Summary: Chapter 76
Langdon has a realization about the “headstone praised
by Templars” which appears in the poem. The Knights Templar were accused
of devil worship during the time of Pope Clement. The god they purportedly
worshipped sometimes appeared as a large stone head, the head of
Baphomet. Langdon and Teabing agree that this must be the password
for the cryptex.
Summary: Chapter 77
Langdon, Sophie, and Teabing use the Atbash Cipher to
decode the word Baphomet. The word they unearth
is Sofia, the Greek word for wisdom and a variation
of Sophie’s name.
Summary: Chapter 78
When Sophie opens the cryptex, she finds another cryptex
wrapped in a piece of vellum with a poem written on it. The poem
includes a reference to a knight who is buried in London. Teabing
says he knows where they should look.
Summary: Chapter 79
Collet, still at the chateau, is supervising the team
that is looking for evidence there. One of the examiners has found
a postcard of a cathedral with Teabing’s ideas about how the architecture
resembles a vagina, as well as Teabing’s list of speculations as
to who has been the head of the Priory over the years.
Summary: Chapter 80
Teabing tells Sophie and Langdon that he plans to bribe
officials to let them into England without passports. Langdon is
skeptical, but Teabing convinces him that his status as an eccentric
old knight will help him get away with it. The pilot says the control
tower has asked him to land in a different place and to keep everybody
on the plane. Thinking this sounds suspicious, Teabing goes to the
front of the plane to try to bribe the pilot.
Summary: Chapter 81
Simon Edwards, the manager of Biggin Hill Airport, watches
Teabing’s plane taxi onto the runway. Unexpectedly, the plane heads toward
Teabing’s private hangar, which was not part of the plan. Before
the police arrive at the hangar, Langdon and Sophie exit the plane
and drag Silas into the limousine. When the police arrive and search
the cabin, they find nobody.
