Chapter 79

Lieutenant¹ Collet helped himself to a Perrier from Teabing's refrigerator and strode back outthrough the drawing room. Rather than accompanying Fache to London where the action was, hewas now baby-sitting the PTS team that had spread out through Chateau² Villette.

　　So far, the evidence they had uncovered was unhelpful: a single bullet buried in the floor; a paperwith several symbols scrawled³ on it along with the words blade and chalice⁴; and a bloody⁵ spikedbelt that PTS had told Collet was associated with the conservative Catholic group Opus Dei, whichhad caused a stir recently when a news program exposed their aggressive recruiting practices inParis.

　　Collet sighed. Good luck making sense of this unlikely mélange.

　　Moving down a lavish⁶ hallway, Collet entered the vast ballroom⁷ study, where the chief PTSexaminer was busy dusting for fingerprints⁸. He was a corpulent man in suspenders.

　　"Anything?" Collet asked, entering.

　　The examiner shook his head. "Nothing new. Multiple sets matching those in the rest of the house.""How about the prints on the cilice belt?""Interpol is still working. I uploaded everything we found."Collet motioned to two sealed evidence bags on the desk. "And this?"The man shrugged⁹. "Force of habit. I bag anything peculiar¹⁰."Collet walked over. Peculiar?

　　"This Brit's a strange one," the examiner said. "Have a look at this." He sifted¹¹ through the evidencebags and selected one, handing it to Collet.

　　The photo showed the main entrance of a Gothic cathedral—the traditional, recessed¹² archway,narrowing through multiple, ribbed layers to a small doorway¹³.

　　Collet studied the photo and turned. "This is peculiar?""Turn it over."On the back, Collet found notations¹⁵ scrawled in English, describing a cathedral's long hollow naveas a secret pagan tribute to a woman's womb. This was strange. The notation¹⁴ describing thecathedral's doorway, however, was what startled him. "Hold on! He thinks a cathedral's entrancerepresents a woman's..."The examiner nodded. "Complete with receding¹⁶ labial¹⁷ ridges¹⁸ and a nice little cinquefoil clitorisabove the doorway." He sighed. "Kind of makes you want to go back to church."Collet picked up the second evidence bag. Through the plastic, he could see a large glossyphotograph of what appeared to be an old document. The heading at the top read:

　　Les Dossiers Secrets—Number 4° lm1 249"What's this?" Collet asked.

　　"No idea. He's got copies of it all over the place, so I bagged it."Collet studied the document.

　　PRIEURE DE SIGN—LES NAUTONIERS/GRAND MASTERSJEAN DE GISORS1188-1220MARIE DE SAINT-CLAIR1220-1266GUILLAUME DE GlSORS1266-1307EDOUARD DE BAR1307-1336JEANNE DE BAR1336-1351JEAN DE SAINT-CLAIR1351-1366BLANCE D'EVREUX1366-1398NICOLAS FLAMEL1398-1418RENE D'ANJOU1418-1480IOLANDE DE BAR1480-1483SANDRO BOTTICELLI1483-1510LEONARDO DA VINCI1510-1519CONNETABLE DE BOURBON1519-1527FERDINAND DE GONZAQUE1527-1575LOUIS DE NEVERS1575-1595ROBERT FLUDD1595-1637J. VALENTIN ANDREA1637-1654ROBERT BOYLE1654-1691ISAAC NEWTON1691-1727CHARLES RADCLYFFE1727-1746CHARLES DE LORRAINE1746-1780MAXIMILIAN DE LORRAINE1780-1801CHARLES NODIER1801-1844VICTOR HUGO1844-1885CLAUDE DEBUSSY1885-1918JEAN COCTEAU1918-1963Prieuré de Sion? Collet wondered.

　　"Lieutenant?" Another agent stuck his head in. "The switchboard has an urgent call for CaptainFache, but they can't reach him. Will you take it?"Collet returned to the kitchen and took the call.

　　It was André Vernet.

　　The banker's refined accent did little to mask the tension in his voice. "I thought Captain Fache saidhe would call me, but I have not yet heard from him.""The captain is quite busy," Collet replied. "May I help you?""I was assured I would be kept abreast¹⁹ of your progress tonight."For a moment, Collet thought he recognized the timbre²⁰ of the man's voice, but he couldn't quiteplace it. "Monsieur Vernet, I am currently in charge of the Paris investigation²¹. My name isLieutenant Collet."There was a long pause on the line. "Lieutenant, I have another call coming in. Please excuse me. Iwill call you later." He hung up.

　　For several seconds, Collet held the receiver. Then it dawned on him. I knew I recognized thatvoice! The revelation made him gasp²².

　　The armored car driver.

　　With the fake Rolex.

　　Collet now understood why the banker had hung up so quickly. Vernet had remembered the nameLieutenant Collet—the officer he blatantly²³ lied to earlier tonight.

　　Collet pondered the implications of this bizarre development. Vernet is involved. Instinctively²⁴, heknew he should call Fache. Emotionally, he knew this lucky break was going to be his moment toshine.

　　He immediately called Interpol and requested every shred²⁵ of information they could find on theDepository Bank of Zurich and its president, André Vernet.

