Robert Langdon, #2
The Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown
Contents
CHAPTER 3
Overview
Langdon is transported from his hotel to the Louvre, where his anxiety over Saunière’s death deepens amid the symbolic weight of Paris’s landmarks. The chapter shifts the investigation from summons to direct encounter as Langdon arrives at the crime scene and meets the formidable Captain Bezu Fache.
Fache’s final remark reveals that Saunière’s staged body is only part of a larger, stranger message, raising the stakes of the investigation and drawing Langdon further into the mystery.
Summary
Robert Langdon rides through Paris in a police Citroën, still unsettled by the photograph of Jacques Saunière’s staged corpse. Langdon feels genuine loss because Saunière was a respected, reclusive curator whose writings on hidden codes in art had influenced Langdon’s teaching, and because Langdon had expected to meet Saunière that night.
The police driver explains that Captain Bezu Fache was pleased Langdon was still in Paris. Langdon learns that Interpol located him through his hotel passport record, which reinforces Langdon’s uneasy sense that the night’s events are connected rather than coincidental.
As the car speeds past Paris landmarks, Langdon reflects on symbols, art, and history: the Eiffel Tower, the Tuileries Gardens, the Arc du Carrousel, and the Louvre. The journey builds suspense as the familiar cultural landscape becomes ominous under the circumstances of Saunière’s death.
The driver takes Langdon directly into the Louvre courtyard, points him toward the glass pyramid entrance, and leaves under orders. Alone before the deserted entrance, Langdon considers simply leaving but instead crosses into the museum, feeling as if he has entered a strange symbolic world.
Inside the pyramid, Langdon is met by Captain Bezu Fache, a powerful and intimidating police official nicknamed “the Bull.” When Langdon begins to mention the photo of Saunière, Fache cuts him off and reveals that the image was only the beginning of what Saunière did, suggesting the crime scene contains further shocking evidence.
Who Appears
- Robert LangdonHarvard symbologist brought to the Louvre, anxious over Saunière’s death and the strange summons.
- Bezu FacheJudicial Police captain nicknamed the Bull; meets Langdon and hints at further crime-scene revelations.
- Jacques SaunièreMurdered Louvre curator whose staged death and additional actions drive Langdon’s summons.
- Police driverFrench agent who escorts Langdon from the Ritz to the Louvre and leaves him at the pyramid.