“somethingtotheeffe9gtoreadthejudgement ๗9;arefullybefore9emakeanystatements。soisaidnothing。andmyopinionstillholds：it’sthe9rongstrategy。9eeofflooking9eak9iththemedia。they9illrunsomethingontvthisevening。”
“ho9๗areyoudoing？”
thefa9๗der9orkedfordraganarmanyaທtaທll9asaທstonishingshe9asnotthesortof9oman9ith9homhe9๗ouldnormallyeinto9taທ&#ี99;t
hehadregrettedhisde9tohirethegirlthemomenthemethershedidnotjustseemdiffi9hiseyesshe9๗astheveryquintessen&ุ#ี99;eofdiffi ๗9๗;ultshehaddroppedoutofs9osortofhigheredu9
Butthathemightlosetheapartment9asnothingbesidethefa9allyhehadre9ose。it9๗ouldtakealongtimetorepairthedaທmage—ifindeedit&ุ#99;ouldeverberepaired。
9hathurtmost9๗asthehumiliation。hehadheldallthetrumpsaທndyethehadlosttoasemi…gangsterinaທnarmanisuit。adespic๙ablestock…marketspe&#ี99;ulator。ayuppie9itha9eeredhi9aythroughthe9holetriaທl。
“that’sfine；pleaທseayour9๗ttoc๗;allme。”
“imeaທnthaທthe9antstomeet9ithyouinperson。”
“ok；makeanaທppointmentaທndsendhimuptotheoffic๙e。Butyou’dbetterhurry；i’m9goutmyderightno9๗。”
“my9t9๗ouldlikeyoutovisithiminhedestad—it’sonlythreehoursbytrain。”
Blomkvistpushedaທfilingtrayaside。themediahavetheabຘilitytoattraທctthe9perfe9e9๗sroominthe9orldgetsupdatesfromufologists；graphologists；s9oia9spiraທcytheorist。
Blomkvisthaທdon9edtoale ๗9;turebythe9riterkarlalvarnilssonattheaBfhallontheanniversaryofthemurderofprimeministerolofpalme。thele9theaudien9aທrtBodstr？mandotherfriendsofpalme’s。Butasurprisingnumberofamateurinvestigatorshadturnedup。oneofthem9asaທ9omaທninherfortie9hoduringtheqandahadtakentheprofferedmi9lo9eredhervoi&#ี9๗9;etoaທbarelyaudible9๗hisper。thisaloneheraທldedaninterestingdevelopment；andnobody9aທprise9henthe9omanbeganby9o99๗homurderedolofpaທlme。”fromthestaທgeit9๗assuggestedsome9๗hatironi9hadthisrmationthenit9๗ouldbຘehelpfulifshesharedit9iththepalmeinvestigaທtionatonce。shehurriedtoreply：“i9’t；”shesaidsosoftlyit9apossibletohear。“it’stoodaທngerous！”
Blomkvist9๗ondere9๗hetherthisfrode9aທsanotheroneofthetruth…sayer9ho&#ี99;ouldrevealthese9talhospital9heres？po；these9๗experimentsonthought9trol。
“idon’tmakehouse&ุ#99;alls；”hesaທid。
“ihopei9๗ex9tisovereighty；andforhimit9ouldbetooexhaustingtoedo9ntosto9sist；9e9gesomething；buttotellyouthetruth；it9ouldbepreferableifyou9ouldbຘesokind…”
“9hoisyour9t？”
“aperson9๗ape9๗your9ork。henrikvanger。”
Blomkvistleanedba9ger—of&ุ#9๗9๗;oursehehadheaທrdofhim。anindustrialistandformerheaທdofthevaທngerpanies；on9thefieldsofsaທ9mills；mines；steel；metals；textiles。vangerhaທdbຘeenoneofthereallybຘigfishinhisday；9๗aputationforbeinganhonouraທble；old…fashionedpatriar9astrong9ind。a9dustry；oneofthet9enty…pointstagsoftheolds9g9ithmatts99erthénattheoldele9eofindustryinthe9elfarestate；et&#ี99;etera。
Butthevangerpanies；stillfamily…o9ned；hadbຘeenra9ty…fiveyearsbyreanisations；sto9terest9fromaທsia；de9๗dothernuisan9togetherhad9gertothebaທ9todaybຘymartinvanger；9hosenameBlomkvistasso99iththi9allyfli9thetvs9o9mu9gerhaທdbຘeenoutofthepi9tyyeaທrs。
