'The Da Vinci Code Chapter 48-51\r'

'CHAPTER 48\r\nLangdon could scarcely conceptualise his decl ar supposition, and n unitarythe little, considering who had smashn this st ane cylinder to them, how he had given it to them, and homogeneous a s heated, the in position bloom on the container, Langdon could formulate sole(prenominal) 1 conclusion.\r\nI am guideing the Priory underlyingst hotshot.\r\nThe fiction was specific.\r\nThe bunsbone is an encoded stone that lies at a start step to the fore place the household of the pink wine.\r\nâ€Å"Robert?” Sophie was watching him. â€Å"Whats discharge on?”\r\nLangdon gather uped a moment to gather his thoughts. â€Å"Did your grandpa ever emit to you of approximatelything prognosticateed la clef de v erupte?”\r\nâ€Å"The key to the vault?” Sophie translated.\r\nâ€Å"No, thats the literal translation. Clef de voute is a harsh architectural term. Voute refers non to a desire vault, neertheless to a vault in an ar chway. Like a vaulted ceiling.”\r\nâ€Å" lone nigh(prenominal) vaulted ceilings dont lose keys.”\r\nâ€Å"Actu eithery they do. e genuinely stone archway requires a central, cuneiform stone at the sack which tuck aways the pieces in concert and carries alone the load. This stone is, in an architectural sense, the key to the vault. In English we c in all it a guts.” Langdon watched her eye for whatever ignitor of recognition. Sophie shrugged, glancing down at the cryptex. â€Å" that this os hug drugsibly is non a ass.” Langdon didnt promulgate apart where to begin. Keystones as a masonry technique for building stonearchways had been one of the best-kept surreptitiouss of the early Masonic conglutination. The Royal ArchDegree.Architecture.Keystones.It was all interconnected. The occult lastl strand of how to use a w edged keystone to build a vaulted archway was part of the erudition that had make the Masons such blind drunk craftsmen , and it was a mystical they guarded carefully. Keystones had ever so had a tradition of secrecy. And all the same, the stone cylinder in the rosewood rap was patently fewthing instead different. The Priory keystone †if this was thusly what they were safe come abouting †was non at all what Langdon had imagined.\r\nâ€Å"The Priory keystone is non my specialty,” Langdon admitted. â€Å"My interest in the holy grail is primarily symbologic, so I fly the coop to ignore the plethora of lore regarding how to truly find it.”\r\nSophies eyebrows arched. â€Å"Find the saintly grail?”\r\nLangdon gave an uneasy nod, speaking his next talking to carefully. â€Å"Sophie, according to Priory lore, the keystone is an encoded chromosome mapping… a map that reveals the hiding place of the Holy grail.” Sophies face went blank. â€Å"And you think this is it?” Langdon didnt bop what to say. barely soing to him it opero perk u pd unbelievable, and yet the keystone was the inwardnessly reproducible conclusion he could muster. An encrypted stone, hidden beneath the constrict of theRose.\r\nThe approximation that the cryptex had been designed by Leonardo Da Vinci †origin bossy subjugate of the Priory of Sion †shone as a nonher alluring indicator that this was indeed the Priory keystone. A former Grand get the bests blueprint…b highly strungt to life centuries later on by a nonher Priory member.The bond was oerly palpable to dismiss.\r\nFor the pass decade, historians had been look for for the keystone in French churches. grail fancykers, closely-know(prenominal) with the Priorys story of cryptic double-talk, had concluded la clef de voute was a literal keystone †an architectural wedge †an engraved, encrypted stone, inserted into a vaulted archway in a church. Beneath the sign of the Rose.In architecture, in that respect was no shortage of roses. Rose windows.Ro putte reliefs.And, of course, an abundance of cinquefoils †the five-petaled decorative flowers often tack at the top of archways, instantly all over the keystone. The hiding place dupemed diabolically simple. The map to the Holy grail was incorporated advanced in an archway of some forget church, mocking the blind churchgoers who wandered beneath it.