Crypts, St. Dunstan-in-the-East – 2:41 p.m.
The air grew colder as Langdon and Lenka descended into the darkness beneath the ruined church. The spiral stairs gave way to a narrow corridor lit by flickering torch sconces—recently used. Someone had been here.
Along the stone walls, Langdon recognized sigils: the Eye of Horus, the Hermetic caduceus, and a stylized ouroboros—symbols of inner transformation. This was no crypt. It was an initiation chamber.
At the end of the corridor, they found a stone dais.
Atop it rested a thick, leather-bound book—its cover scorched.
Langdon opened it.
Inside: a detailed drawing of a device—Katherine's cube. Except this sketch was centuries old. A precursor. At the base, it was labelled:
"Corpus Mentis: The Chamber of Thought." Next to it was a Latin phrase:
"Mentem universam attingere est divinitatem attingere."
To touch the universal mind is to touch the divine.
Lenka pointed to a page tucked between the drawings.
It was a telegram.
Modern. Dated two days earlier.
To: Lucius Solomon From: Inner Custodian Subject: Breach "The chamber has been discovered. The carrier must be neutralized. By midnight, New York time." Langdon's mouth went dry.
Lenka whispered, "Lucius Solomon… Katherine's father?" Langdon nodded slowly. "And 'the carrier'… must be Katherine." Suddenly, a rustle echoed down the corridor.
They weren't alone.
Lenka drew her weapon as the shadows coalesced into a tall figure cloaked in black—his face concealed by a porcelain mask painted with a spiral sun.
He held a blade shaped like a crescent moon.
Langdon recognized it instantly.
"The Knife of Ammon," he said, voice trembling.
The man stepped forward silently and pointed to the book.
Then he spoke, his voice calm and cold.
"The chamber she seeks lies where the living die to remember… beneath the silence of stone and sky." Langdon stared.
That line… he knew it.
A riddle carved above the entrance to the Columbia University Chapel.
New York.