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Langdon and Vittoria enter the Pantheon just before 8:00 p.m., expecting Raphael’s tomb to be the first Illuminati altar of science. The vast, quiet interior shows only scattered tourists, so they decide the killer, if present, would have to be hidden in the wall recesses around the perimeter.

Vittoria takes the left side of the circular room while Langdon searches to the right. As Langdon moves through the Pantheon, the approaching deadline and the assassin’s promise of scheduled murders weigh on him, and his thoughts drift to the Christian adaptation of earlier pagan and sun-worship symbols, a connection prompted by the building’s history and tombs.

An elderly Pantheon guide interrupts Langdon and mistakes him for an English visitor. The guide insists on delivering facts about the Pantheon, including its construction history and the old belief that the oculus was a demonic opening, which makes Langdon briefly imagine a grotesque public murder staged through the hole in the roof.

Meanwhile, Vittoria searches alone and feels the full impact of her father’s murder and the theft of the antimatter. Her grief becomes entangled with guilt over her role in creating the transport canister and with a growing desire for vengeance against the killer.

Vittoria reaches Raphael Santi’s tomb, protected behind Plexiglas, and studies the inscription and nearby plaque. After rereading the plaque several times, Vittoria reacts with horror and urgently calls for Langdon, signaling that she has noticed something important about their clue or destination.