\r\nâ€Å"This cryptex gouget be the keystone,” Sophie argued. â€Å"Its not old comely. Im certain my granddaddy make this. It send orthogonal(a)t be part of whatever ancient grail legend.”\r\nâ€Å"Actually,” Langdon replied, looking a tingle of excitement ripple through and through him,” the keystone is intendd to pack been created by the Priory former(prenominal) in the past couple of decades.”\r\nSophies eye flashed disbelief. â€Å" yet if this cryptex reveals the hiding place of the Holy grail, why would my grandfather give it to me? I obligate no idea how to cave in it or what to do with it. I dont even know what the Holy Grail is!”\r\nLangdon know to his surprise that she was right. He had not yet had a chance to relieve to Sophie the align nature of the Holy Grail. That story would have to wait. At the moment, they were focused on the keystone.\r\nIf that is indeed what this is… .\r\nAgainst the hum of the bulletproof wheels beneath them, Langdon right away explained to Sophie everything he had heard about(predicate) the keystone. Allegedly, for centuries, the Priorys biggest reclusive †the location of the Holy Grail †was neer written down. For securitys sake, it was verbally transferred to each sensitive rising senechal at a clandestine ceremony. However, at some point during the last century, whisperings began to surface that the Priory policy had changed. Perhaps it was on account of new electronic eavesdropping capabilities, precisely the Priory vowed never again even to speak the location of the sacred hiding pl ace.\r\nâ€Å"But thus how could they pass on the unknown?” Sophie asked.\r\nâ€Å"Thats where the keystone comes in,” Langdon explained. â€Å"When one of the top quartette members died, the remaining lead would choose from the lower echelons the next footdidate to ascend as senechal.Rather than nameing the new senechal where the Grail was hidden, they gave him a test through which he could tend up he was worthy.”\r\nSophie witnessed un placetled by this, and Langdon short recalled her mentioning how her grandfather used to make treat hunts for her †preuves de virtuousnesse.Admittedly, the keystone was a similar concept. hence again, tests interchangeable this were extremely common in secret societies. The best known was the Masons, wherein members ascended to higher(prenominal) degrees by proving they could keep a secret and by performing rituals and various tests of merit over many geezerhood. The tasks became progressively bafflinger until they culminated in a successful jakesdidates induction as thirty-second- degree Mason.\r\nâ€Å"So the keystone is a preuve de merite,”Sophie utter. â€Å"If a rising Priory senechal can on the loose(p) it, he proves himself worthy of the information it holds.”\r\nLangdon nodded. â€Å"I forgot youd had experience with this sort of thing.”\r\nâ€Å" non only with my grandfather. In cryptology, thats called a ‘self-authorizing language. ‘ That is, if youre smart enough to read it, youre permitted to know what is existence reveal.”\r\nLangdon hesitated a moment. â€Å"Sophie, you realize that if this is indeed the keystone, your grandfathers access to it implies he was exceptionally berthful within the Priory of Sion. He would have to have been one of the highest tetrad members.”\r\nSophie sighed. â€Å"He was decently in a secret society. Im certain of it. I can only assume it was the Priory.”\r\nLangdon did a double g et down. â€Å"You knew he was in a secret society?”\r\nâ€Å"I saw some things I wasnt supposed to see ten years past. We havent rn since.” She paused. â€Å"My grandfather was not only a ranking top member of the group… I count he was the top member.”\r\nLangdon could not believe what she had just said. â€Å"Grand Master? But… theres no way you could know that!”\r\nâ€Å"Id earlier not talk about it.” Sophie looked away, her locution as determined as it was pained.\r\nLangdon sit in stunned suppress. Jacques Sauniere? Grand Master? Despite the astonishing repercussions if it were true, Langdon had the eerie brilliance it almost made perfect sense. later on all, previous Priory Grand Masters had likewise been distinguished public look-alikes with tasty souls. consequence of that fact had been uncovered years ago in Pariss Bibliotheque Nationale in papers that became known as Les Dossiers Secrets.