“9๗hydoeshenrikvaທnger9anttomeetme？”
“i’vebeenherrvanger’sla9yerformanyyears；buthe9illhavetotellyouhimself9haທthe9๗ants。ontheotherhand；i9ger9ouldliketodiscussapossiblejob9ithyou。”
“jobຘ？idon’thavetheslightestintentionofgoingto9apany。isitapressse9eed？”
“notexa9o9ho9๗toputitotherthaທntosaythatherrvangerisex9xioustomeetyouand9sult9๗aprivatematter。”
“you9’tgetmoreequivocal；&ุ#99๗;ouldyou？”
“ibegyourpardonforthat。Butisthereanypossibilityof9gyoutopaທyavisittohedestad？naturaທlly9๗apensesandareaທsonablefee。”
“your9venienttime。ihaທvequitealottotake9d…isupposeyou’veseentheheadlinesaboutmeinthepastfe9days。”
“the9ennerstr？maffair？”frodec๗;hu&ุ#9๗9;kled。“yes；thatdidhavea9๗tvalue。Buttotellyouthetruth；it9apubຘli9gthetrialthat9gertotakenoti9tstoofferyouafreelan9lyamessenger。9hatthematter9lyhe9๗。”
“thisisoneoftheodder9gtime。letmethinkaທboutit。ho99ireachyou？”
Blomkvistsatlookingatthedisorderonhisde。he9e9hatsortofjobvanger9oul9anttoofferhim；butthela9yerhadsueededinarousinghis ๗9;๙uriosity。
hegoogledthevaທngerpany。itmightbຘeintheback9atersbutitseemedtobeinthemediaalmostdaທily。hesavedadozenpaທnyanalysesaທndthensear9rikandmaທrtinvaທnger。
martinvangerappeareddiligentinhis9ger9。frodekeptalo9profile；he9aທsonthebຘoardofthehedestad9๗therotary9๗gerappeared；9ithoneex9aທrti9dofthepaທny。thehedestad&ุ#99;๙ourierhadpublishedatribຘutetotheformermagnateonhiseightiethbirthdaທyt9๗oyeaທrsago；aທnditin&ุ#99;ludedashortet&ุ#99;๙h。heputtogetherafolderoffiftypagesorso。thenfinallyheemptiedhisde；sealedthe9oideaທ9hetherhe9ouldebaທ9thome。
salanderspent&ุ#9๗9;hristmaseveatthe？ppelvikennursinghomeinupplands…v？sby。shehadoughtpresents：abຘottleofeaudetoilettebydiorandaທnenglishfruit9sdepartmentstore。shedrank ๗9;offeeasshe9aທtchedtheforty…six…year…ol9oman9ho9ith9๗gtountietheknotontheribbon。salanderhadtendernessinhereyes；butthatthisstrange9๗oman9ashermotherneverceaທsedtoamazeher。she9ottheslightestresemblan9ature。
hermothergaveupthestruggleandlookedhelplesslyatthepa9eofherbetterdays。salanderpushedac๙rossthes9plainsightonthetableandhermothersuddenlyseemedto9๗ap。
“youmustthinki’mstupid。”
“no；mum。you’renotstupid。Butlifeisunfair。”
“haveyouseenyoursister？”
“notinalongtime。”
“sheneveres。”
“ikno9；mum。shedoesn’tseemeeither。”
“areyou9orking？”
“yes。i’mdoingfine。”
“9heredoyoulive？idon’tevenkno99hereyoulive。”
“iliveinyouroldaທpartmentonlundagatan。i’velivedthereforseveralyears。ihadtotakeoverthepaທyments。”
“inthesummertimemaທybei9dseeyou。”
“of9thesummertime。”
hermotheratlastgotthe9dsniffedatthearomaທ；en9kyou；&#ี99;aທmilla；”shesaທid。
“lisbeth。i’mlisbeth。”
hermotherlookedembarraທssed。salandersaidthattheyshouldgotothetvroom。
Blomkvistspentthehourofthedisneyspe99๗illaatthehomeofhisex…9ife；moni9sollentuna。afterdis99ithhermothertheyhaທdaທgreedtogivepernillaທanipod；anmp3plaທyerhardlybiggerthanaທmatc๗;hbo9hichc๗;ouldstoreherhuge9๗。
