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Langdon reaches the Swiss Guard security center at 9:41 P.M., bloodied from the archives and still shaken by the attempted killing. Vittoria immediately tends to his injured hand, while Olivetti apologizes for what he calls crossed signals. Rocher claims responsibility for cutting power, explaining that the archive circuitry was tied into the white zones being searched.

Vittoria tells Langdon that the Pope was poisoned and that the Illuminati killed him. The news barely registers through Langdon's exhaustion, but it deepens the crisis: the murder could only have happened with help from inside Vatican City.

Langdon starts to reveal the location of the next murder, but Olivetti stops him because he no longer trusts even his own guards. Olivetti dismisses the assembled men, admits the search may be compromised by internal collusion, and orders Rocher to continue looking for the stolen antimatter despite the risk.

The camerlegno, now visibly transformed by resolve, declares that he will break conclave. Olivetti urges him to wait until after ten o'clock so Langdon's information might still allow the assassin to be caught and the Church's protocol preserved. The camerlegno rejects concerns about decorum, calling the situation war, and gives Olivetti only twenty minutes.

After hearing that the BBC reporter Glick has been detained, the camerlegno orders Glick and the camerawoman brought outside the Sistine Chapel, signaling a drastic public move. Olivetti, Langdon, and Vittoria then leave Vatican City without an escort, and Olivetti asks Langdon where they are going to intercept the next killing.