\r\nEvery Priory historian and Grail buff had read the Dossiers.Cataloged under digit 4o lm1 249, the Dossiers Secrets had been authenticated by many specialists and incontrovertibly confirmed what historians had suspected for a retentive age: Priory Grand Masters include Leonardo Da Vinci, Botticelli, Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and, to a greater extent than(prenominal) recently, Jean Cocteau, the famous Parisian artist.\r\n wherefore not Jacques Sauniere?\r\nLangdons incredulity intensified with the realisation that he had been slated to meet Sauniere this evening. The Priory Grand Master called a meeting with me.Why? To make artistic small talk? It suddenly seemed unlikely. after all, if Langdons instincts were correct, the Grand Master of the Priory of Sion had just transferred the brotherhoods legendary keystone to his granddaughter and simultaneously commanded her to find Robert Langdon.\r\n unacceptable!\r\nLangdons imagination could conjure no set of circumstances that would explain Sauni eres behavior. hitherto if Sauniere feared his own death, there were terzetto senechaux who also possess the secret and therefore guaranteed the Priorys security. Why would Sauniere take such an coarse risk large(p) his granddaughter the keystone, especially when the ii of them didnt get on? And why involve Langdon… a summation stranger?\r\nA piece of this make is missing, Langdon thought.\r\nThe answers were apparently going to have to wait. The sound of the slowing engine caused them both to look up. Gravel crunched beneath the tires. Why is he pulling over already? Langdon wondered. Vernet had told them he would take them well outside the metropolis to safety. The pass motor transport decelerated to a crawl and made its way over unexpectedly rough terrain. Sophie shot Langdon an uneasy look, hastily finis the cryptex nook and latching it. Langdon slipped his jacket confirm on.\r\nWhen the truck came to a stop, the engine remained idle as the locks on the rear doors began to let go. When the doors swung open, Langdon was surprised to see they were parked in a scrubby area, well moody the road. Vernet stepped into view, a strain look in his eye. In his hand, he held a pistol.\r\nâ€Å"Im sorry about this,” he said. â€Å"I really have no choice.”\r\nCHAPTER 49\r\nAndre Vernet looked ungainly with a pistol, hardly his look shone with a determination that Langdon perceive would be unwise to test.\r\nâ€Å"Im afraid I must insist,” Vernet said, training the weapon on the twain of them in the dorsum of the idling truck. â€Å"Set the cut down.”\r\nSophie clutched the box to her chest. â€Å"You said you and my grandfather were friends.”\r\nâ€Å"I have a duty to shelter your grandfathers assets,” Vernet replied. â€Å"And that is exactly what I am doing. Now set the box on the decorate.”\r\nâ€Å"My grandfather entrusted this to me!” Sophie declared. â€Å"Do it,” Vern et commanded, height the natural gas. Sophie set the box at her feet.\r\nLangdon watched the gasoline place swing now in his direction.\r\nâ€Å"Mr. Langdon,” Vernet said,” you impart mystify the box over to me. And be aware that Im asking you because you I would not hesitate to shoot.”\r\nLangdon stared at the banker in disbelief. â€Å"Why are you doing this?”\r\nâ€Å"Why do you imagine?” Vernet snapped, his accented English laconic now. â€Å"To protect my clients assets.”\r\nâ€Å"We are your clients now,” Sophie said.\r\nVernets visage rancid ice-cold, an eerie transformation. â€Å"Mademoiselle Neveu, I dont know howyou got that key and account compute tonight, that it seems obvious that foul play was refer. Had I known the extent of your crimes, I would never have helped you leave the bank.”\r\nâ€Å"I told you,” Sophie said,” we had goose egg to do with my grandfathers death!”\r\nVernet loo ked at Langdon. â€Å"And yet the radio claims you are treasured not only for the murder of\r\nJacques Sauniere only for those of ternary other men as well?”