Robert Langdon, #2
The Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown
Contents
CHAPTER 32
Overview
Sophie and Langdon escape the Louvre in Sophie’s SmartCar and head for the embassy, but the police anticipate them and block the route. During the drive, Langdon links Saunière’s clue to Leonardo’s controversial symbolism, while Sophie reveals that the hidden object is a sophisticated P.S.-marked key.
The chapter also exposes the source of Sophie’s estrangement from her grandfather: years earlier, she discovered a secret masked ritual beneath his Normandy château and fled his life forever. This memory deepens the mystery around Saunière, the key, and the organization marked by P.S.
Summary
Langdon and Sophie burst out of the Louvre into the Paris night as alarms sound and police sirens approach. Sophie drives them away in her tiny SmartCar, taking curbs and sharp turns through the Carrousel du Louvre and onto Rue de Rivoli, while Langdon narrowly prevents her from cutting across the hidden inverted pyramid skylight.
Once the police seem to be gathering at the museum rather than following them, Langdon reflects on Saunière’s use of Madonna of the Rocks. Langdon connects the painting to Leonardo da Vinci’s subversive symbolism and explains its controversial imagery, reinforcing the idea that Saunière’s clues are built around Leonardo’s darker, unorthodox side.
Langdon asks what Sophie found behind the painting. Sophie says she will show him once they are safely inside the embassy, then reveals that the object is a physical key embossed with a fleur-de-lis and the initials P.S. Langdon is startled because he had already described that seal without seeing the key.
As Sophie drives toward the diplomatic neighborhood, Sophie studies the key in her memory and recognizes it as a sophisticated laser-tooled security key. The key’s Christian-looking cross shape confuses her because she does not believe her grandfather was Christian, a conviction rooted in a traumatic discovery from ten years earlier.
The narrative shifts into Sophie’s memory: returning early from graduate school, she surprised Saunière by going to his Normandy château. Although expensive cars filled the driveway, the house seemed empty and silent. After entering with a spare key, Sophie heard chanting beneath the house, found a hidden sliding door behind a tapestry, and descended to a torchlit grotto where masked men and women were gathered in a ritual. Horrified by what she saw at the center of the circle, she fled, left Saunière a note saying she had been there and not to find her, and broke with him.
Langdon pulls Sophie out of the memory by warning her to stop. Ahead, DCPJ police cars have blocked Avenue Gabriel and cut off the route to the embassy. Sophie calmly turns the SmartCar around, but the officers notice them, sirens flare, and she accelerates away again.
Who Appears
- Sophie NeveuDrives the escape, reveals the key, and recalls her traumatic discovery at Saunière’s château.
- Robert LangdonEscapes with Sophie, interprets Leonardo symbolism, and reacts to the P.S.-marked key.
- Jacques SaunièreAppears in Sophie’s memory as the grandfather whose secret ritual shattered her trust.
- DCPJ officersBlock the route to the embassy and force Sophie and Langdon to flee again.