Robert Langdon, #2
The Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown
Contents
CHAPTER 18
Overview
Sophie outwits Fache by turning Langdon's tracker into a decoy, making the police believe Langdon has jumped from the Louvre bathroom window onto a passing truck. Fache accepts the apparent escape as proof of guilt and redirects his forces away from the museum. The ruse gives Sophie and Langdon a crucial opening to flee the Louvre while revealing Sophie's composure and tactical intelligence under pressure.
Summary
Fache races down the Louvre's Grand Gallery as Collet reports that Langdon's tracking signal has gone out the bathroom window and stopped in Place du Carrousel. Collet first thinks Langdon has jumped to his death, then sees the signal moving rapidly away, apparently inside a vehicle.
Fache reaches the men's room with his gun drawn and finds it empty, with the window shattered. From the window, Fache spots a large delivery truck crossing the Seine and concludes Langdon must have jumped onto its tarp-covered bed. Fache considers the leap reckless but accepts the evidence and orders agents into pursuit.
Fache leaves the Louvre convinced Langdon's flight proves guilt and tells Collet to bring his car so he can be present for the arrest. The narration then reveals the truth: Langdon and Sophie are still inside the Grand Gallery, hidden behind partitions near the bathroom.
Moments earlier, Sophie had rejected Langdon's refusal to flee and devised a decoy. Sophie embedded Langdon's tracking disk in a bar of soap, smashed the restroom window with a trash can, and threw the soap onto the tarp of a truck stopped below. When the truck drove away, the police followed the tracker, believing Langdon had escaped.
With the alarm silenced and police sirens leaving the Louvre, Sophie points Langdon toward an emergency stairwell. Because the guards are abandoning the perimeter to chase the truck, Sophie and Langdon now have a chance to escape the museum unseen.
Who Appears
- Sophie NeveuDevises the tracker decoy, smashes the window, and leads Langdon toward escape.
- Robert LangdonFalsely hunted suspect who follows Sophie's plan after refusing to flee.
- Bezu FachePursues the tracking signal and concludes Langdon's apparent flight proves guilt.
- ColletTracks the moving signal by radio and directs the police pursuit after the truck.