Origin

The two royal guards find Ambra Vidal’s abandoned phone, which they know has a tracker in it. The agents call museum security, who spot Langdon and Vidal leaving the museum.

Perspective moves to Langdon as he climbs scaffolding beside Vidal inside the dome’s outer casing. Winston has created the perfect diversion, posing as security to fool the guards and lure them away. Winston warns Langdon that he could be in danger from the assassin, but as Langdon steps out of the museum his connection to the AI device is cut.

Admiral Ávila is in the Uber the Regent arranged for him. He tossed the driver’s phone and threatened to kill his family, and he now sits relaxed in the backseat for the drive to Madrid.

The Guardia Real is Spain’s elite royal protective force, and at its head is Commander Diego Garza. He goes to Prince Julián’s rooms, only to find him distraught about Vidal. The prince asks for Valdespino, who Garza dislikes because he sees Valdespino as self-serving. He cautions the prince about Valdespino, only to have the Bishop appear behind him and say that Spain needs religion now, more than ever.

Rabbi Köves dreams that he leaves his home in Budapest and goes to Chain Bridge, covered in lover’s locks, only to be confronted by a boy whose mouth projects electronic noise and whose eyes project pure light. He awakens from the dream in his room to a ringing phone. A women tells him Valdespino has killed Kirsch and al-Fadl, and that he’s next.

Langdon comforts Vidal, who is angry that Prince Julián asked her to add Ávila to the guest list. Langdon suggests the prince might be innocent. They wait under a bridge until a water taxi arranged by Winston appears and whisks them to the Bilbao airport, where Kirsch’s private jet awaits.

Royal Spanish Guard Commander Garza is informed that Langdon and Vidal escaped the Guggenheim and are on the loose without her tracking device. He instructs the guards to bring her to Madrid. Mónica Martín, who is responsible for palace public relations, approaches and tells Garza that Valdespino met with Kirsch three days ago, and that she has more intel. They arrange to meet again in secret.

Perspective switches to Valdespino, who tells the prince that Garza is lying to him.

ConspiracyNet asks what Kirsch’s discovery was and who killed the futurist. They claim to have exclusive information coming shortly from a trusted informant.

Ambra Vidal recalls how the prince called the front desk and asked to add Admiral Ávila to the guest list. Vidal did not speak with the prince directly, but rather added Ávila without a security check as asked. She realizes the request might not have come from her fiancé after all. She tells Langdon that Winston can be accessed via phone call, and they power on their phones. Winston tells them the royal palace will be tracking Langdon’s phone and to toss it. Kirsch’s phone is untraceable.

In the car, Ávila gets a call to divert to Barcelona to stop Langdon and Vidal from accessing Kirsch’s home computer and sharing the announcement. He recalls the attack on the cathedral that killed his pregnant wife and son. In grief, he turned to drinking and drugs and was forcibly retired from the navy. He tried to die by suicide, but only succeeded in shooting himself in the leg. In the hospital, he met a rehab trainer named Marcos who was also in the cathedral blast. Marcos took him to meet the pope the next day.

Garza meets with Mónica Martín, who tells him that ConspiracyNet is about to release Ávila’s name and photo and a close up of the tattoo on his hand, the symbol of Franco, a brutal Spanish dictator. Those with the symbol of Franco are rumored to be ardent followers of a conservative, fascist sect determined to bring back the old ways. ConspiracyNet asserts that the royal palace may be involved in Kirsch’s murder, via Bishop Valdespino.

Captain Josh Siegal pilots Kirsch’s private jet to the end of the runway under Winston’s instruction and then waits for further direction.

The water taxi stops, discharging Langdon and Vidal. Winston directs them through a town and a field to the waiting jet at the end of the runway, which is blocked by a tall fence.

Switching perspective, the pilot recognizes Langdon and Vidal immediately. Winston directs him to drive the plane through the fence in order to save Spain’s future queen from certain death.

From Langdon’s perspective, the plane pushes over the fence and they scamper over and board the plane bound for Barcelona.

Startled by the phone call, Rabbi Köves leaves his home for the safety of the synagogue. He is followed, mired in fear and doubt, and boards a bus. The man following him boards as well. When the Rabbi gets off, so too does his pursuer.

From the assassin’s perspective, ducking into an alcove, he prepares a syringe.

Commander Diego Garza rushes to warn the prince about the phone call between Rabbi Köves and a mysterious woman whistleblower, which implicates Bishop Valdespino. ConspiracyNet’s latest article claims Valdespino, a possible Francoist, is the only known survivor of the three religious figures who met with Kirsch. Garza enters the prince’s rooms only to find both Valdespino and Prince Julián gone.