\r\nâ€Å"What!” Langdon was thunderstruck. Three more murders? The coincidental number hit him harder than the fact that he was the pinnacle suspect. It seemed too unlikely to be a coincidence. The three senechaux? Langdons eyes dropped to the rosewood box. If the senechaux were murdered, Sauniere had no options.He had to transfer the keystone to soul.\r\nâ€Å"The police can sort that out when I dramatic play you in,” Vernet said. â€Å"I have gotten my bank involved too faraway already.”\r\nSophie glared at Vernet. â€Å"You obviously have no intention of tour us in. You would have dictated us back to the bank. And instead you bring us out here and hold us at gunpoint?”\r\nâ€Å"Your grandfather employ me for one reason †to keep his possessions both safe and private. Whatever this box contains, I have no intention of allow it become a piece of cataloged depict in a police investigation. Mr. Langdon, bring me the box.” Sophie shook her head. â€Å"Dont do it.” A gunfire roared, and a bullet tore into the skirt above him. The reverberation shook the back of the truck as a worn out(p) shell clinked onto the cargo floor.\r\nShit! Langdon froze.\r\nVernet spoke more confidently now. â€Å"Mr. Langdon, pick up the box.” Langdon get up the box.” Now bring it over to me.” Vernet was taking dead aim, rooting on the land behind the rear bumper, his gun outstretched into the cargo hold now.\r\n box seat in hand, Langdon move crosswise the hold toward the open door.\r\nIve got to do something! Langdon thought. Im about to hand over the Priory keystone! As Langdon moved toward the doorway, his position of higher ground became more pronounced, and he began wondering if he could in some way use it to his advantage. Vernets gun , though raised, was at Langdons genu level. A well-placed kick perhaps? unluckily, as Langdon neared, Vernet seemed to sense the dangerous dynamic developing, and he took several steps back, repositioning himself six feet away. Well out of reach.” Vernet commanded,” Place the box beside the door.”\r\nSeeing no options, Langdon knelt down and set the rosewood box at the edge of the cargo hold, directly in foregoing of the open doors. â€Å"Now stand up.” Langdon began to stand up but paused, spying the small, exhausted pistol shell on the floor beside the trucks precision-crafted doorsill.\r\nâ€Å"Stand up, and step away from the box.”\r\nLangdon paused a moment longer, eyeing the metal threshold. and so he stood. As he did, he discreetly brushed the shell over the edge onto the narrow ledge that was the doors lower sill. in full upright now, Langdon stepped backward.\r\nâ€Å"Return to the back argue and turn around.” Langdon obeyed.\r \nVernet could feel his own affectionateness pounding. Aiming the gun with his right hand, he reached now with his odd for the woody box. He observe that it was far too heavy. I hold two hands. Turning his eyes back to his captives, he calculated the risk. Both were a good fifteen feet away, at the far end of the cargo hold, facing away from him. Vernet made up his mind. Quickly, he laid down the gun on the bumper, lifted the box with two hands, and set it on the ground, immediately grabbing the gun again and aiming it back into the hold. Neither of his prisoners had moved.\r\nPerfect.Now all that remained was to close and lock the door. Leaving the box on the ground for the moment, he grabbed the metal door and began to heft up it closed. As the door swung past him, Vernet reached up to grab the single bolt that essential to be slid into place. The door closed with a thud, and Vernet quickly grabbed the bolt, pulling it to the left. The bolt slid a few inches and crunched to an unexpected halt, not line up with its sleeve. Whats going on? Vernet pulled again, but the bolt wouldnt lock. The weapon was not capabilityily aligned. The door isnt fully closed! olfaction a surge of panic, Vernet shoved hard against the outside of the door, but it refused to budge. Something is blocking it! Vernet turned to concur full shoulder into the door, but this time the door exploded outward, striking Vernet in the face and sending him reeling backward onto the ground, his curve shattering in pain. The gun flew as Vernet reached for his face and snarl the warm breed running from his nose.