Page 147 of The Secret of Secrets

“Give the phone to me!” Katherine exclaimed, holding out her hand. “I have an idea…”

Langdon watched as Katherine quickly scrolled through Gessner’s device. What is she looking for?

“Brigita is smart…and efficient,” Katherine muttered to herself, swiping through screens. “It has to be here!”

“What has to be there?”

“An NFC clone…”

“I don’t know—”

“Near-field communication,” Katherine clarified, still scrolling. “It’s the technology that lets you wave your smartphone or watch at an RFID scanner for touchless interaction—Apple Pay, hotel room doors, airport ticketing.”

Katherine kept swiping. “Most people install clones of their credit cards in their e-wallets now because carrying a phone is so much more convenient than carrying all your cards.”

She had a point, but Langdon strongly doubted she would find what she was looking for. “You don’t really think Brigita loaded a copy of her Threshold card into her phone, do you? I mean…it’s a huge security risk.”

“On the contrary,” Katherine said without glancing up from her search. “Digital clones are much safer than physical cards because the interaction is encrypted, and the user can program multifactor biometric authentication—facial recognition, fingerprint, retinal scan, whatever you like, along with a passcode. It’s actually far more protection than a biometric card. And better yet, nobody sees you taking your card in and out of your briefcase every time you reach a doorway.”

Interesting point.

Katherine’s explanation brought a glimmer of hope, and yet the longer she swiped, the less hopeful she looked.

“I don’t know,” she said, frowning at the screen. “Her e-wallet has a lot of cards, but nothing that looks helpful. I see credit…debit…rewards…ID…garage access…mass transit…health club…insurance…airline loyalty—”

“Health club,” Langdon interrupted.

Katherine glanced up.

“Remember last night?!” he pressed. “When I asked Brigita about the black card with the Vel spear? She said it was her health club. It seemed like a lie…so maybe that’s how she disguises it?”

Katherine returned to the screen and tapped that entry. A moment later, a faint smile appeared on her lips. “This might look familiar,” she said, handing him the phone.

The image of the cloned card was unmistakable.

Langdon felt a rush of excitement that was immediately quashed by the text beneath the card.

Three-Factor Authentication Required

1) Passcode

“The only passcode I know is her elevator code,” he said, “which didn’t work to unlock the phone.”

“But it might work here,” Katherine urged. “This card provides access to Threshold—just like the elevator did—so it might be logical for her to use the same sequence.”

Gessner is nothing if not efficient, Langdon agreed, carefully typing the code.

314S159

The phone pinged cheerfully and advanced to the next screen.

“Nicely done!” Langdon exclaimed. The second authentication was far simpler.

2) Facial ID

Once again, Langdon held the phone to Brigita’s face, and the device pinged, displaying the final screen.

3) Finger Scan