On the private jet, Langdon recalls the events of the day, pondering the two questions Kirsch claimed to have solved: human origin and destiny. Vidal suggests Kirsch may have found a third possibility to creation or Darwinism. They discuss this with Winston in depth, arriving at no new conclusions about Kirsch’s discovery.

The assassin following Rabbi Köves was hired on the dark web, paid via Bitcoin. He sends a text to his unknown client, who responds, “execute” (191).

The novel switches perspective to Rabbi Köves, who slips into a bar, trying to hide from his stalker. Standing on a busy bar balcony, he looks down and sees his pursuer looking up at him.

The assassin runs upstairs and hears Rabbi Köves on the phone with the police. He breaks down the door, throws the Rabbi’s phone in the toilet and watches as the Rabbi has a heart attack. Rabbi Köves opens his eyes—only to see the assassin smiling down at him. The assassin injects him with poison, killing him.

Ambra Vidal recalls how she met Prince Julián at an art gallery and describes their brief courtship. Julián proposed on live television, leaving Vidal with little choice but to accept rather than humiliate the prince of Spain. In the car afterwards, she told the prince she is infertile and cannot give him an heir.

Mónica Martín is in her office thinking about her PR nightmare when Garza storms in and demands the team focus their resources on finding Prince Julián and Bishop Valdespino. Suresh Bhalla is a security officer working closely with Martín. He is searching through electronic records and security footage. Suresh finds the bishop and prince on a security feed. Martín believes Valdespino has Prince Julián as hostage.

In the latest ConspiracyNet post, Ávila is tied directly to the pope.

A royal guard at the Guggenheim gets a call informing him that Vidal and Langdon are aboard Kirsch’s private jet heading to Barcelona, and to pursue them, capturing Vidal regardless of cost to life and property.

ConspiracyNet states that over 80 million people are following mainstream coverage of the manhunt.

Aboard Kirsch’s private jet, Vidal has shared her courtship story with Langdon, who believes Prince Julián to be innocent of Kirsch’s murder. Winston tells them the Rabbi and Imam who met with Kirsch have been found dead, and that Valdespino has a direct link to Ávila. Valdespino is the only living person who knows Kirsch’s discovery.

From Vidal’s perspective, they land in Barcelona and transition to Kirsch’s beloved Tesla.

Admiral Ávila recalls meeting the “pope” after leaving the hospital. He and Marco traveled to an out-of-the-way cathedral in rural Spain called the Palmarian Church, home of the Palmarian sect, which had elected their own pope to counter what they viewed as a mainstream, modern and heretical pope. Ávila and Marco debated the rumors about the church’s cult-like status and secret funding before meeting directly with the “pope.”

Langdon drives Kirsch’s Tesla to Barcelona, driving past Parc Guell, art created by Antoni Gaudí, a modernist and Kirsch’s favorite artist. Kirsch’s home is the penthouse of a Gaudí building called Casa Mila, the perfect blend of nature and art.

Commander Diego Garza rushes to the cathedral to search for Prince Julián and Bishop Valdespino.

Mónica Martín is watching news coverage of the fiasco when an aide tells her Valdespino called to ask him to try to trace the call from the palace to Vidal earlier that night. Only Garza and Prince Julia have the ability to delete a phone record. They watch security footage of Julián and Valdespino being whisked out of the back of the cathedral in an old car.

Langdon and Vidal arrive at Casa Mila, a Gaudí masterpiece of architecture and Kirsch’s home, to find media trucks blocking the entrance.

Perspective moves to blogger Hector Marcano, following the Kirsch story. He recognizes Kirsch’s Tesla immediately, but when it is revealed to be empty, the crowd applauds the sad sight.

Meanwhile, Ambra and Langdon are lying on the Tesla floor, invisible from the exterior of the car. They climb out of hiding and Winston explains that he was named after Winston Churchill, who Kirsch saw as a “renaissance man.”

Perspective moves back to Garza, who is informed that Prince Julián and Bishop Valdespino have left the cathedral. As he talks to Martín on the phone, four guards arrive and place Garza under arrest.

In Kirsch’s apartment, a massive painting by Paul Gauguin dominates the decor. In the corner of the artwork is written: “Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?” (236). Langdon also finds poetry from Nietzsche, and more art by Gaudí. In Kirsch’s bathroom, Langdon finds proof that Kirsch was dying of pancreatic cancer.

Vidal searches Kirsch’s library while Winston informs her that the royal palace has not released a statement, conspiracy theorists are picketing, and some are asking if Vidal and Langdon might be involved in Kirsch’s murder. Langdon tells Vidal about Kirsch’s cancer, which Winston confirms. Winston then says that Kirsch had less than nine days to live. Winston tells them a royal plane just landed in Barcelona: they are being pursued.

Perspective moves to Bishop Valdespino, who directs the car to the prince’s cottage in rural Madrid. However, he has no intention of taking Prince Julián there.