74

Langdon and Vittoria reach Bernini’s West Ponente in St. Peter’s Square while trying to appear like ordinary tourists. The piazza looks deceptively calm: tourists move about, nuns talk nearby, a girl feeds pigeons, and nothing suggests an imminent murder despite the approaching deadline.

At the marker, Langdon recognizes why West Ponente fits the Illuminati Path of Illumination. The marble ellipse shows the West Wind as an angelic face blowing air away from the Vatican, making it Bernini’s Air symbol. Langdon also notices five carved gusts and two stars, details that reinforce the Galileo-related symbolism and make him feel foolish for never seeing the pattern before.

Vittoria quickly leads Langdon away from the marker after realizing someone is following them. Langdon fears it may be the Hassassin, but Vittoria identifies the follower as a woman with a BBC camera, meaning the journalists who have been trailing the story are now close to the expected murder site.

As the bells of St. Peter’s ring nine o’clock, Langdon and Vittoria circle back toward West Ponente. The square remains quiet, raising Langdon’s anxious suspicion that the reporter may have disrupted the killer’s plan, though he doubts the Hassassin would abandon his promise to make the cardinals public spectacles.

After the ninth bell fades, silence falls over the piazza. The calm breaks when the little girl near the obelisk begins screaming, signaling that the next attack has begun or been discovered.