The Secret of Secrets: A Novel
by Dan Brown
Contents
Chapter 46
Overview
Langdon heads alone to Petřín Tower after receiving a note claiming Katherine has been taken, and the setting’s history of ritual violence underscores the threat. A cabdriver receives a rare Blue Alert identifying Langdon as a cop-killer and secretly reports him. The tip reaches Pavel—by design through Janáček’s phone—allowing Pavel to arm himself with Janáček’s gun and set an ambush on the isolated hill.
Summary
On the ride up the wooded hill to Petřín Tower, Robert Langdon realizes he is still gripping the note that was slid under Sasha’s door: I have Katherine. Come to Petřín Tower. Langdon reflects on the location’s grim symbolism, recalling lore about Petřín Hill as a place associated with ritual killings of women and later Christian attempts to erase those pagan practices.
Langdon’s ponytailed cabdriver notices Langdon’s nervous focus on the tower and thinks he is simply anxious about heights and the cold. As they climb, the cabbie listens to music on his phone until it is abruptly interrupted by an official public alert.
The alert is coded blue—rare and severe—indicating a law-enforcement officer has been killed and a suspect is at large. When the cabbie sees the suspect photo, he recognizes it as his passenger, Langdon. Keeping calm, the driver calls the number provided and reports Langdon’s location and direction in Czech.
Elsewhere, Lieutenant Pavel—head pounding—rushes from Crucifix Bastion to his ÚZSI sedan and receives the tip directly on Captain Janáček’s phone, which Pavel has been using to control the information flow. Learning Langdon is headed to Petřín Tower, Pavel decides the isolated, early-morning hill is the perfect place to corner him.
Preparing for the confrontation, Pavel retrieves Janáček’s handgun from the glove box and holsters it, fantasizing about using the captain’s weapon to kill Langdon as revenge, convinced Langdon murdered Janáček.
Who Appears
- Robert LangdonTargeted professor; rides to Petřín Tower after note claiming Katherine is captive.
- Lieutenant PavelÚZSI operative; receives tip via Janáček’s phone, arms himself, and moves to ambush Langdon.
- Petřín Hill cabdriverLangdon’s driver; receives Blue Alert and reports Langdon’s route to police.
- KatherineMissing scholar; invoked in the note as hostage motivating Langdon’s meeting.
- Captain JanáčekDead officer; Pavel uses his phone and takes his handgun for revenge plan.