Chapter 2

           "DoIhaveyourattentionnow?"theman’svoicesaidwhenLangdonfinallyansweredtheline.

           "Yes,sir,youdamnwelldo.Youwanttoexplainyourself?"

           "Itriedtotellyoubefore."Thevoicewasrigid,mechanical."I’maphysicist.Irunaresearchfacility.We’vehadamurder.Yousawthebody."

           "Howdidyoufindme?"Langdoncouldbarelyfocus.Hismindwasracingfromtheimageonthefax.

           "Ialreadytoldyou.TheWorldwideWeb.Thesiteforyourbook,TheArtoftheIlluminati."

           Langdontriedtogatherhisthoughts.Hisbookwasvirtuallyunknowninmainstreamliterarycircles,butithaddevelopedquiteafollowingon-line.Nonetheless,thecaller’sclaimstillmadenosense."Thatpagehasnocontactinformation,"Langdonchallenged."I’mcertainofit."

           "IhavepeoplehereatthelabveryadeptatextractinguserinformationfromtheWeb."

           Langdonwasskeptical."SoundslikeyourlabknowsalotabouttheWeb."

           "Weshould,"themanfiredback."Weinventedit."

           Somethingintheman’svoicetoldLangdonhewasnotjoking.

           "Imustseeyou,"thecallerinsisted."Thisisnotamatterwecandiscussonthephone.Mylabisonlyanhour’sflightfromBoston."

           Langdonstoodinthedimlightofhisstudyandanalyzedthefaxinhishand.Theimagewasoverpowering,possiblyrepresentingtheepigraphicalfindofthecentury,adecadeofhisresearchconfirmedinasinglesymbol.

           "It’surgent,"thevoicepressured.

           Langdon’seyeswerelockedonthebrand.Illuminati,hereadoverandover