William slept until 5 PM. After waking up, William washed up, put on his coat, and went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. While waiting for his order, William noticed some tourist brochures on a bookshelf in the restaurant. He picked one up and returned to his seat, idly flipping through it.
As he flipped through, William saw an introduction to Rosslyn Chapel in Edinburgh, Scotland. It described the chapel's origins, history, and various sectarian symbols and emblems.
William was surprised to find the symbol of the Priory of Sion in the brochure. A passage from the Oxford Regulations suddenly came to his mind: "Beneath the ancient Rosslyn, the Grail awaits."
"Damn it, why didn't I think of that?" Combining this sentence with the brochure in his hand, William immediately knew where the Holy Grail was. William snapped his fingers at the waitress and ordered the hotel to book him a flight to Edinburgh. He wanted to go there that very night.
Half an hour later, after finishing dinner, the hotel attendant conveniently walked over. "Mr. Devonshire, your private plane is ready and can take off at any time."
"Thank you." William gave the attendant a 20-pound tip, then got into the car provided by the hotel and headed straight to the airport. He had booked a small private jet that could take off at any time.
At 9 PM, William arrived at a Four Seasons hotel in Edinburgh. After a drink, William went straight to bed.
But William didn't know that when Sophie dropped Langdon off at the airport, she unexpectedly saw William getting out of a car in the tarmac and walking towards a private jet from the second-floor observation deck. Undeterred, Sophie used her charm to get information from an airport manager friend, learning from him that William had booked a flight to Edinburgh.
The two quickly decided to follow him, but they weren't as wealthy as William and could only take a flight to Edinburgh at midnight. By the time Sophie and Langdon emerged from the airport around 1 AM, William was already fast asleep.
Sophie looked at Langdon and asked, "What do we do now, Langdon?"
"I kept wondering why William came to Edinburgh, until I saw this on the plane," Langdon said, pulling out an Edinburgh tourist brochure and flipping to the page about Rosslyn Chapel to show Sophie.
"What does this mean?" Sophie asked.
Langdon smiled and said, "Do you remember what Teabing said? The Holy Grail beneath the rose. Rosslyn Chapel is built on the prime meridian, and the prime meridian is marked by a rose on the map. The Devonshire family must have had clues about the Holy Grail, but William just hadn't figured it out before. This morning, at Teabing's house, when we were studying the keystone together, William told us he was hungry and asked if we wanted to come along. Remember?"
Sophie nodded. "We were busy studying the keystone at the time, so we didn't pay attention to him and didn't go. Is there anything strange about that?"
"Yes, it's very strange. William called us twice then. Now that I think about it, William might have already guessed where the Holy Grail was for some reason. And did you notice, when Silas rushed at Teabing, wasn't William's speed in rushing into the archives too fast? He rushed in less than two seconds after Teabing and Silas fell, and he had a gun in his hand, as if he knew Silas would break free from the tape on his hands and feet, and had been waiting outside the archives the whole time," Langdon said.
"Langdon, now that you mention it, it really does seem that way! William really seemed to have been waiting outside the archives," Sophie said in surprise.
"Yes, thinking back now, William should have already known the whereabouts of the Holy Grail at that time. That's why he wasn't at all distressed when the keystone was shattered and the papers inside were destroyed. I had a slight suspicion when I saw his expression then.
I just kept thinking William was solely focused on saving Teabing. But now, recalling it, there was even a hint of joy in William's eyes at the time. His most desired outcome had occurred: the keystone was broken, and the map inside was destroyed. That meant he was the last person in the world to know the secret of the Holy Grail."
"Oh my god!" Sophie suddenly exclaimed. "Doesn't that mean William knew Silas would break free from the tape when he went out, and he even deliberately reminded us twice, wanting us to go out with him, leaving only Teabing?
At that time, William didn't care about Teabing's safety at all. He might have just wanted to be able to legally shoot and kill Silas when Silas held Teabing hostage."
Sophie covered her mouth with both hands: "God, because Silas threatened his family, William never gave up on killing Silas.
It was only because I blocked William's shooting angle when he rushed in that he couldn't fire immediately.
Instead, Silas seized the opportunity to take Teabing hostage, hiding behind Teabing's body, which prevented William from having a chance to shoot?"
Langdon thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "That must be it.
A normal person only needs to ask once if we want a late-night snack.
William is a smart man and wouldn't ask again after we clearly refused, but we were all engrossed in the cryptex at the time and didn't notice.
It seems William isn't entirely cold-blooded; he knew Silas would break free and was worried about our safety, so he called us out."
"God, William is truly a vengeful man.
Just because Silas threatened him a few times, he was determined to kill him, and to do so legally, he completely disregarded Teabing's safety.
God, William is really too dangerous, Langdon.
Do you think if William knew we came to Rosslyn Chapel, he would silence us?" Sophie asked nervously, clutching Langdon's arm.
Langdon became nervous himself after Sophie's words.
He didn't know if William would really silence them both.
"How about we go to Rosslyn Chapel now?"
"But the chapel is already closed at this hour, and we can't get in without a key.
And if the chapel staff found out, we'd go to jail.
There are many antiques in Rosslyn Chapel; the police would treat us as thieves," Sophie said.
"How about we call William now? I'll go meet William alone, and you monitor us from a distance with a camera.
If William tries to kill me, you immediately call the police and then leave.
That way, I can tell him you're secretly recording him with a camera and have already called the police, making him wary and afraid to kill me," Langdon volunteered.
Sophie pondered for a moment and said, "I'll go.
My grandfather is, after all, the Grand Master of the Priory and the guardian of the Holy Grail.
It would be more reasonable for me to go; William might not want to kill me."
Seeing Langdon still hesitating, Sophie immediately decided, "Let's do it this way, Langdon.
William is indeed very likely not to kill me, but you, it's not certain."
Langdon thought, "Let's arrange to meet William in the airport lobby.
We'll buy a camera first.
When William arrives, I'll be on the second floor with my phone and camera, watching you.
As soon as he tries to take you out, I'll immediately shout and attract the airport police."
"Okay, let's do that.
I'll call William," Sophie said, picking up the phone to dial William.
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