Langdon's eyes had not left the computer screen since the search began.

　　Five minutes. Only two hits. Both irrelevant.

　　He was starting to get worried.

　　Pamela Gettum was in the adjoining room, preparing hot drinks. Langdon and Sophie had inquiredunwisely if there might be some coffee brewing alongside the tea Gettum had offered, and from thesound of the microwave beeps in the next room, Langdon suspected their request was about to berewarded with instant Nescafe.

　　Finally, the computer pinged happily.

　　"Sounds like you got another," Gettum called from the next room. "What's the title?"Langdon eyed the screen.

　　Grail Allegory in Medieval Literature: A Treatise on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

　　"Allegory of the Green Knight," he called back.

　　"No good," Gettum said. "Not many mythological green giants buried in London."Langdon and Sophie sat patiently in front of the screen and waited through two more dubiousreturns. When the computer pinged again, though, the offering was unexpected.

　　DIE OPERN VON RICHARD WAGNER"The operas of Wagner?" Sophie asked.

　　Gettum peeked back in the doorway, holding a packet of instant coffee. "That seems like a strangematch. Was Wagner a knight?""No," Langdon said, feeling a sudden intrigue. "But he was a well-known Freemason." Along withMozart, Beethoven, Shakespeare, Gershwin, Houdini, and Disney. Volumes had been written aboutthe ties between the Masons and the Knights Templar, the Priory of Sion, and the Holy Grail. "Iwant to look at this one. How do I see the full text?""You don't want the full text," Gettum called. "Click on the hypertext title. The computer willdisplay your keyword hits along with mono prelogs and triple postlogs for context."Langdon had no idea what she had just said, but he clicked anyway.

　　A new window popped up.

　　...mythological knight named Parsifal who...

　　...metaphorical Grail quest that arguably...

　　...the London Philharmonic in 1855...

　　Rebecca Pope's opera anthology "Diva's...

　　...Wagner's tomb in Bayreuth, Germany...

　　"Wrong Pope," Langdon said, disappointed. Even so, he was amazed by the system's ease of use.

　　The keywords with context were enough to remind him that Wagner's opera Parsifal was a tributeto Mary Magdalene and the bloodline of Jesus Christ, told through the story of a young knight on aquest for truth.

　　"Just be patient," Gettum urged. "It's a numbers game. Let the machine run."Over the next few minutes, the computer returned several more Grail references, including a textabout troubadours—France's famous wandering minstrels. Langdon knew it was no coincidencethat the word minstrel and minister shared an etymological root. The troubadours were thetraveling servants or "ministers" of the Church of Mary Magdalene, using music to disseminate thestory of the sacred feminine among the common folk. To this day, the troubadours sang songsextolling the virtues of "our Lady"—a mysterious and beautiful woman to whom they pledgedthemselves forever.

　　Eagerly, he checked the hypertext but found nothing.

　　The computer pinged again.

　　KNIGHTS, KNAVES, POPES, AND PENTACLES: THE HISTORY OF THE HOLY GRAILTHROUGH TAROT"Not surprising," Langdon sai............