Chapter 15 Chapter Thirteen

Langdon looked at the photo with Saunière's postscript in astonishment, and was speechless for a while.PS: Find Robert Langdon.He felt the floor tilt under his feet.Saunière left my name in the postscript.Whatever he could imagine, Langdon couldn't figure out why. "Now you see why Fache called you here tonight, and why you're the prime suspect?" All Langdon understood at the moment was why Fache looked so smug when Langdon said that Saunière should have written the name of the murderer. Find Robert Langdon. "Why did Saunière write that?" Langdon asked.By this time his confusion had turned to anger. "Why should I kill Jacques Saunière?"

"Fache hasn't found a motive yet, but he has recorded all of your conversation tonight, and he hopes you can reveal the motive." Langdon opened his mouth, but no words came out. "He's got a tiny microphone on him," Sophie explained. "The microphone is connected to a transmitter in his pocket, which sends a radio signal back to command." "That's impossible," Langdon stammered. "I have proof of my alibi. I went back to the hotel immediately after the lecture. You can ask the hotel service desk." "Fache has already inquired." "His report indicates that you retrieved your room key from the porter at about ten-thirty. Unfortunately, the time of the murder was closer to eleven. You can Leave the hotel easily when you arrive.”

"Nonsense! Fache has no proof!" Sophie's eyes widened, as if to say: No evidence? "Mr. Langdon, your name is written on the floor next to the body, and Saunière's diary says he was with you around the time of the murder." She paused. "Fache has enough evidence to detain you and interrogate you." Langdon suddenly realizes he needs a lawyer. "I didn't do it." Sophie sighed. "This is not American television, Mr. Langdon. In France, the law protects the police, not the criminals. Unfortunately, in this case, the media also had to be considered. In Paris, Jacques Saunière was a brilliant and much-loved The man who was murdered will spread early tomorrow morning. Fache will present his case under pressure. There is a suspect in custody and he is looking much better now. Guilty or not, you are sure to be The Central Judiciary Police detain it until they find out the truth."

Langdon felt like a caged animal. "Why are you telling me this?" "Because, Mr. Langdon, I believe you are innocent." Sophie looked away for a moment and then looked at him again. "And it's partly my fault that got you into this trouble." "What did you say? Is it your fault that Saunière framed me?" "Saunière didn't mean to block you. It was a misunderstanding. The text on the floor was written for me." It took Langdon a while to understand the meaning of the sentence. "I did not understand!" "That text wasn't for the police, he was for me. I think he had to do it in a hurry, he didn't expect what the police would think when they saw it." She took a breath, "The digital code Doesn't make sense. Saunière wrote that to make sure that the case investigators would include codebreakers and that I would know what happened to him as soon as possible."

Langdon felt that he really couldn't understand the complicated relationship, and immediately became confused.Regardless of whether Sophie Neveu was actually crazy at the moment, at least Langdon understood why she was trying to help him.PS: Find Langdon.She apparently believed a secret postscript the curator had left her telling her to go find Langdon. "But why do you think that text was addressed to you?" "The Vitruvian Man," she said dryly, "is one of my favorite paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, and he used it to get my attention tonight." "Pause, you said the curator knows what your favorite artwork is?"

She nodded. "I'm sorry, everything is out of order. Jacques Saunière and I..." Sophie choked up, and Langdon could hear a sad, painful past burning deep inside her.Sophie and Jacques Saunière clearly had some kind of special relationship.Langdon took another careful look at the young woman standing in front of him.He was well aware that older French men often sought out younger lovers.Even so, Sophie Neveu doesn't look like a "buddy woman." "We fell out ten years ago." Sophie's voice was low as a whisper. "We've barely spoken since. Tonight, the Cryptography Department got a call saying he'd been murdered. I saw the picture of his body and the writing on the floor and realized he was trying to get me a message. .”

"Because of the Vitruvian Man?" "Yes, and the letters PS." "PostScript - PS?" She shook her head. "PS are my initials." "But your name is Sophie Neveu—Sophie Neveu." She turned her face away. "PS is the nickname he gave me when I lived with him," she said, blushing. "It stands for Princess Sophie—Princess Sophie." Langdon fell silent. "Stupid, I know," she said, "but that was years ago. I was a little girl." "You knew him when you were a little girl?" "I know him so well," she said emotionally, tears welling up in her eyes. "Jacques Saunière was my grandfather."