Page 22 of The Secret of Secrets

“How nice of you,” Janáček grumbled. “And this relates to your evacuation stunt how?”

Langdon fell silent, formulating how best to explain it. Then, steeling himself for their response, he spoke the truth. “Katherine’s nightmare,” he said as calmly as possible. “She dreamed there was a deadly explosion…in this hotel.”

Langdon could see that neither Janáček nor Harris had anticipated this response.

“That’s obviously quite alarming…” Harris said quietly. “But the woman…on the bridge? Why did you run when you saw her?”

Langdon sighed, speaking slowly. “Because in Katherine’s dream, a woman appeared beside our bed in this suite. She was dressed in black and was wearing…” Langdon pointed to the image on the iPad. “Exactly this—a black spiked headpiece. And she was carrying a silver spear. The woman reeked of death and said Katherine was going to die.” Langdon paused. “And then, in the dream, this entire hotel exploded, killing everyone.”

“Hovadina!” Janáček erupted. “Bullshit! As you Americans say! I don’t believe a word of this!”

Harris’s expression looked equally incredulous.

“I understand your reaction,” Langdon said. “I’m still trying to grasp it myself, but I’m telling the truth. This morning, when I saw the same woman from Katherine’s dream, in the flesh, I panicked. I was afraid maybe the dream had been some kind of…I don’t know…warning.”

“A dream warning?!” Janáček snapped, his heavy Czech accent making the scenario sound even less plausible. “So tell me, in Ms. Solomon’s magical dream, what time did the bomb explode?”

Langdon thought about it. “I don’t know. She didn’t mention a time.”

“And yet you jumped out of the window to escape by seven a.m., the exact time the bomb was set to detonate. How did you know seven a.m.?!”

“I didn’t,” Langdon said. “The church bells started tolling, and for some reason, it all just collided in my mind—”

“Ještě větší hovadina!” Janáček spat, jumping to his feet and pitching threateningly toward Langdon. “Double bullshit! You’re lying to me!”

Harris leaped up in defense, facing Janáček. “Captain, that’s enough.”

“Really?” Janáček snapped, turning to the attaché. “At seven a.m. this morning—the precise time the bomb was set to explode—both Robert Langdon and Katherine Solomon were conveniently out of the hotel. Clearly, they were afraid for their lives.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Langdon exclaimed, unable to contain his anger.

“As ridiculous as a sulfur-scented dream?!”

“Captain Janáček,” Harris warned firmly. “You’re way over the line here.”

“What line?!” the captain shouted. “A terrorist attack was narrowly avoided, and the evidence shows these two Americans knew about the explosion beforehand. I’m not accepting the alibi of a magical dream!”

Harris stared at Janáček and did not back up an inch. “You and I both know it’s wholly inconceivable that Robert Langdon or Katherine Solomon would plot to blow up a hotel. It makes no sense at all.”

“It does make sense when you consider Katherine had a clear motive.”

“A motive to blow up a hotel?!” Langdon demanded in disbelief.

“Absolutely,” Janáček replied. “In criminal investigations, I always ask myself one simple question: Who stands to benefit from the crime? Whoever that person is, no matter how unlikely, he or she is my prime suspect.”

“Captain,” Harris interjected, “what benefit could Katherine Solomon possibly derive—”

“Let me ask you something, Professor,” Janáček interrupted, turning back to Langdon. “It is my understanding that Ms. Solomon is writing a book, no?”

“That’s correct.” Even though Katherine had mentioned her book last night in her lecture, Langdon still felt unnerved that this man knew about it.

“Furthermore,” Janáček said, “it is my understanding that this book supports the existence of paranormal powers like ESP, seeing the future, that sort of thing—a specialty of Ms. Solomon. It seems to me that a news story about a mystical dream that saved a hotel full of people would be very helpful to her book’s credibility…and sales?”

Langdon stared at the officer in disbelief.

“Captain,” Harris said, sounding equally taken aback. “Your insinuation is clearly—”

“The only possible explanation,” Janáček said.