narrow ease uping in the door. When Langdon saw the characterization, his replete(p) body went rigid. This photo was taken less than an hour past. Inside the Louvre.As Langdon stared at the flaky run across, his initial revulsion and shock gave way to a sudden upwelling of anger. Who would do thisWe had hoped that you might hel p us answer that very question, considering your knowledge in symbology and your plans to meet with him.Langdon stared at the picture, his horror now laced with fear. The image was gruesome and profoundly strange, bringing with it an unsettling sense of deja vu. A little over a year ago, Langdon had genuine a photograph of a corpse and a kindred request for help. Twenty-four hours later, he had about lost his life inside Vatican City. This photo was entirely different, and yet something about the scenario felt disquietingly familiar.The agent checked his watch. My capitaine is waiting, sir.Langdon barely heard him. His eyes were still riveted on the picture. This symbol here, and the way his body is so oddlyPositioned? the agent offered.Langdon nodded, feeling a chill as he looked up. I cant imagine who would do this to someone.The agent looked grim. You dont apprehend, Mr. Langdon. What you see in this photograph He paused. Monsieur Sauniere did that to himself.CHAPTER 2One mil e away, the hulking albino named Silas limped through the front gate of the luxurious brownstone residence on Rue La Bruyere. The spiked cilice bash that he wore just about his thigh sign on into his flesh, and yet his soul sang with satisfaction of service to the Lord.Pain is good.His red eyes scanned the lobby as he entered the residence. Empty. He climbed the stairs quietly, not wanting to awaken any of his fellow numeraries. His bedroom door was open locks were forbidden here. He entered, closing the door behind him.The room was spartan hardwood floors, a pine dresser, a canvas mat in the corner that served as his bed. He was a visitor here this week, and yet for many years he had been blessed with a similar sanctuary in New York City.The Lord has provided me shelter and purpose in my life.Tonight, at last, Silas felt he had begun to repay his debt. Hurrying to the dresser, he found the cell hollo secluded in his bottom draughtsman and placed a call.Yes? a male voice answ ered. Teacher, I have returned. Speak, the voice commanded, sounding jolly to hear from him.All four are gone. The three senechauxand the Grand Master himself. There was a ephemeral pause, as if for prayer. Then I assume you have the information? All four concurred. Independently. And you believed them?Their agreement was withal great for relation.An excited breath. Excellent. I had feared the brotherhoods reputation for secrecy might prevail. The prospect of death is strong motivation. So, my pupil, tell me what I must know.Silas knew the information he had gleaned from his victims would come as a shock. Teacher, all four support the existence of the clef de voutethe legendary key.He heard a quick intake of breath over the phone and could feel the Teachers excitement. The keystone.Exactly as we suspected.According to lore, the brotherhood had created a map of stone a clef de vouteor keystone an engraved tablet that revealed the final resting place of the brotherhoods greate st secret information so powerful that its shelter was the reason for the brotherhoods very existence. When we possess the keystone, the Teacher said, we volition be only one step away. We are closer than you think. The keystone is here in Paris. Paris? Incredible. It is about too easy. Silas relayed the earlier events of the evening how all four of his victims, moments before death, had desperately tried to buy back their godless lives by telling their secret. separately had told Silas the exact same thing that the keystone was ingeniously hidden at a precise spatial relation inside one of Pariss antediluvian patriarch churches the Eglise de Saint-Sulpice.Inside a house of the Lord, the Teacher exclaimed. How they mock us As they have for centuries. The Teacher fell silent, as if letting the triumph of this moment settle over him. Finally, he spoke. You have done a great service to God. We have waited centuries for this. You must retrieve the stone for me. Immediately. Toni ght. You understand the stakes.Silas knew the stakes were incalculable, and yet what the Teacher was now commanding seemed impossible. But the church, it is a fortress. Especially at night. How will I enter?With the confident tone of a man of enormous