Chapters 89–95
Summary: Chapter 89
Fache is in Teabing's plane with the box, which he found
in the safe. He sees that the cryptex is empty. He takes a call
from Vernet, who is desperate to get the box back and save his bank's
reputation.
Summary: Chapter 90
At the chateau, Collet discovers that the computer in
the barn was conducting surveillance on five separate people, including
Jacques Saunière. The other four people are important figures, including
the head of French Intelligence. The agents on the scene also find
blueprints that show that the bug was hidden in the replica of a
knight on Saunière's desk.
Summary: Chapter 91
Silas and Rémy have put Teabing in the back of the limo.
The Teacher calls Silas and says that Rémy will bring him the keystone
so he can be “dealt with.” The Teacher tells Rémy where to drop
Silas and where to meet the Teacher. Rémy thinks Silas will be gotten
rid of. He laughs to himself at the way the Teacher has used the
Bishop and Silas as pawns.
Summary: Chapter 92
At Kings College, where the religious research database
is housed, Sophie and Langdon speak with Pamela Gettum, who agrees
to help them use the database. They show her only the first two
lines of the poem and ask her to search for a knight who was buried
by a pope in London. The search turns up too much data, and they
have to show her the second two lines of the poem. She realizes
that their search is related to the Grail and laughs at the number
of Grail hunters who have come into her library. She starts a new
search and tells them it will take fifteen minutes.
Summary: Chapter 93
Silas goes to the Opus Dei house in London, where he is
welcomed by the numerary at the door and given a room. The numerary
gets a call from the London police, who ask if an albino monk has
been let into the house. When the numerary says yes, the police
tell him not to alert the monk. They say they will be over immediately.
Summary: Chapter 94
Rémy meets the Teacher in St. James Park and accepts some
cognac from his flask. The drink contains peanut dust, which Rémy
is allergic to. Rémy slowly dies. The Teacher reflects on how unfair
it was that knew immediately which tomb Saunière meant, since he
had been bugging Saunière's office and knew of his respect for this
particular knight. Meanwhile, Bishop Aringarosa leaves the airport and
is met by a British police deputy, who says that Fache told him to
take Aringarosa to Scotland Yard. In the car, Aringarosa hears Opus
Dei's address being broadcast over the scanner. He demands that
the officer take him there instead.
Summary: Chapter 95
At King's College, Sophie and Langdon look at several
results for their latest search before hitting on a book about Sir
Isaac Newton. Langdon realizes that Newton is probably the knight
they're looking for. He was buried in London, was a knight, and
was buried by Alexander Pope, the writer.
Analysis
At this point, it isn't clear how much Fache understands
or knows about the mythology behind the treasure hunt that the three
are now engaged in. He may or may not understand the meaning of
the password (Sofia) on the first cryptex.
The Teacher's phone calls to Rémy and Silas are confusing.
It's impossible to know whether Rémy or Silas is correct about the Teacher's
true intentions. The tension surrounding the identity of the Teacher
is reaching the breaking point. Whoever he is, the Teacher is clearly
a man capable of understanding his minions' deeper motivations—for
Silas, faith and for Rémy, money—and manipulating them.
Pamela Gettum's reference to the many people who come
into her library looking for the Grail is a reminder that the secrets
of the Grail are open secrets—secrets many people know but few are
willing to acknowledge openly. In the case of the Grail, the problem
is that many people suspect the substance of the secret but haven't been
able to act upon their suspicions because they do not have proof.
Silas states a desire to purge the sins of the last twenty-four
hours in his cell. His desire sounds almost ridiculous because he
has committed so many sins, murder being the most serious. But within
the spiritual calculus that Silas has learned, any act can be excused
if it is meant to lead to a desirable end, and any act can be purged
from one's spiritual record with appropriate prayer and punishment. Silas's
beliefs suggest the kind of religious justification for violence that
characterizes fundamentalist and terrorist movements.
In the process of finding information about Sir Isaac
Newton, Langdon delivers a short lecture on tarot cards and their
function as storytellers about the Magdalene legend. Langdon's lectures,
which concern information, not judgment, seem to have no place in
a world divided into those who have faith in the current Church
and those who have faith in a different order. Langdon does not
seem to realize that he can't avoid taking sides on this issue.
