The Secret of Secrets: A Novel
by Dan Brown
Contents
Chapter 88
Overview
Ambassador Heide Nagel returns to the U.S. embassy alone and acting unusually, then sends an email guided by a note she has kept on her person. Sergeant Kerble delivers a scanned envelope written on kitten stationery taken from Ms. Vesna’s apartment, confirming the killer is still communicating directly with Nagel. After reading the brief message, Nagel’s stunned reaction and request for privacy suggest the letter contains a troubling pressure point or demand.
Summary
Outside the U.S. embassy in Prague, Sergeant Scott Kerble waits in the cold for Ambassador Heide Nagel’s vehicle, only to be startled when she arrives alone on foot. Nagel apologizes and insists everything is fine, though Kerble senses the recent death of Michael Harris has shaken her.
Upstairs in her office, Nagel quickly sheds her coat, drinks water, and then types at her computer while carefully consulting a paper pulled from her pocket. After she sends an outbound email, she turns her attention back to Kerble and asks whether an envelope he is carrying has been cleared.
Kerble confirms the envelope passed the embassy’s safety scan and hands it over. Nagel notices the envelope is decorated with a “basket of kittens” logo and reacts with disbelief when Kerble explains the killer used stationery taken from Ms. Vesna’s apartment.
Nagel opens the letter, reads the short message, and immediately goes silent. After a tense pause staring out the window, she turns back to Kerble and dismisses him, saying she needs privacy.
Who Appears
- Heide NagelU.S. ambassador; returns alone, sends an email, reads a threatening letter, demands privacy.
- Sergeant Scott KerbleNagel’s lead security detail; scans and delivers the killer’s envelope, observes her erratic behavior.
- Ms. VesnaReferenced victim/source of the kitten stationery the killer used to write Nagel.
- Michael HarrisDead attaché mentioned as a shock contributing to Nagel’s unsettled state.