The Da Vinci Code

CHAPTER 51
Even at a modest sixty kilometers an hour, the dangling front bumper of the armored truck grated 
against the deserted suburban road with a grinding roar, spraying sparks up onto the hood.
We've got to get off the road, Langdon thought.
He could barely even see where they were headed. The truck's lone working headlight had been 
knocked off-center and was casting a skewed sidelong beam into the woods beside the country 
highway. Apparently the armor in this "armored truck" referred only to the cargo hold and not the 
front end.
Sophie sat in the passenger seat, staring blankly at the rosewood box on her lap.
"Are you okay?" Langdon asked.
Sophie looked shaken. "Do you believe him?"
"About the three additional murders? Absolutely. It answers a lot of questions—the issue of your 
grandfather's desperation to pass on the keystone, as well as the intensity with which Fache is 
hunting me."
"No, I meant about Vernet trying to protect his bank."
Langdon glanced over. "As opposed to?"
"Taking the keystone for himself."
Langdon had not even considered it. "How would he even know what this box contains?"
"His bank stored it. He knew my grandfather. Maybe he knew things. He might have decided he 

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wanted the Grail for himself."
Langdon shook his head. Vernet hardly seemed the type. "In my experience, there are only two 
reasons people seek the Grail. Either they are naive and believe they are searching for the long-lost 
Cup of Christ..."
"Or?"
"Or they know the truth and are threatened by it. Many groups throughout history have sought to 
destroy the Grail."
The silence between them accentuated the sound of the scraping bumper. They had driven a few 
kilometers now, and as Langdon watched the cascade of sparks coming off the front of the truck, 
he wondered if it was dangerous. Either way, if they passed another car, it would certainly draw 
attention. Langdon made up his mind.
"I'm going to see if I can bend this bumper back."
Pulling onto the shoulder, he brought the truck to a stop.
Silence at last.
As Langdon walked toward the front of the truck, he felt surprisingly alert. Staring into the barrel 
of yet another gun tonight had given him a second wind. He took a deep breath of nighttime air and 
tried to get his wits about him. Accompanying the gravity of being a hunted man, Langdon was 
starting to feel the ponderous weight of responsibility, the prospect that he and Sophie might 
actually be holding an encrypted set of directions to one of the most enduring mysteries of all time.
As if this burden were not great enough, Langdon now realized that any possibility of finding a 
way to return the keystone to the Priory had just evaporated. News of the three additional murders 
had dire implications. The Priory has been infiltrated. They are compromised. The brotherhood 
was obviously being watched, or there was a mole within the ranks. It seemed to explain why 
Saunière might have transferred the keystone to Sophie and Langdon—people outside the 
brotherhood, people he knew were not compromised. We can't very well give the keystone back to 
the brotherhood. Even if Langdon had any idea how to find a Priory member, chances were good 
that whoever stepped forward to take the keystone could be the enemy himself. For the moment, at 
least, it seemed the keystone was in Sophie and Langdon's hands, whether they wanted it or not.
The truck's front end looked worse than Langdon had imagined. The left headlight was gone, and 
the right one looked like an eyeball dangling from its socket. Langdon straightened it, and it 
dislodged again. The only good news was that the front bumper had been torn almost clean off. 
Langdon gave it a hard kick and sensed he might be able to break it off entirely.

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As he repeatedly kicked the twisted metal, Langdon recalled his earlier conversation with Sophie.