Robert Langdon, #2
The Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown
Contents
CHAPTER 43
Overview
André Vernet recognizes Sophie and reveals that he was a close friend of Jacques Saunière, confirming that the bank connection is personal rather than random. Although Vernet cannot open the safe-deposit box without the account number and police are already arriving, his desire to protect the bank and honor Saunière gives Sophie and Langdon a narrow chance to escape. The chapter turns a dead end into a breakthrough when Langdon realizes Saunière hid the account number in his final message.
Summary
André Vernet, president of the Paris branch of the Depository Bank of Zurich, is awakened and hurries through the bank’s underground corridor. Because a gold key client has arrived while wanted by the Judicial Police, Vernet plans to remove the fugitives quickly and tell police they were turned away for lacking an account number.
Vernet enters the private room expecting anonymous clients, but Sophie’s presence shocks him. When Sophie says her grandfather gave her the key before being murdered, Vernet reveals that he knew Jacques Saunière well and reacts with genuine horror to the news of Saunière’s death.
Vernet asks whether Sophie or Robert Langdon had anything to do with the murder. Sophie denies it and explains the Louvre events, including Saunière’s dying message directing Sophie to Langdon and the key. Vernet tells them Interpol has circulated their images and that the key is useless without a ten-digit account number known only to the client and the bank’s computer.
Sophie presses Vernet about the Priory seal, the contents of the account, her grandfather’s warning, and the truth about her family, but Vernet claims ignorance. When Langdon mentions the Sangreal, Vernet also says he does not know what it is. A call informs Vernet that the police are already arriving, forcing him to focus on getting Sophie and Langdon out of the building without an arrest on bank premises.
As Vernet leaves to arrange their escape, Sophie fears the missing account number might have been hidden in years of unopened correspondence from her grandfather. Langdon suddenly realizes Saunière did leave the number after all: the apparently disordered number sequence in the Louvre message can be used as the ten-digit account number.
Who Appears
- André VernetBank president; Saunière’s friend, tries to protect the bank and move the fugitives out.
- Sophie NeveuSaunière’s granddaughter; questions Vernet and seeks access to her grandfather’s deposit box.
- Robert LangdonSymbologist accompanying Sophie; identifies Saunière’s number sequence as the likely account code.
- Jacques SaunièreMurdered curator; his friendship with Vernet and final clues drive the chapter’s revelations.