科莱中尉从提彬家的冰箱里拿了一瓶毕雷矿泉水，然后迈着大步从客厅走回去。他没有跟法希去伦参与这次行动，而是留在维莱特庄园监管已在庄园里展开活动的PTS 工作小组。

到目前为止，他们所找到的证据根本没有任何用处。他们在地板里发现了一发子弹，还找到一张纸，上面潦草地画了些符号，还谢有"剑刃"以及"圣杯"等字样；还有一条血迹斑斑带有钉子的皮带，PTS 曾经告诉过科莱，这跟保守的天主教会团体--天主事工会有联系，该团体最近引起了一阵骚动，因为有媒体披露了他们在巴黎大肆招收教徒的内幕。

科莱叹了口气。但愿好运能让这些杂七杂八的东西变得有意义起来。科莱沿着空旷的走廊走去，进入宽阔的交际舞厅。PTS 的主检察官正在厅里忙着掸去指纹留下的印痕。他是一位体形肥胖、身着背带裤的男人。

"发现了什么没有？"科莱走进去问道。

检察官摇了摇头："我还没发现什么新东西。这栋房子其他地方有的东西这里都有。"

"那粗布带上的印迹呢？"

"国际刑警组织为此还在忙呢。我把找到的东西都交到上面去了。"

科莱向桌上放着的两个封好了的证据袋做了个手势："那这是怎么一回事？"

男人耸了耸肩："习惯使然。我每次看到古怪的玩意儿时，都要用袋子装起来。"

克莱走过去。古怪的玩意儿？

"这位英国人真怪。你看看这个吧。"检察官在证据袋里翻了一通，然后挑出一样东西，递给了科莱。

科莱看到照片上有扇哥特式教堂的大门，这是一座传统的、凹进去的拱门，它被分成了几层，越往上就越窄，直至变成了很小的通道。

科莱端详着张照片，转身问他："你觉得这个奇怪吗？"

"翻过来看看吧。"

科莱在照片背面看到用英语歪歪扭扭写的一些符号，它们把教堂那长而空荡荡的中殿描绘成异教徒私下献给女人子宫的赞礼。这就怪了。不过，那个描述教堂通道的符号倒是让他吃了一惊。"忍耐一下吧！他认为教堂大门代表女人的……"

检察官点点头，说："这个符号，形成了一道完整的向后倾斜的唇齿槽，颇像一个小而好看的梅花形阴蒂刻在大门的上方。"他叹了一口气："它似乎是在召唤你回教堂里去呢。"科莱捡起第二个证据袋。透过塑料袋，他看到一幅巨大而光滑的相片，看起来像是一份年代久远的文件。最顶上的标题是这样的：多西耶秘密--编号4lm"249.

"这是什么？"科莱问道。

"不知道，他这里还有很多份呢，所以我装了一份在袋子里。"

科莱认真地研究那份文件。

郇山隐修会历任长老以及大师的名单：让。德。吉索尔1188-1220玛丽。德。圣辛克莱1220-1266纪尧姆。德。吉索尔1266-1307爱德华。德巴尔1307-1336让娜。德巴尔1336-1351让。德。圣辛科莱1351-1366布朗斯。德。埃夫勒1366-1398尼古拉斯。弗莱默尔1398-1418勒内。德安茹1418-1480约兰德。德巴尔1480-1483桑德罗。波提切利1483-1510列昂纳多。达。芬奇1510-1519科内塔布勒。德。波旁1519-1527费尔迪南。德。贡扎克1527-1575路易。德。内韦尔1575-1595罗伯特。弗拉德1595-1637 J.瓦伦丁。安德烈亚1637-1654罗伯特。博伊尔1654-1691艾撒克。牛顿1691-1727查尔斯。拉德克利夫1727-1746夏尔。德洛兰1746-1780麦克西米莲。德洛兰1780-1801查尔斯。诺迪耶1801-1844维克多。雨果1844-1885克劳德。德彪西1885-1918让。考克托1918-1963郇山隐修会？科莱疑惑不解。

"中尉在吗？"另一位特工从外面探进头来问道。"电话总机处有个紧急电话要找法希上尉，但他们又找不到他，你要不要接一下？"

科莱回到厨房，操起了电话。

电话原来是安德烈。韦尔内打来的。

这位银行家优雅的腔调丝毫掩饰不了他内心的紧张情绪。"我原以为法希上尉会打电话给我呢，可我至今还没听到他的任何消息。""上尉忙得很呐。"科莱回答道："有什么事吗？"

"我相信今晚跟得上你们的进度。"

科莱有一阵子以为听出了这位男人的声音，但一时却难以对上号。"韦尔内先生，我现在巴黎接管调查工作，我是科莱中尉。"韦尔内在电话另一端沉默了良久，才说："中尉，我有电话要接，还请你多多包涵，以后我再给你打电话吧。"说完，他便挂了电话。

