14

Robert Langdon leaves Leonardo Vetra’s flat with Maximilian Kohler, still unsettled by the mutilated body. Kohler presses Langdon on whether the Illuminati could be responsible, but Langdon argues that the missing eye does not fit the group’s historically deliberate symbolism. Kohler counters that the eye served a significant purpose, implying there is more evidence Langdon has not yet seen.

A helicopter arrives carrying Vittoria Vetra and a large amount of diving and scientific equipment. Kohler explains that Vittoria is a bio entanglement physicist whose work connects life systems and particle physics, and that she had been conducting research in the Balearic Sea. Langdon is surprised by her athletic, commanding presence, which does not match his expectation of a conventional physicist.

Vittoria greets Kohler and Langdon while visibly grieving and immediately asks whether anyone knows who killed her father. Kohler introduces Langdon as a specialist rather than an official investigator, and Vittoria becomes uneasy when she realizes the police have not been called. When she asks to see Leonardo’s body, Kohler avoids the truth by saying it is being attended to.

Passing CERN scientists cheerfully welcome Vittoria and unknowingly mention her father, revealing that Kohler has not told the staff about Leonardo’s murder. Vittoria becomes angry, but Kohler explains that reporting the murder would trigger an investigation of Leonardo’s lab. Because Leonardo’s secret project is potentially lucrative, hazardous, and not ready for public disclosure, Kohler wants to protect it from outsiders before involving authorities.

Kohler demands that Vittoria take him and Langdon to the lab and explain what she and Leonardo were working on. Vittoria insists the experiment cannot be connected to the murder because no one knew about it, but Kohler says evidence suggests otherwise. When Kohler refuses to reveal the evidence and asks her to trust him, Vittoria’s reaction makes clear that she does not.