Robert Langdon, #2
The Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown
Contents
CHAPTER 40
Overview
Sophie and Langdon follow Saunière's clue to Rue Haxo while debating whether the Priory-marked key could be connected to the Holy Grail. Langdon's certainty falters as Sophie's private memories suggest her grandfather held a higher Priory rank than Langdon thinks possible.
The chapter redirects the search from mystical speculation to a concrete destination: the Depository Bank of Zurich. The discovery means the key is not a symbolic endpoint but access to a protected bank box, raising the stakes for what Saunière hid there.
Summary
Langdon struggles to drive the hijacked taxi through the Bois de Boulogne while the dispatcher repeatedly calls for the cab. Realizing Sophie is the better driver, Langdon stops and lets Sophie take the wheel, and Sophie speeds west toward Rue Haxo near Roland Garros.
As Sophie drives, Langdon studies the heavy Priory-marked key. The equal-armed cross reminds Langdon of the Knights Templar, leading Langdon to imagine that the key could somehow be connected to the Holy Grail, even though Langdon believes the Grail is likely hidden in England and not in France.
Langdon reflects on the Grail's uncertain history, its rumored relocations, and the many theories that Leonardo da Vinci hid clues to its location in artwork and writings. Sophie asks whether the key might unlock the Grail's hiding place, arguing that a secure Priory key from her grandfather naturally points toward the brotherhood's greatest secret.
Langdon resists Sophie's conclusion. Langdon explains that only the Priory's Grand Master and three sénéchaux know the Grail's location, making it unlikely that Saunière possessed or revealed such knowledge. Sophie privately believes her grandfather was one of those top Priory members because of what Sophie witnessed years earlier in the Normandy château ritual, but Sophie still withholds the full story from Langdon.
Sophie and Langdon reach Rue Haxo after several passes near Roland Garros. Langdon half-expects a church or Templar landmark, but the address turns out to be the modern Depository Bank of Zurich, marked with a neon equal-armed cross. Langdon realizes the cross is also the symbol of neutral Switzerland, and the mystery shifts: the key opens a Swiss bank deposit box.
Who Appears
- Robert Langdondrives briefly, analyzes the Priory key, and doubts it leads directly to the Grail.
- Sophie Neveutakes over the taxi, challenges Langdon's assumptions, and privately recalls her grandfather's Priory role.