influence, the Teacher explained what was to be done.When Silas hung up the phone, his skin tingled with anticipation.One hour, he told himself, grateful that the Teacher had given him time to carry out the involve penance before entering a house of God. I must purge my soul of immediatelys sins.The sins act today had been holy in purpose. Acts of war against the enemies of God had been committed for centuries. Forgiveness was assured.Even so, Silas knew, absolution required sacrifice.Pulling his shades, he stripped naked and knelt in the center of his room. Looking down, he examined the spiked cilice belt clamped around his thigh. All true followers of The Way wore this whatchamacallit a leather strap, studded with sharp metal b arbs that cut into the flesh as a perpetual reminder of Christs suffering. The pain caused by the device also helped counteract the desires of the flesh.Although Silas already had worn his cilice today longer than the requisite two hours, he knew today was no ordinary day. Grasping the buckle, he cinched it one notch tighter, wincing as the barbs dug deeper into his flesh. Exhaling slowly, he savored the cleanup position ritual of his pain.Pain is good, Silas whispered, repeating the dedicated mantra of Father Josemaria Escriva the Teacher of all Teachers. Although Escriva had died in 1975, his wisdom lived on, his speech communication still whispered by thousands of faithful servants around the globe as they knelt on the floor and performed the sacred practice known as corporal mortification.Silas turned his attention now to a heavy gnarly rope coiled neatly on the floor beside him. TheDiscipline. The knots were caked with dried blood. Eager for the purifying effects of his own agony, Silas said a quick prayer. Then, gripping one end of the rope, he closed his eyes and swung it hard over his shoulder, feeling the knots slap against his back. He whipped it over his shoulder again, slashing at his flesh. Again and again, he lashed.Castigo corpus meum.Finally, he felt the blood begin to flow. CHAPTER 3The crisp April air whipped through the open window of the Citroen ZX as it skimmed south past the Opera House and crossed Place cantme. In the passenger seat, Robert Langdon felt the city tear past him as he tried to clear his thoughts. His quick shower and shave had left(a) him looking reasonably presentable but had done little to ease his anxiety. The frightening image of the curators body remained locked in his mind.Jacques Sauniere is dead.Langdon could not help but feel a deep sense of loss at the curators death. Despite Saunieres reputation for being reclusive, his recognition for dedication to the humanities made him an easy man to revere. His books o n the secret codes hidden in the paintings of Poussin and Teniers were some of Langdons favorite classroom texts. Tonights meeting had been one Langdon was very much looking forward to, and he was disappointed when the curator had not shown.Again the image of the curators body flashed in his mind. Jacques Sauniere did that to himself?Langdon turned and looked out the window, forcing the picture from his mind.Outside, the city was just now winding down street vendors wheeling carts of candied amandes, waiters carrying bags of garbage to the curb, a pair of late night lovers cuddling to stay warm in a breeze scented with jasmine blossom. The Citroen navigated the chaos with authority, its dissonant two-tone enchantress parting the traffic like a knife.Le capitaine was pleased to discover you were still in Paris tonight, the agent said, speaking for the first time since theyd left the hotel. A fortunate coincidence.Langdon was feeling anything but fortunate, and coincidence was a conc ept he did not entirely trust. As someone who had spent his life exploring the hidden interconnectivity of disparate attributes and ideologies, Langdon viewed the world as a web of profoundly intertwined histories and events. The connections may be invisible, he oftentimes preached to his symbology classes at Harvard, but they are always there, buried just beneath the surface.I assume, Langdon said, that the American University of Paris told you where I was staying? The driver shook his head. Interpol. Interpol, Langdon thought. Of course.He had forgotten that the seemingly innocuous request of all European hotels to see a passport at check-in was more than a quaint formality it was the law. On any given night, all across Europe, Interpol officials could pinpoint exactly who was sleeping where. Finding