The Da Vinci Code

Aringarosa calls the Opus Dei headquarters and retrieves a message with a Paris phone number. Assuming the Teacher is calling him with news of Silas’s mission, he calls back but is surprised to reach the French Judicial Police instead. Bezu Fache is summoned to the phone: “Bishop, I am glad I finally reached you. You and I have much to discuss” (272).

Teabing cites a litany of books that confirm his thesis, books that have been condemned by the Church. The truth of Mary Magdalene upends long-held Catholic doctrine that Jesus is the Son of God rather than a mortal prophet. According to the Priory, Magdalene was pregnant when Jesus was crucified. To protect the child—and the heir of his kingdom—she fled to Gaul (now France) where she gave birth to a daughter named Sarah. The Jewish community in Gaul sheltered Magdalene and kept meticulous genealogical records of Jesus and Magdalene’s bloodline. The Sangreal documents include written accounts by Jesus and Magdalene themselves of the early Christian ministry. The Priory’s charge, Teabing claims, is not only to protect the sanctity of the Grail and the Sangreal documents but the royal lineage itself, which intermarried with French royalty in the fifth century; the result of that royal marriage was the “Merovingian bloodline,” founders of Paris, and members of which survive today. Sophie ruminates on her grandfather’s cryptic hints before his death—the truth about her family, royal blood—when Teabing’s butler, Rémy, calls him into the kitchen for a private conference.

As if reading her thoughts, Langdon assures Sophie that she could not be of Jesus’s bloodline since Sauniére is not a Merovingian name. The two remaining ties to that line—Plantard and Saint-Clair—are in hiding. Sophie feels adrift, no closer than before to understanding her grandfather’s hints about her family. Langdon explains that art and literature throughout the centuries have included many covert references to Jesus, Magdalene, and the Grail, including the work of Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and even Walt Disney. At that moment, Teabing returns from the kitchen, grim-faced, demanding an honest explanation from Langdon.

Teabing insists that Langdon and Sophie leave, but Sophie admits that they know about the keystone. He relents, momentarily, and allows them to explain. Outside the house, Silas, having heard Sophie mention the keystone, crouches in the bushes. Sophie reveals that Sauniére was the Priory’s Grand Master, a claim Teabing finds difficult to believe. No Grand Master would pass on such secret information to anyone outside the brotherhood, but Langdon tells him that the other three sénéchaux were also murdered, evidence which strengthens Sophie’s claim. If true, Teabing suggests that the only institution with the power and motivation to learn the identities of all four sénéchaux and assassinate them in a single operation would be the Church. Skeptical, Sophie wonders why attack the Priory now when the Sangreal documents have remained hidden for centuries. The Priory, Teabing explains, has long had a plan to reveal the truth on a specific date, a date the Church fears is approaching. If they find the documents, Teabing says, they will be destroyed, and all evidence of Jesus and Magdalene will disappear forever. Finally, Langdon reveals the location of the keystone—hidden under Teabing’s couch cushions. As Teabing, Langdon, and Sophie retire to another room, Silas enters the house.

Collet and his men surround Château Villette, but Fache orders them to stand down until he arrives. Collet questions the orders but obeys. He considers two possible explanations: Either Fache wants to be present for the arrest so he can take full credit, or he is having doubts about Langdon’s guilt. While waiting for Fache, one of Collet’s agents discovers Silas’s Audi, still warm. They also find the armored truck, and Collet deduces that it was the means of Langdon and Sophie’s escape from the bank. Who then, he wonders, does the Audi belong to? Meanwhile, Aringarosa, en route to Paris, fears his plans are crumbling; he places his trust in Fache to right the ship.

Teabing cradles the wooden box in his lap, his life’s work finally coming to fruition. As he lifts the cryptex out of the box, he feels certain this is indeed the keystone. Langdon, meanwhile, scrutinizes the box and finds a tiny hole on the underside of the lid. He pushes a paper clip into the hole and the pieces of inlaid rose fall out revealing writing underneath in a language Langdon doesn’t recognize. At that moment, Silas bludgeons him from behind, and he loses consciousness.

Silas hold Teabing and Sophie at gunpoint and demands the keystone. Teabing insists Silas will not be able to open it. Feigning imbalance, Teabing drops the keystone. As Silas lunges for it, Teabing strikes him on the leg with his crutch, digging the cilice deeper into his leg. Silas collapses in pain, the gun discharges, and, before he can recover, Sophie kicks him squarely in the jaw. Outside, Collet hears the gunshot and orders the gate torn down.

As Langdon regains consciousness, he sees Silas, bound and gagged, lying on the study floor. Sophie notices the writing beneath the rose inlay, but before they can decipher it, a squad of police cars races up the driveway.

Collet and his men burst into the house, but the ground floor is empty. Hearing voices upstairs, they check each room, the voices coming from the room at the end of the hall. Charging inside, they find it empty, the voices emanating from the intercom system. They run to the barn just in time to hear the fading sounds of a car driving away. The grounds behind the barn are rugged and lead into a dark stand of woods. Collet is convinced that the fugitives can’t escape across the difficult terrain—until he realizes that they’ve driven away in a Range Rover.

Rémy drives the Range Rover across the estate’s grounds, Silas lying in the back luggage compartment. He eases the SUV into the surrounding trees and slowly traverses the vast acreage of the estate via a dark, wooded path. Silas begins to thrash against his bonds and Teabing threatens to shoot him. He realizes that Silas could not have traced Langdon and Sophie this far without help, and suggests they flee the country for Great Britain, the rumored resting place of the Grail.

Teabing questions Silas about why Opus Dei wants the keystone, but Silas refuses to answer, fearing all his work will be in vain. Langdon, meanwhile, has an idea. He borrows Sophie’s phone and calls the United States.

Langdon calls his editor, Jonas Faulkman, and asks if he sent Sauniére an advance copy of Langdon’s latest book, a history of goddess worship. Jonas did, he admits, about a month ago, not realizing he was sending it to a Priory member.

At a small airport, Teabing’s pilot readies his personal jet for the flight to England. He protests that his diplomatic license allows only Teabing and Rémy as passengers, but the gun and a substantial bribe change his mind. 

As the plane departs France, Teabing warns Sophie of the grave responsibility she must now accept—revealing the location of the Grail and the contents of the Sangreal documents will have enormous religious and cultural consequences and make her loved and hated in equal measure. If she cannot face these consequences, she must pass that responsibility to someone else. While Teabing believes the Priory intended to reveal the documents with due speed, Sophie wants to take her time before making the final decision.