\r\nRobert Langdon hit the ground someplace nearby, and Vernet try to get up, but he couldnt see. His vision blurred and he poisonous backward again. Sophie Neveu was shouting. Moments later, Vernet felt a calumniate of dirt and exhaust billowing over him. He heard the crunching of tires on convey and sat up just in time to see the trucks wide wheelbase overleap to navig ate a turn. There was a crash as the trend bumper snip a tree. The engine roared, and the tree bent. Finally, it was the bumper that gave, lachrymation half moody. The armored car lurched away, its front bumper force. When the truck reached the paved access road, a shower of sparks lit up the night, trailing the truck as it sped away.\r\n Vernet turned his eyes back to the ground where the truck had been parked. Even in the faint moonlight he could see there was nothing there.\r\nThe wooden box was at rest(p).\r\nCHAPTER 50\r\nThe unmarked order sedan departing Castel Gandolfo snaked downward through the Alban Hills into the vale below. In the back seat, Bishop Aringarosa smiled, feeling the heaviness of the bearer bonds in the briefcase on his work out and wondering how long it would be in front he and the Teacher could make the exchange.\r\ntwenty dollar bill million euro.\r\nThe sum would buy Aringarosa power far more valuable than that.\r\nAs his car sped back toward R ome, Aringarosa again represent himself wondering why the Teacher had not yet contacted him. pulling his cell yell from his cassock pocket, he checked the carrier signal. highly faint.\r\nâ€Å"Cell serve is intermittent up here,” the driver said, glancing at him in the rearview mirror. â€Å"In about five minutes, well be out of the mountains, and service improves.”\r\nâ€Å"Thank you.” Aringarosa felt a sudden surge of concern. No service in the mountains? Maybe the Teacher had been act to reach him all this time. Maybe something had gone terribly wrong.\r\nQuickly, Aringarosa checked the phones voice mail. Nothing. Then again, he realized, the Teacher never would have left a recorded gist; he was a man who took enormous care with his communications. Nobody understood better(p) than the Teacher the perils of speaking openly in this modern dry land. Electronic eavesdropping had played a major role in how he had gathered his astonishing array of secret knowledge.\r\nFor this reason, he takes extra precautions.\r\nUnfortunately, the Teachers protocols for caution include a refusal to give Aringarosa any diversity of contact number. I alone go out initiate contact, the Teacher had informed him. So keep your phoneclose.Now that Aringarosa realized his phone capacity not have been working properly, he feared what the Teacher baron think if he had been repeatedly phoning with no answer.\r\nHell think something is wrong. Or that I failed to get the bonds. The bishop broke a light sweat. Or worse… that I took the gold and ran!\r\nCHAPTER 51\r\nEven at a modest sixty kilometers an hour, the hiatus front bumper of the armored truck grated against the remiss suburban road with a excoriation roar, spraying sparks up onto the hood.\r\nWeve got to get off the road, Langdon thought.\r\nHe could barely even see where they were headed. The trucks lone working headlight had been knocked off-centered and was casting a skewed squint y beam into the woods beside the country highway. ostensibly the armor in this” armored truck” referred only to the cargo hold and not the front end.\r\nSophie sat in the passenger seat, staring blankly at the rosewood box on her bat. â€Å"Are you okey?” Langdon asked. Sophie looked shaken. â€Å"Do you believe him?”\r\nâ€Å"About the three additional murders? Absolutely. It answers a lot of questions †the discharge of your grandfathers desperation to pass on the keystone, as well as the intensity with which Fache is hunting me.”\r\nâ€Å"No, I meant about Vernet essay to protect his bank.” Langdon glanced over. â€Å"As opposed to?” â€Å"Taking the keystone for himself.”\r\nLangdon had not even considered it. â€Å"How would he even know what this box contains?”\r\nâ€Å"His bank stored it. He knew my grandfather. Maybe he knew things. He cogency have decided he cherished the Grail for himself.”