The Da Vinci Code

flesh, she was overcome with a horrified bewilderment. His broad, pale back was soaked with

blood-red slashes. Even from here she could see the wounds were fresh.

This man has been mercilessly whipped!

She also saw the bloody cilice around his thigh, the wound beneath it dripping. What kind of God

would want a body punished this way. The rituals of Opus Dei, Sister Sandrine knew, were not

something she would ever understand. But that was hardly her concern at this instant. Opus Dei is

searching for the keystone. How they knew of it, Sister Sandrine could not imagine, although she

knew she did not have time to think. The bloody monk was now quietly donning his cloak again, clutching his prize as he moved toward the altar, toward the Bible. In breathless silence, Sister Sandrine left the balcony and raced down the hall to her quarters.

Getting on her hands and knees, she reached beneath her wooden bed frame and retrieved the sealed envelope she had hidden there years ago. Tearing it open, she found four Paris phone numbers. Trembling, she began to dial. Downstairs, Silas laid the stone tablet on the altar and turned his eager hands to the leather Bible.

His long white fingers were sweating now as he turned the pages. Flipping through the Old Testament, he found the Book of Job. He located chapter thirty-eight. As he ran his finger down the column of text, he anticipated the words he was about to read.

They will lead the way!

Finding verse number eleven, Silas read the text. It was only seven words. Confused, he read it again, sensing something had gone terribly wrong. The verse simply read: HITHERTO SHALT THOU COME, BUT NO FURTHER.

CHAPTER 30

Security warden Claude Grouard simmered with rage as he stood over his prostrate captive in front of the Mona Lisa. This bastard killed Jacques Saunière! Saunière had been like a well-loved father to Grouard and his security team.