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Gunther Glick drives the BBC van aggressively through Rome, tailing Olivetti’s four Alpha Romeos across the Tiber and toward Vatican City. Chinita Macri reports that London is angry they abandoned their post and doubts Glick’s tipster, but the editors have agreed to review the footage of the dead cardinal in the trunk. Because the van must stop to transmit clearly, Glick keeps driving and tells Macri he thinks they are nearly at their destination.

The Alpha Romeos arrive at St. Peter’s Square and quietly disperse Swiss Guards around the piazza. Some guards blend into tourists and media near the perimeter, while others disappear into the colonnade. Olivetti has also sent undercover guards ahead to Bernini’s West Ponente, the suspected Air marker, creating a covert trap around the square.

Olivetti sends Langdon and Vittoria directly to the marker, ordering them to behave like tourists and call if they see anything suspicious. With six minutes until the predicted murder, Langdon worries about how the assassin could possibly bring a cardinal into such an exposed, heavily guarded space and kill him in public. Langdon and Vittoria cross the shadowed piazza toward the obelisk, tense but trying to appear casual.

As Langdon approaches the obelisk, Langdon reflects on St. Peter’s Square’s geometry, Bernini’s intended effect of humbling visitors, and the symmetry of the fountains and elliptical piazza. Langdon remains focused on the second element, Air, and on the still-unanswered questions of the brand, the method of murder, and the assassin’s escape route.

From the shadows of the colonnade, Glick watches Langdon and Vittoria and recognizes them as the mysterious pair connected to the earlier chaos. Macri shadows the couple from the opposite side with her BBC camera, while the footage of the body is transmitted to London from the van. Seeing plainclothes soldiers spread through the piazza, Glick concludes that something major is about to happen and decides he is still positioned for a scoop.