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Lieutenant Chartrand stands guard outside the Pope's office with Captain Rocher and feels that something is wrong. Rocher has allowed Maximilian Kohler to lock himself inside with Camerlegno Ventresca, and Rocher has also overruled the camerlegno's order to evacuate the cardinals from the Sistine Chapel. Chartrand is disturbed by Rocher's behavior, while Rocher anxiously checks his watch and thinks that only half an hour remains.

Chartrand hears distant, desperate banging from down the hall. Rocher sends Chartrand to investigate, and Chartrand traces the sound to the Pope's private library, a locked room that should have been empty since the Pope's death. Hearing voices inside, Chartrand shoots the lock and enters.

Inside the library, Chartrand discovers the hidden iron door of Il Passetto, the Pope's secret escape route. Voices behind the door shout fragments about Kohler, a lie, and danger to the camerlegno. Chartrand realizes that keys are already in the door's locks, suggesting the passage has been used recently, and he opens the heavy barrier.

Robert Langdon and Vittoria Vetra emerge from Il Passetto exhausted but alive. They demand to know where Kohler is, then run toward the Pope's office after Chartrand points them there. Chartrand follows them, uncertain but alarmed.

At the Pope's office, Rocher blocks Langdon and Vittoria at gunpoint. Langdon and Vittoria warn that Kohler is going to kill the camerlegno and demand that Rocher open the door, but before anyone can act, the camerlegno lets out a bloodcurdling scream from inside.