Britains top police officer meanwhile came under renewed pressure over his links to Murdochs executives, adding to concerns about the Australian-born magnates influence in the corridors of power.
The Lost symbol brings back Harvard University symbology professor Robert Langdon, this time prowling the corridors of power in Washington, d.c..
Recruited to deal with a rodent problem - black rats have been seen bolting across the Downing Street lawn - Larry has preferred hanging out in the corridors of power to stalking in the grass.
Some did express such qualms, of course, but doing so loudly and persistently was a good way to find oneself excluded from the political mainstream and certainly from the highest corridors of power.
However, the encounter is not the first time Palmerston and Larry have squared up in the corridors of power.