Robert Langdon surfaces in the freezing Vltava after leaping from the Four Seasons, shocked and close to paralysis as the current pulls him away from the hotel. Fighting panic and the first signs of hypothermia, he struggles toward the hotel’s dock, terrified of being swept downstream toward a nearby waterfall.

Langdon reaches the dock, drags himself to a ladder, and collapses onto the landing, shivering and spent. On the terrace above, guests in bathrobes crowd into the snow under emergency lighting, while Langdon can’t stop replaying the image of the trance-like woman with a black radiant crown, a silver spear, and the smell of death.

The hotel manager and a security guard rush down and confront Langdon about pulling the alarm. Unable to explain what he thinks he witnessed without sounding irrational, Langdon claims confusion and ultimately tells the manager he believes the building is safe, prompting the manager to order the alarm shut off as emergency vehicles approach.

Langdon is escorted back through a service entrance and up to the Royal Suite and ordered to stay inside until authorities arrive. Inside, Langdon shuts the open bay window, then realizes his phone is missing—likely lost in the river—just as he goes to use the hotel phone to contact Katherine Solomon.

Langdon finds a handwritten note from Katherine saying she walked to a meeting at Dr. Brigita Gessner’s lab and will return by 10 a.m. Relieved that Katherine is safe, Langdon turns on the shower and climbs in fully clothed to warm up.