Langdon at the Ritz had probably taken all of v seconds.As the Citroen accelerated southward across the city, the illuminated profile of the Eiffel Tower appeared, guesswork sky ward in the distance to the right. Seeing it, Langdon thought of Vittoria, recalling their playful promise a year ago that every six months they would meet again at a different romantic spot on the globe. The Eiffel Tower, Langdon suspected, would have made their list. Sadly, he last kissed Vittoria in a noisy airport in capital of Italy more than a year ago.Did you mount her? the agent asked, looking over.Langdon glanced up, certain he had misunderstood. I beg your pardon?She is lovely, no? The agent motioned through the windshield toward the Eiffel Tower. Have you mounted her?Langdon rolled his eyes. No, I havent climbed the tower. She is the symbol of France. I think she is perfect. Langdon nodded absently. Symbologists often remarked that France a country renowned for machismo, womanizing, and diminutive insecure leaders like Napoleon and Pepin the Short could not have chosen a more apt national emblem than a thousand-foot phallus.When they reached the intersection at Rue de R ivoli, the traffic light was red, but the Citroen didnt slow. The agent gunned the sedan across the junction and sped onto a wooded section of Rue Castiglione, which served as the northern entranceway to the famed Tuileries Gardens Pariss own version of Central Park. Most tourists mistranslated Jardins des Tuileries as relating to the thousands of tulips that bloomed here, but Tuileries was actually a literal source to something far less romantic. This park had once been an enormous, polluted excavation pit from which Parisian contractors mined body to manufacture the citys famous red roofing tiles or tuiles.As they entered the deserted park, the agent reached under the smash and turned off the blaring siren. Langdon exhaled, savoring the sudden quiet. Outside the car, the pale wash of halogen headlights skimmed over the crushed gravel parkway, the rugged whir of the tires intoning a hypnotic rhythm. Langdon had always considered the Tuileries to be sacred ground. These were t he gardens in which Claude Monet had experimented with form and color, and literally inspired the birth of the Impressionist movement. Tonight, however, this place held a strange aura of foreboding.The Citroen swerved left now, angling west down the parks central boulevard. Curling around a circular pond, the driver cut across a desolate avenue out into a wide quadrangle beyond. Langdon could now see the end of the Tuileries Gardens, marked by a giant stone archway.Arc du Carrousel.Despite the orgiastic rituals once held at the Arc du Carrousel, art aficionados revered this place for another reason entirely. From the esplanade at the end of the Tuileries, four of the finest art museums in the world could be seen one at each point of the compass.Out the right field window, south across the Seine and Quai Voltaire, Langdon could see the dramatically lit facade of the old train station now the esteemed Musee dOrsay. Glancing left, he could make out the top of the ultramodern Pompido u Center, which housed the Museum of Modern Art. Behind him to the west, Langdon knew the ancient obelisk of Ramses rose above the trees, marking the Musee du Jeu de Paume.But it was straight ahead, to the east, through the archway, that Langdon could now see the massive Renaissance palace that had become the most famous art museum in the world.Musee du Louvre.Langdon felt a familiar tinge of wonder as his eyes made a futile attempt to absorb the entire mass of the edifice. Across a staggeringly expansive plaza, the imposing facade of the Louvre rose like a citadel against the Paris sky. Shaped like an enormous horseshoe, the Louvre was the longest building in Europe, stretching farther than three Eiffel Towers laid end to end. Not even the million square feet of open plaza between the museum wings could challenge the majesty of the facades breadth. Langdon had once walked the Louvres entire perimeter, an astonishing three-mile journey.Despite the estimated quintet days it would t ake a visitor to properly appreciate the 65, 300 pieces of art in this building, most tourists chose an abbreviated experience Langdon referred to as Louvre Lite a full sprint through the museum to see the three most famous objects the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory.Art Buchwald had once boasted hed seen all three masterpieces in five minutes and fifty-six