Summary: Five months before the novel begins, Bishop Aringarosa is called to the Vatican and informed that the Pope no longer wants the Catholic Church to be associated with Opus Dei ( Opus Dei (Latin: "The Work of God") is a controversial Catholic organization founded to promote Christian principles and promote the Church). The Church has decided to give Opus Dei twenty million euros, which it had previously borrowed from Opus Dei. A few weeks later, Aringarosa received a call from Lee Teabing, who disguised himself as a devout Frenchman and called himself "the Master." Teabing tells Aringarosa that he knows how to find the Holy Grail. (The Holy Grail - in legend and literature it is generally believed to be the cup or chalice used by Christ at the Last Supper. It is said to possess miraculous powers.)For twenty million euros - money that Teabing does not need, but uses as cover: Teabing will share the Grail with Aringarosa who can use it to negotiate with the Church. In the meantime, Teabing has bugged the homes and offices of prominent Parisians he suspects of being atop the Priory of Sion. When Teabing has enough information, he tells Silas, the albino monk, to kill the Grand Master and his seneschals. Silas must first demand to know where the keystone is. When he kills the men, they each give him the same incorrect answer. Meanwhile, Harvard professor Robert Langdon is in Paris to give a speech on his research. He is awakened in the middle of the night by Lieutenant Collet because the Parisian police need his help to solve the murder of Jacques Saunière. Police Captain Bezu Fache brings Langdon to the scene because he believes Langdon was responsible for the murder. Before he died, Saunière left a riddle on the ground next to his body that included Langdon's name. At the crime scene, Langdon meets Sophie Neveu, Saunière's granddaughter, although the police only know that she works for the cryptology department. Sophie knows that Langdon is wrongly accused and helps him escape, but not before discovering more clues left by her grandfather. Langdon and Sophie follow Saunière's clues to a Swiss bank where they discover a cryptex. Without knowing that Teabing is the mastermind behind the murders that occurred that evening, Langdon takes Sophie to his house. Teabing is a religious historian and lifelong Grail seeker, as well as a friend of Langdon..