Robert Langdon, #2
The Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown
Contents
CHAPTER 103
Overview
Fache pieces together the full scope of Teabing's deception, recognizing that the historian carefully manipulated Opus Dei, the Vatican, Aringarosa, Silas, and Rémy while insulating himself from blame. In the hospital, Aringarosa survives, mourns Silas, accepts his own culpability, and asks that the Vatican bonds be given to the victims' families.
Collet publicly protects Fache by framing the mistaken manhunt for Langdon and Sophie as a possible strategy, allowing Fache a measure of dignity after the case. The chapter closes on moral aftermath rather than pursuit, with Fache and Aringarosa both facing uncertain futures shaped by faith, guilt, and consequence.
Summary
After questioning Sir Leigh Teabing in London, Bezu Fache leaves the interrogation room exhausted. Teabing loudly insists on his innocence, but Fache suspects the performance is meant to support a future insanity defense. Fache reflects that Teabing's plan was too precise and calculating to be madness: Teabing manipulated the Vatican and Opus Dei, used Silas and Bishop Aringarosa as unwitting tools, and relied on Rémy to carry out surveillance from places Teabing could not physically reach.
Reports from Lieutenant Collet at Château Villette reveal how Teabing planted listening devices through carefully arranged Trojan horses. Targets received gifts or auction items, while Jacques Saunière was lured to Château Villette with talk of funding a Da Vinci Wing at the Louvre. Saunière brought his robotic knight, allowing Rémy to hide a bug inside it.
Fache goes to St. Mary's Hospital, where Bishop Aringarosa is recovering. Aringarosa, weakened but alive, grieves Silas, whose body has been found in the park, and remembers realizing the previous night that the Teacher had used him. Once Fache contacted Aringarosa about the Saint-Sulpice murder and additional deaths, Aringarosa understood the situation had spiraled into horror and confessed everything so he and Fache could try to stop Silas.
Aringarosa recognizes that Teabing chose him because the Vatican's plan to separate from Opus Dei made him desperate enough to pursue the Grail. Teabing concealed himself with a false accent and religious pose, demanded payment in money he did not truly need, and insisted on Vatican bonds so suspicion would point toward Rome if the scheme failed. When Fache returns Aringarosa's briefcase of bonds, Aringarosa asks that the money be divided among the families of Silas's victims as restitution.
On television, Collet shields Fache from public blame by suggesting that the hunt for Langdon and Sophie may have been a deliberate ruse to expose the real killer. Fache appreciates Collet's loyalty, then returns Aringarosa's confiscated episcopal ring after addressing the illegality of the bishop's diverted flight to London. Both men face uncertain futures: Fache expects early retirement, while Aringarosa answers with a quiet appeal to faith.
Who Appears
- Bezu FacheInvestigates Teabing's scheme, visits Aringarosa, returns his bonds and ring, and faces possible retirement.
- Bishop AringarosaRecovers in hospital, mourns Silas, accepts being used, and offers restitution to victims' families.
- Sir Leigh TeabingArrested conspirator whose elaborate manipulation and surveillance methods are reconstructed by Fache.
- Lieutenant ColletPublicly defends Fache by suggesting the manhunt may have been a strategic ruse.
- SilasDead in the park; remembered by Aringarosa as his lost spiritual son and tragic instrument.
- Rémy LegaludecTeabing's dead manservant, revealed as the person who planted surveillance devices for him.
- Jacques SaunièrePosthumously shown to have unknowingly brought a bugged robotic knight to Teabing's estate.