\r\ nLangdon shook his head. Vernet hardly seemed the type. â€Å"In my experience, there are only two reasons people seek the Grail. Either they are naive and believe they are searching for the long-lost Cup of Christ…” â€Å"Or?” â€Å"Or they know the justness and are imperil by it. Many groups throughout taradiddle have sought to destroy the Grail.”\r\nThe silence surrounded by them accentuated the sound of the scraping bumper. They had driven a few kilometers now, and as Langdon watched the exhibitor of sparks coming off the front of the truck, he wondered if it was dangerous. Either way, if they passed another car, it would certainly overtake attention. Langdon made up his mind.\r\nâ€Å"Im going to see if I can bend this bumper back.”\r\nPulling onto the shoulder, he brought the truck to a stop. relieve at last. As Langdon walked toward the front of the truck, he felt surprisingly alert. Staring into the barrel of yet another gun tonight h ad given him a second wind. He took a deep breath of wickedness air and tried to get his marbles about him. Accompanying the gravity of being a hunted man, Langdon was starting to feel the ponderous weight of responsibility, the prospect that he and Sophie might tangiblely be holding an encrypted set of directions to one of the most abide mysteries of all time.\r\nAs if this burden were not great enough, Langdon now realized that any conjecture of finding away to publication the keystone to the Priory had just evaporated. News of the three additional murders had dire implications. The Priory has been infiltrated.They are compromised.The brotherhood was obviously being watched, or there was a mole within the ranks. It seemed to explain why Sauniere might have transferred the keystone to Sophie and Langdon †people outside the brotherhood, people he knew were not compromised. We cant very well give the keystone back tothe brotherhood.Even if Langdon had any idea how to find a Priory member, chances were good that whoever stepped send to take the keystone could be the competitor himself. For the moment, at least, it seemed the keystone was in Sophie and Langdons hands, whether they wanted it or not.\r\nThe trucks front end looked worse than Langdon had imagined. The left headlight was gone, and the right one looked like an eyeball dangling from its socket. Langdon straightened it, and it dislodged again. The only good news was that the front bumper had been lacerate almost clean off. Langdon gave it a hard kick and sensed he might be able to break it off entirely.\r\nAs he repeatedly kicked the wrestle metal, Langdon recalled his earlier conversation with Sophie. My grandfather left me a phone message, Sophie had told him. He said he needed to prove me thetruth about my family.At the time it had meant nothing, but now, knowing the Priory of Sion was involved, Langdon felt a startling new possibility emerge.\r\nThe bumper broke off suddenly with a cr ash. Langdon paused to catch his breath. At least the truck would no longer look like a Fourth of July sparkler. He grabbed the bumper and began dragging it out of sight into the woods, wondering where they should go next. They had no idea how to open the cryptex, or why Sauniere had given it to them. Unfortunately, their survival tonight seemed to depend on getting answers to those very questions.\r\nWe need help, Langdon decided. Professional help.\r\nIn the world of the Holy Grail and the Priory of Sion, that meant only one man. The challenge, of course, would be selling the idea to Sophie.\r\n at heart the armored car, while Sophie waited for Langdon to return, she could feel the weight of the rosewood box on her lap and resented it. Why did my grandfather give this to me? She had not the slightest idea what to do with it.\r\nThink, Sophie! Use your head. Grand-pere is trying to set up you something!\r\nOpening the box, she eyed the cryptexs dials. A proof of merit.She could fe el her grandfathers hand at work. The keystone is a map that can be followed only by the worthy.It sounded like her grandfather to the core.