Angels and Demons

They arrive in Italy and are collected by a Vatican City helicopter. Vittoria comments on Langdon’s Mickey Mouse watch. The pilot, dressed in traditional Swiss Guard regalia, is unimpressed with Vittoria’s shorts (long pants are a rule in Vatican City), but she has no other clothing with her. They board the helicopter.

Langdon and Vittoria are surprised to see a crowd of reporters outside Vatican City, and they wonder if news of the CERN canister has leaked. The pilot explains that “Il Conclave” is beginning soon to select the next Pope. Langdon realizes with dread that every cardinal from the world is present, and “the entire power structure of the Roman Catholic Church is sitting on a time bomb” (121).

Cardinal Mortati, a 79-year-old cardinal who is in charge of the conclave proceedings, wonders where the four favored cardinals are. It is unusual that they are not present before the proceedings are scheduled to begin. He wants the conclave he is coordinating to be peaceful and brief, and he begins to worry that it might be a longer evening than he expected.

Langdon and Vittoria dismount the helicopter and are taken in a golf cart to the Office of the Swiss Guard. They proceed through a heavy, steel door, which the guard opens with an entry code.

Langdon considers the strange merging of old and new in the Office of the Swiss Guard. There is Renaissance art and lush carpet, but also state-of-the-art technology like phones, computers, and sophisticated headphones. The Commander of the Guard—Olivetti—shows Langdon and Vittoria the live feed of camera 86. Vittoria fearfully notes that the canister’s timer indicates that they have under six hours—until midnight—before the canister loses battery charge and the antimatter comes into contact with the matter, creating an immense explosion.

Vittoria urges the guard to begin searching for the canister immediately. He tells her that they are too busy preparing for the conclave and explains that the device would have been detected by their sensory equipment at the entrances. Vittoria clarifies that antimatter is nonradioactive and has no chemical signature, so it would not be identified by sensory equipment. Olivetti remains obstinate, drawing attention to Vittoria’s shorts, the outlandishness of their claims, and the fact that the Illuminati is no longer in existence.

Vittoria and Langdon demand to be taken to someone in the clergy; Langdon points out that the chamberlain—Il Camerlengo—will be in charge. Olivetti refuses and locks Vittoria and Langdon in the office.

Vittoria decides to call the Camerlengo on Olivetti’s private phone but reaches an answering machine. The guard outside sees them and calls Olivetti on his walkie-talkie.

The Vatican switchboard operator sees a blinking light, indicating a call from an internal extension. He answers and is surprised to hear a woman’s voice—he didn’t expect any women inside Vatican City on the night of the conclave. She demands to be connected to the Camerlengo.

Olivetti returns to his office and snatches the phone from Vittoria. She has been talking to the Camerlengo, who demands that Olivetti brings Langdon and Vittoria to him.

Vittoria and Langdon are taken to the Office of the Pope in the Apostolic Palace to see the Camerlengo, Carlo Ventresca. Langdon is impressed with his poise and charisma. As Vittoria and Langdon explain about the antimatter canister and the murder of Vittoria’s father, Olivetti tries to reassure Ventresca that it is merely an “elaborate hoax” (146).

Vittoria and Langdon continue to explain the seriousness of the situation to Ventresca, and Olivetti continues to assert that Vittoria is not telling the truth. Ventresca interrupts him and insists that Vatican City must be searched. Olivetti continues to object.

The conversation is interrupted when Olivetti is contacted by a guard on his walkie-talkie; they have received a bomb threat, and the caller mentioned antimatter. The caller is still on the line, and Ventresca insists that he be patched through.

The caller is the Hassassin. He claims to be the messenger of the ancient brotherhood of the Illuminati, who have been wronged by the Church for centuries. The caller implies that they recruited someone from the inside to place the antimatter within the Vatican. The caller makes no demands and informs the group that the Vatican will be annihilated.

The Hassassin also tells the group that the Illuminati have taken four precious assets. Olivetti confirms that the four favorites—Cardinal Lemasse from Paris, Cardinal Guidera from Barcelona, Cardinal Edner from Frankfurt, and Cardinal Baggia from Italy—have not arrived at the Sistine Chapel yet. The Camerlengo, angry and worried, points out that they were expected an hour ago.

The Hassassin goes on to refer to “la purga.” Langdon explains that this refers to the murder and branding of four Illuminati scientists in 1668. As revenge, the four cardinals will be symbolically murdered—one every hour starting at eight o’clock. When the Hassassin refers to his murder of Leonardo Vetra, Vittoria angrily interjects, saying that she will find him. He counters that she sounds like a woman of spirit; he is aroused and will try to find her tonight. He ominously hangs up.

Cardinal Mortati continues to wonder at the absence of the four favorites, in particular the principal favorite, Cardinal Baggia. He considers the nature of Ventresca, the Camerlengo, whom he believes to be a true man of God without the ambition that characterizes many other cardinals.

Olivetti apologizes to Ventresca for forsaking his sacred duty to protect the Vatican and its inhabitants. Ventresca suggests that the cardinals should be evacuated. Olivetti insists that the cardinals should be sealed into the conclave as planned to allow them to search the area and avoid panic. The cardinals can be evacuated at a later point if need be. He leaves to start the search for the canister; they have four hours to find it, allowing for two hours to return the canister to its charging port at CERN.

