Robert Langdon, #2
The Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown
Contents
CHAPTER 23
Overview
Sophie returns to the Mona Lisa with a black light and finds Langdon still inside, where his questions force her to recall a childhood discovery: Saunière's mysterious golden key marked P.S. and a fleur-de-lis. Langdon identifies the symbol as the emblem of the Priory of Sion, linking Saunière to an ancient secret society tied to Leonardo da Vinci, the sacred feminine, and a hidden secret of great power.
The revelation reframes Saunière's clues as part of a much older mystery and deepens Sophie's personal conflict over her grandfather's secrets. Meanwhile, Fache realizes he has been misled by the planted tracker, increasing the danger for Sophie and Langdon.
Summary
Sophie reaches the doors of the Salle des Etats, where the Mona Lisa is displayed, and is overcome by grief and guilt at seeing Saunière's body still lying down the hall. Remembering that any hidden message may require ultraviolet light, Sophie returns to the crime scene, takes a black-light pen from the forensic equipment, and hurries back.
Inside the Salle des Etats, Sophie finds Langdon still there despite her warning to flee. Langdon urgently asks whether the initials P.S. ever appeared anywhere else in her grandfather's life. Sophie closes the doors to keep their voices from carrying and begins to remember a childhood incident involving those initials.
In Sophie's memory, she searches her grandfather's room before her ninth birthday and discovers a strange golden key hidden in a drawer. The key has a cross-shaped head marked with intertwined P.S. initials and a fleur-de-lis. Saunière catches Sophie, warns her to respect privacy, and later turns the incident into a lesson softened by affection: after a birthday treasure hunt that ends with a bicycle, Saunière tells Sophie the key opens a box containing important secrets and promises that one day it will be hers if Sophie never speaks of it.
Back in the museum, Sophie decides that Saunière's instruction to find Robert Langdon means she can reveal the secret. When Sophie confirms that the initials appeared with a fleur-de-lis, Langdon identifies the emblem as the device of the Priory of Sion, an ancient secret brotherhood. Langdon explains that the Priory has included figures such as Botticelli, Newton, Victor Hugo, and Leonardo da Vinci, and that it is associated with goddess iconology, the sacred feminine, and guardianship of a powerful ancient secret.
Sophie is shaken because Langdon's explanation seems to connect with a traumatic event she witnessed ten years earlier involving her grandfather. Langdon, meanwhile, becomes absorbed in the symbolic connection among the fleur-de-lis, Lisa, the Mona Lisa, Leonardo, and the Priory. Elsewhere near the Seine, Fache angrily discovers the tracking ploy and throws a bar of soap into the river.
Who Appears
- Sophie NeveuRetrieves a black light, recalls Saunière’s secret key, and wrestles with guilt and trust.
- Robert LangdonIdentifies P.S. and the fleur-de-lis as the Priory of Sion’s emblem.
- Jacques SaunièreAppears in Sophie’s memory as a loving but secretive grandfather guarding a mysterious key.
- Captain Bezu FacheRealizes the tracking device was hidden on soap and reacts with furious frustration.
- Trailor truck driverHeld at gunpoint while Fache discovers the deception involving the tracker.