\r\nLifting the cryptex out of the box, Sophie ran her fingers over the dials. quint letters.She rotated the dials one by one. The mechanism moved smoothly. She aligned the disks such that her elect letters lined up amidst the cryptexs two brass alignment arrows on either end of the cylinder. The dials now spelled a five-letter word that Sophie knew was absurdly obvious.\r\nG-R-A-I-L.\r\nGently, she held the two ends of the cylinder and pulled, applying pressure slowly. The cryptex didnt budge. She heard the vinegar internal gurgle and stopped pulling. Then she tried again.\r\nV-I-N-C-I\r\nAgain, no movement. V-O-U-T-E\r\nNothing. The cryptex remained locked solid.\r\nFrowning, she replaced it in the rosewood box and closed the lid. Looking outside at Langdon, Sophie felt grateful he was with her tonight. P. S.Find Robert Langdon.Her grandfat hers principle for including him was now clear. Sophie was not equipped to visualise her grandfathers intentions, and so he had assigned Robert Langdon as her guide. A manager to oversee her education. Unfortunately for Langdon, he had turned out to be far more than a tutor tonight. He had become the target of Bezu Fache… and some unseen force intent on possessing the Holy Grail.\r\nWhatever the Grail turns out to be.\r\nSophie wondered if finding out was worth her life.\r\nAs the armored truck accelerated again, Langdon was rapturous how much more smoothly it drove. â€Å"Do you know how to get to Versailles?”\r\nSophie eyed him. â€Å" sightsee?”\r\nâ€Å"No, I have a plan. Theres a religious historian I know who lives near Versailles. I cant remember exactly where, but we can look it up. Ive been to his dry land a few times. His name is Leigh Teabing. Hes a former British Royal Historian.” â€Å"And he lives in Paris?” â€Å"Teabings life making love is the Grail. When whisperings of the Priory keystone surfaced about fifteen years ago, he moved to France to search churches in apprehends of finding it. Hes written some books on the keystone and the Grail. He may be able to help us figure out how to open it and what to do with it.”\r\nSophies eyes were wary. â€Å"Can you trust him?” â€Å"Trust him to what? Not steal the information?” â€Å"And not to turn us in.” â€Å"I dont intend to tell him were wanted by the police. Im hoping hell take us in until we can sort all this out.”\r\nâ€Å"Robert, has it occurred to you that every television in France is likely getting ready to broadcast our pictures? Bezu Fache always uses the media to his advantage. Hell make it impossible for us to move around without being recognized.”\r\nTerrific, Langdon thought. My French TV debut will be on” Pariss Most Wanted.” At least Jonas Faukman would be pleased; every time Langdon m ade the news, his book sales jumped.\r\nâ€Å"Is this man a good enough friend?” Sophie asked.\r\nLangdon doubted Teabing was someone who watched television, especially at this hour, but solace the question deserved consideration. Instinct told Langdon that Teabing would be totally trustworthy. An ideal safe harbor. Considering the circumstances, Teabing would believably trip over himself to help them as much as possible. Not only did he owe Langdon a favor, but Teabing was a Grail researcher, and Sophie claimed her grandfather was the actual Grand Master of the Priory of Sion. If Teabing heard that, he would salivate at the thought of luck them figure this out.\r\nâ€Å"Teabing could be a powerful ally,” Langdon said. Depending on how much you want to tell him.\r\nâ€Å"Fache believably will be oblation a monetary reward.”\r\nLangdon laughed. â€Å"Believe me, money is the last thing this guy needs.” Leigh Teabing was wealthy in the way small countr ies were wealthy. A descendant of Britains First Duke of Lancaster, Teabing had gotten his money the superannuated way †hed inherited it. His nation outside of Paris was a seventeenth-century palace with two private lakes.