seconds.The driver pulled out a handheld walkie-talkie and spoke in rapid-fire French. Monsieur Langdonest arrive.Deux minutes.An unreadable confirmation came crackling back.The agent stowed the device, turning now to Langdon. You will meet the capitaine at the main entrance.The driver ignored the signs prohibiting auto traffic on the plaza, revved the engine, and gunned the Citroen up over the curb. The Louvres main entrance was visible now, come up boldly in the distance, encircled by seven triangular pools from which spouted illuminated fountains.La Pyramide.The new entrance to the Paris Louvre had become almost as famous as the museum itself. The controversial, neomodern glass pyramid knowing by Chinese-born American architect I. M. Peistill evoked scorn from traditionalists who felt it destroyed the dignity of the Renaissance courtyard. Goethe had describe architecture as frozen music, and Peis critics described this pyramid as fingernails on a chalkboard. Progressive admirers, though, hailed Peis seventy-one-foot-tall transparent pyramid as a dazzling synergy of ancient structure and modern method a symbolic link between the old and new helping usher the Louvre into the next millennium.Do you like our pyramid? the agent asked.Langdon frowned. The French, it seemed, loved to ask Americans this. It was a loaded question, of course. Admitting you liked the pyramid made you a tasteless American, and expressing dislike was an insult to the French.Mitterrand was a bold man, Langdon replied, splitting the difference. The late French electric chair who had commissioned the pyramid was said to have suffered from a Pharaoh complex. Singlehandedly responsible for filling Paris with Egyptian obelisks, art, and artifacts.Franois Mitterrand had an similarity for Egyptian culture that was so all-consuming that the French still referred to him as the Sphinx.What is the captains name? Langdon asked, changing topics.Bezu Fache, the driver said, go up the pyramids main entrance. We call him le Taureau.Langdon glanced over at him, wondering if every Frenchman had a mysterious wight epithet. You call your captain the Bull?The man arched his eyebrows. Your French is better than you admit, Monsieur Langdon.My French stinks, Langdon thought, but my zodiac iconography is beauteous good.Taurus was always the bull. Astrology was a symbolic constant all over the world.The agent pulled the car to a stop and pointed between two fountains to a large door in the side of the pyramid. There is the entrance. well(p) luck, monsieur. Youre not coming? My orders are to leave you here. I have other business to attend to. Langdon heaved a sigh and climbed out. Its your circus. The agent revved his engine and sped off.As Langdon stood alone and watched the departing taillights, he realized he could easily reconsider, turn over the courtyard, grab a taxi, and head home to bed. Something told him it was probably a lousy idea.As he moved toward the mist of the fountains, Langdon had the uneasy sense he was crossing an imaginary threshold into another world. The dreamlike tonus of the evening was settling around him again. Twenty minutes ago he had been asleep in his hotel room. Now he was standing in front of a transparent pyramid built by the Sphinx, waiting for a policeman they called the Bull.Im trapped in a Salvador Dali painting, he thought.Langdon strode to the main entrance an enormous revolving door. The manse beyond was dimly lit and deserted.Do I knock?Langdon wondered if any of Harvards revered Egyptologists had ever knocked on the front door of a pyramid and expected an answer. He raised his hand to bang on the glass, but out of the darkness below, a figure appeared, striding up the curving staircase. The man was stocky and dark, almost Neanderthal, dressed in a dark double-breasted suit that strained to cover his wide shoulders. He advanced with unmistakable authority on squat, powerful legs. He was speaking on his cell phone but finished the call as he arrived. He motioned for Langdon to enter.I am Bezu Fache, he announced as Langdon pushed through the revolving door. Captain of the Central Directorate Judicial Police. His tone was fitting a pharyngeal consonant rumble like a gathering storm.Langdon held out his hand to shake. Robert Langdon.Faches enormous palm wrapped around Langdons with crushing force.I saw the photo, Langdon said. Your agent said Jacques Sauniere himself did Mr. Langdon, Faches ebony eyes locked on. What you see in the photo is only the beginning of what Sauniere did.