A junior content editor with the BBC receives an anonymous call from someone with a Middle Eastern accent—the Hassassin. He claims that there is a threat to the conclave. The editor gives him the number of the BBC reporter covering the conclave.

Vittoria feels that finding the Illuminati assassin is the key to discovering the canister’s location, as well as the four cardinals. Langdon suddenly has an idea of how to find where the four cardinals will be ceremonially murdered. He asks the Camerlengo permission to access the Vatican’s secret archives. The Camerlengo gives his permission.

Vittoria and Langdon are led to the archives by a guard. Langdon explains to Vittoria that Galileo left clues in a book to navigate a mapped path through Rome. The map uses concealed, symbolic markers—sculptures that look like religious art but are actually tributes to earth, air, fire, and water—to guide Illuminati members to the correct meeting church. They would start at the first church and follow the markers to the Church of Illumination. Langdon explains that the Illuminati called the four churches The Altars of Science. Vittoria recognizes the term as something the Hassassin said on his phone call: “the Illuminati assassin. He wanted that the cardinals would be virgin sacrifices on the altars of science” (182).

The Camerlengo walks slowly toward the conclave, bracing himself to lie to the cardinals. He remembers a distressing scene of flames, falling stone, and blood when the cathedral he was in collapsed when he was 10. He awoke in the hospital and was taken to live in a small monastery. The highly religious Ventresca felt that God had saved him intentionally. Now, decades later, he feels that he is finally living the night for which God saved him.

BBC journalist Gunther Glick feels that the story he is covering—the cardinal’s conclave—is irrelevant and beneath him. Gunther reflects on this and his career concerns with Chinita Macri, his colleague. He receives a call, and the anonymous caller tells Glick that he is about to change his life.

It is one of Langdon’s life dreams to enter the Vatican’s secret archives; he feels thrilled and overwhelmed with the privilege. The dark vaults are interspersed with freestanding glass cases that protect old documents. Langdon searches for Galileo’s work Diagramma, which he believes contains the clue that begins the ancient trail of symbols. Vittoria doubts the plan but has no other ideas.

They find the section of documents pertaining to Galileo. They both struggle to adjust to the lower oxygen and humidity in the large glass box where the shelves of old documents are housed. Langdon warns Vittoria that they can only spend 20 minutes in the space.

Glick tells Macri that he received a tip-off about four cardinals, who are going to be murdered at different churches. He is ashamed to feel excited and hopeful that the tip is true; it would be great for his career. Glick asks Macri to look something up in the BBC database.

Vittoria finds the document. Langdon removes it carefully, and they examine it on a nearby archival examination table. They are stressed and concerned when a mathematical code, which Langdon postulated Galileo would have used to communicate the signs, is not immediately apparent. They both feel increasingly lightheaded.

The Hassassin approaches the four terrified cardinals, who are imprisoned behind iron bars in a stone cubicle. He asks who will go first.

Vittoria finds a line of English: “the path of light is laid, the sacred test” (217). Langdon notes that English wasn’t used by the clergy in the 1600s when Galileo wrote the piece, and he believes they are on the right track. Vittoria realizes that there are three more lines: one in the right margin, one upside down on the top of the page, and another on the left margin. Langdon realizes that the lines are in iambic pentameter—a poetic rhythmic structure containing five pairs of stressed and unstressed syllables. The poem is by John Milton, an English poet and suspected Illuminati member. Langdon reads the poem carefully and feels sure that he understands the meaning. He is shocked when Vittoria takes the page with them outside of the vacuum seal.

Vittoria is impressed that Langdon managed to discern the first altar of science from one reading of the mysterious poem. Langdon explains that the first clue will be at Raphael Santi’s tomb, which is at the Pantheon. They hurry away, but they are stopped by an armed Swiss Guard. Olivetti interrupts, sends the guard away, and demands to know why they were in the secret archives.

Olivetti accompanies Langdon and Vittoria to the Pantheon along with 12 plainclothes Swiss Guards. He is angry and confused with the plan; at one point, he stops the car, saying that it would be impossible to assassinate a cardinal in such a public location. Vittoria convinces him by listing a few possible ways this could be done. Olivetti reluctantly agrees that they should proceed.

Langdon admits that this is likely their only chance; the Church had the sculptures in the building destroyed in the years since Galileo created the map of clues.

Kohler wakes up in the CERN infirmary. He quietly dresses, gets into his wheelchair, and leaves.

Vittoria hears Olivetti’s orders to the Swiss Guards and points out that they have no one inside the Pantheon. She volunteers to go in and call if she sees anything suspicious. Olivetti is reluctant but eventually agrees. They decide that Langdon should go with her. They pose as a couple on vacation. Vittoria puts the gun they are given in Langdon’s coat pocket, with which he is uncomfortable.

Captain Elias Rocher, second in command of the Swiss Guard, explains the mission to the guard. Rookie Lieutenant Chartrand asks what will happen if they do not find the futuristic weapon in time, and Rocher does not respond.

Vittoria and Langdon enter the Pantheon. Langdon is nervous and feels that a lot is riding on his theory. It is 7:50pm.