科莱将电话听筒握了好几秒钟，接着就想起来。"我认出了那个声音了！"这个新发现令他透不过气来。

他就是那位装甲车司机。戴着一块冒牌的"劳力士"手表。

科莱终于明白了这位银行家为何这么快就挂上电话。韦尔内想必也记起了科莱中尉的名字--今晚早些时候，他曾明目张胆的欺骗了这位警方的官员。

科莱寻思着这种奇异变化所隐藏的各种含义。韦尔内参与进来了。他本能的知道，他应该给法希打个电话，但在感情上，他知道这个幸运的变化将有助于他出尽风头。

他立刻打电话给国际刑警组织，要他们尽其所能帮忙查询任何有关苏黎世储蓄银行及其总裁韦尔内的信息。

1 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

2 chateau   

n.城堡，别墅

参考例句：

• The house was modelled on a French chateau.这房子是模仿一座法国大别墅建造的。
• The chateau was left to itself to flame and burn.那府第便径自腾起大火燃烧下去。

3 scrawled   

乱涂，潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I tried to read his directions, scrawled on a piece of paper. 我尽量弄明白他草草写在一片纸上的指示。
• Tom scrawled on his slate, "Please take it -- I got more." 汤姆在他的写字板上写了几个字：“请你收下吧，我多得是哩。”

4 chalice   

n.圣餐杯；金杯毒酒

参考例句：

• He inherited a poisoned chalice when he took over the job as union leader.他接手工会领导职务，看似风光，实则会给他带来很多麻烦。
• She was essentially feminine,in other words,a parasite and a chalice.她在本质上是个女人，换句话说，是一个食客和一只酒杯。

5 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

6 lavish   

adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍

参考例句：

• He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
• The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。

7 ballroom   

n.舞厅

参考例句：

• The boss of the ballroom excused them the fee.舞厅老板给他们免费。
• I go ballroom dancing twice a week.我一个星期跳两次交际舞。

8 fingerprints   

n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Everyone's fingerprints are unique. 每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。
• They wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints behind (them). 他们戴着手套，以免留下指纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

11 sifted   

v.筛( sift的过去式和过去分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审

参考例句：

• She sifted through her papers to find the lost letter. 她仔细在文件中寻找那封丢失的信。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She sifted thistles through her thistle-sifter. 她用蓟筛筛蓟。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 recessed   

v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的过去式和过去分词 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭

参考例句：

• My rooms were large, with deeply recessed windows and painted, eighteenth-century panellin. 我住的房间很宽敞，有向里凹陷很深的窗户，油漆过的十八世纪的镶花地板。 来自辞典例句
• The Geneva meeting recessed while Kennety and Khrushchev met in Vienna. 肯尼迪同赫鲁晓夫在维也纳会晤时，日内瓦会议已经休会。 来自辞典例句

13 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

14 notation   

n.记号法，表示法，注释；[计算机]记法

参考例句：

• Music has a special system of notation.音乐有一套特殊的标记法。
• We shall find it convenient to adopt the following notation.采用下面的记号是方便的。

15 notations   

记号，标记法( notation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was frowning and wishing he could decode the notations on the slips. 他皱着眉，挖空心思地想认出赌签上的记号。 来自教父部分
• In section 2, we give some notations and some lemmas. 在本文第二部分，我们给出一些符号及引理。

16 receding   

v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• Desperately he struck out after the receding lights of the yacht. 游艇的灯光渐去渐远，他拼命划水追赶。 来自辞典例句
• Sounds produced by vehicles receding from us seem lower-pitched than usual. 渐渐远离我们的运载工具发出的声似乎比平常的音调低。 来自辞典例句

17 labial   

adj.唇的；唇音的；n.唇音，风琴管

参考例句：

• Why to eat mango to you can cause labial allergy?吃芒果为什么会引发嘴唇过敏？
• I feel my labial color fantastic!我感觉自己的唇色棒极了！

18 ridges   

n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊

参考例句：

• The path winds along mountain ridges. 峰回路转。
• Perhaps that was the deepest truth in Ridges's nature. 在里奇斯的思想上，这大概可以算是天经地义第一条了。

19 abreast   

adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地

参考例句：

• She kept abreast with the flood of communications that had poured in.她及时回复如雪片般飞来的大批信件。
• We can't keep abreast of the developing situation unless we study harder.我们如果不加强学习，就会跟不上形势。

20 timbre   

n.音色，音质

参考例句：

• His voice had a deep timbre.他嗓音低沉。
• The timbre of the violin is far richer than that of the mouth organ.小提琴的音色远比口琴丰富。

21 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

22 gasp   

n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说

参考例句：

• She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
• The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。

23 blatantly   

ad.公开地

参考例句：

• Safety guidelines had been blatantly ignored. 安全规章被公然置之不顾。
• They walked grandly through the lobby, blatantly arm in arm, pretending they were not defeated. 他们大大方方地穿过门厅，故意炫耀地挎着胳膊，假装他们没有被打败。

24 instinctively   

adv.本能地

参考例句：

• As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 shred   

v.撕成碎片，变成碎片；n.碎布条，细片，些少

参考例句：

• There is not a shred of truth in what he says.他说的全是骗人的鬼话。
• The food processor can shred all kinds of vegetables.这架食品加工机可将各种蔬菜切丝切条。