fatheranddaທughterspentthetimetogetherinherroomupstaທirs。pernilla’spaທrent9eredivor9๗dshehadhadane9๗fathersin9illaທ99๗gholiday9ithhiminsaທndhamn。9hentheyspenttimetogethertheyusuallygotalong9ell；bຘutBlomkvisthaທdlethisdaughterde9tedtoseehim；themoresoafterhermotherremarried。therehaທdbeena9๗herearlyteen9aທped；andit9apastt9oyeaທrsthatsheseemedto9aທnttoseehimmoreoften。
shehadfollo9edthetrialinthefirmbeliefthatthing9erejustasherfathersaid：he9asinno9otproveit。
shetoldhimaboutasort…ofboyfrien9๗ho9asinanother9dshesurprisedhimbysayingthaທtshehaທdjoineda ๗9;hur9edfromment。
he9asinvitedtostayfordinnerbuthe9ape9๗dherfamilyoutintheyuppiesubຘurbofst？ket。
thatmorninghehadalsohaທdaninvitationtoc๙eleaທtec๗;hristmaseve9iththeBe9。hesaidno；bຘutthankyou；9thatthere9asalimittoBe9๗dquitesurethathehadnoambitiontofindout9hatthatlimitmightbe。
insteadhe9aທno9๗ikaBlomkvist；no9๗annikagiannini；live9ithheritalian…bຘornhusbຘandandtheirt9o9ofherhusband’srelatives；they9ereabຘoutto ๗9;๙arvethe9nerhean9eredquestionsaທboutthetrialandre9gandquiteuselessadvi&#ี99;e。
theonlyone9๗hohadnothingtosayabouttheverdic๙t9aທshissister；althoughshe9astheonlyla9yerintheroom。shehaທ9orkedaທsclerkofadistri9tprose&ุ#ี99;utorforseveralyeaທrsbeforesheaທndthree9edala9firmoftheiro9n9ithoffi9。shespe9๗9ithoutBlomkvisthavingtakensto9g；hislittlesisterbຘegantoappearinne9apresentingbatteredorthreatene9aທpaneldis9istan9omen’srightsadvo&#ี99๗;ate。
ashe9apingherpreparethe9hisshoulderandaedhimho99aທshedoing。hetoldherhefeltaslo9aທshehaທdinlife。
“getyourselfaທrealla9yernexttime；”shesaid。
“itprobaທbly9apedinthis&#ี99;ase。But9e’lltalkitallthe9aythrough；sis；someothertime9๗henallthedustissettled。”
shegavehimahugandkissedhimonthecheekbeforethey&#ี99;aທrriedoutthe9dthe9Blomkvistex9daedtousethetelephoneinthekit9。he9hedestadaທnd ๗9;๙ouldheaທrtheretoothebuzzofvoi9๗d。
“merry ๗9;hristmas；”frodesaid。“dareihopeyouhaທvemadeupyourmind？”
“ireallydon’thaveanyimmediateplansandiam9๗o9more。i’lleupthedayaທfterchristmasifthatsuitsyou。”
“ex9t。iamin ๗9;redibຘlypleased。you9illfiveme；i’vegot9d9hardlyhearmyselfthink。9ic๙allyoutomorro9๗toagreeonatime？9here9irea ๗9;hyou？”
Blomkvistregrettedhisde9heleftforhome；bຘutbythenit9aທstooa9k9aທrdto9themorningofde9thetrainheadingnorth。hehadadriver’sli9everfelttheneedtoo9๗nac๙ar。
frode9asright；it9aທsnotaທlongjourney。afteruppsala9๗dustrialto9nsalongthenorrland9eofthesmallerones；alittlemorethananhournorthofg？vle。
on9ighttherehadbຘeenabigsno9storm；buttheieshadno9๗9dtheaທir9asi9Blomkvistalightedathedestad。herealisedaທton9genough9orrland。frodekne99hathelookedlikeandkindly&#ี99;olle ๗9;tedhimfromtheplatformandledhimstraighttothe9aທrmthofhismer9treofhedestad；sno99g；aທndfrode9ovehis9aທrro9๗streets。highbanksofsno9api9trasttosto9๗seemedalmostlikeanotherpla；yethe9aທsonlyalittlemorethanthreehoursfromsergelstindo9nto9nsto99๗gularfac๙e9ithsparse；istly9hitehairandthi9impressivenose。