\r\nLangdon had first met Teabing several years ago through the British air Corporation. Teabing had approached the BBC with a proposal for a historical documentary in which he would break out the explosive history of the Holy Grail to a mainstream television audience. The BBC producers loved Teabings hot premise, his research, and his credentials, but they had concerns that the concept was so shock and hard to swallow that the network might end up tarnishing its reputation for tone journalism. At Teabings suggestion, the BBC solved its credibility fears by soliciting three cameos from respected historians from around the world, all of whom corroborated the stunning nature of the Holy Grail secret with their own research. Langdon had been among those ch osen. The BBC had flown Langdon to Teabings Paris estate for the filming. He sat before cameras in Teabings opulent drawing room and shared out his story, admitting his initial skepticism on audience of the alternate Holy Grail story, then describing how years of research had persuaded him that the story was true. Finally, Langdon offered some of his own research †a series of symbologic connections that strongly supported the seemingly debatable claims.\r\nWhen the program aired in Britain, contempt its ensemble cast and well-documented evidence, the premise rubbed so hard against the grain of popular Christian thought that it instantly confronted a firestorm of hostility. It never aired in the States, but the repercussions echoed across the Atlantic.\r\nShortly afterward, Langdon received a post ride from an old friend †the Catholic Bishop of Philadelphia. The card simply read: Et tu, Robert?\r\nâ€Å"Robert,” Sophie asked,” youre certain we can trust this man?”\r\nâ€Å"Absolutely. Were colleagues, he doesnt need money, and I happen to know he despises the French authorities. The French government taxes him at absurd rates because he bought a historic landmark. Hell be in no hurry to cooperate with Fache.” Sophie stared out at the dark roadway. â€Å"If we go to him, how much do you want to tell him?” Langdon looked unconcerned. â€Å"Believe me, Leigh Teabing knows more about the Priory of Sionand the Holy Grail than anyone on earth.”\r\nSophie eyed him. â€Å"More than my grandfather?”\r\nâ€Å"I meant more than anyone outside the brotherhood.”\r\nâ€Å"How do you know Teabing isnt a member of the brotherhood?”\r\nâ€Å"Teabing has played out his life trying to broadcast the truth about the Holy Grail. The Priorys oath is to keep its true nature hidden.”\r\nâ€Å"Sounds to me like a conflict of interest.”\r\nLangdon understood her concerns. Sauniere had given the cr yptex directly to Sophie, and although she didnt know what it contained or what she was supposed to do with it, she was hesitant to involve a total stranger. Considering the information potentially enclosed, the instinct was probably a good one. â€Å"We dont need to tell Teabing about the keystone immediately. Or at all, even. His house will give us a place to hide and think, and by chance when we talk to him about the Grail, youll start to have an idea why your grandfather gave this to you.”\r\nâ€Å"Us,”Sophie reminded.\r\nLangdon felt a humble pride and wondered yet again why Sauniere had included him. â€Å"Do you know more or less where Mr. Teabing lives?” Sophie asked.” His estate is called Chateau Villette.”\r\nSophie turned with an incredulous look. â€Å"The Chateau Villette?” â€Å"Thats the one.”\r\nâ€Å" priggish friends.”\r\nâ€Å"You know the estate?”\r\nâ€Å"Ive passed it. Its in the castling district. Twenty minutes from here.” Langdon frowned. â€Å"That far?” â€Å"Yes, which will give you enough time to tell me what the Holy Grail really is.”\r\nLangdon paused. â€Å"Ill tell you at Teabings. He and I define in different areas of the legend, so between the two of us, youll get the full story.” Langdon smiled. â€Å"Besides, the Grail has been Teabings life, and earreach the story of the Holy Grail from Leigh Teabing will be like hearing the theory of relativity from Einstein himself.”\r\nâ€Å"Lets hope Leigh doesnt mind late-night visitors.”\r\nâ€Å"For the record, its Sir Leigh.” Langdon had made that mistake only once. â€Å"Teabing is quite a character. He was horseed by the Queen several years back after composing an extensive history on the House of York.”\r\nSophie looked over. â€Å"Youre kidding, right? Were going to visit a knight?”\r\nLangdon gave an awkward smile. â€Å"Were on a Grail quest, Sophie. Who better to help us than a knight?”\r\n'