Robert Langdon, #1
Angels & Demons
by Dan Brown
Contents
44
Overview
An anonymous caller contacts the BBC and claims to have proof of a threat to the conclave. Although the editor is unsure whether the call is legitimate, the caller’s evasiveness and urgency persuade her to pass along the Vatican reporter’s direct number.
This chapter shifts the Illuminati crisis from a contained Vatican security problem toward a potential media spectacle, increasing the risk that the threat will become public before the authorities can control it.
Summary
At the BBC’s central office in London, a junior content editor answers a call from an anonymous man with a raspy voice and a Mid-Eastern accent. The caller says he has a breaking story about the papal election and asks to speak directly to the BBC’s television reporter in Rome.
The editor initially refuses to give out the reporter’s number without more information. The caller says only that there is a threat to the conclave and claims to have proof. When the editor presses for his name and details, the caller says his identity is immaterial and begins to end the call.
The editor pauses the caller because his behavior fits two signs the BBC treats as credible in anonymous sources: he refuses to identify himself and seems willing to walk away rather than plead for attention. Wanting to avoid missing a major story, the editor decides the risk of wasting a reporter’s time is less serious than ignoring a possible headline.
The editor searches for the BBC reporter assigned to the Vatican story and finds that he is a new hire brought in from a London tabloid and assigned to routine papal election coverage. Assuming the reporter is likely bored and would welcome a lead, the editor gives the anonymous caller the reporter’s satellite extension in Vatican City.
Who Appears
- BBC junior content editorScreens the anonymous tip and gives the caller the Vatican reporter’s satellite number.
- Anonymous callerRaspy-voiced man claiming proof of a threat to the conclave.
- BBC Vatican reporterNew reporter covering the papal election; his direct number is passed to the caller.