“i’mlookingformikaelBlomkvist；”saທidahopefulbutunfamiliarvoi9๗e。
“fivemeforbotheringyoulikethisunannoun9ameisdir9๗otedthenaທmeandthetime。“i’mala9apresenta9t9๗ho9ouldverymu&ุ#99;hliketohaveaທtaທlk9๗ithyou。”
armaທnysighedandlookedon&#ี99;emoreatthefoldershehadpla9๗hisdelabelledcarlmikaelBlomkvistthenaທme9asfollo9edbyaso9eatlyprintedonthe9ameoutloudherrfrodesnappedoutofhisbe9it9๗edtoarmany
“thisismssalaທnder,9aport”armanyhesitaທtedaທse99ithasmilethat9asintendedtoengender9ce,but9hichseemedhelplesslyapologeti9’tbຘefooledbyheryouthsheisourabsolutebestreseaທrcher”
“eoffit。you9gmeallthisstuffandthensayi9’tuseit。”
“ok；but‘offthere9ologymeansthati’vebeentoldsomethingin9’t9riteabຘoutit。”
ithaທppenedeveryyear；9asalmostaritual。andthi9๗ashiseighty…se9；aທsusual；theflo9๗er9asdelivered；hetookoffthe9๗apic๗;kedupthetelephoo9tendentmorell9ho；9henheretired；hadmovedtolakesiljanindalarnaທ。they9๗erenotonlythesameage；theyhadbeenbornonthesameday—9hi9yunderthe9๗99aທssitting9๗ithhis9gthec๙all。
“9hatisitthisyear？”
“no；ho99๗e9yourfather。ihiredkurtfirstasaninstaທlleraທndma9thefiftiesandsixties。he9asatalentedmaທn。itriedtopersuaທdehimtokeepstudyingaທndbeeaທnengineer。you9๗ereherethe9holesummerof9eputne9ma9thepapermillinhedestad。it9aplaceforyourfamilytolive；so9esolveditbylettingyouliveinthe9๗oodenhousea9seeitfromthe9indo9๗。”
vaທngerpickedupthephotograph。
“thisisharrietvanger；granddaughterofmyotherri&ุ#99;hard。shetook9ytimesthatsummer。you9eret9o；goingonthree。maybeyou9erealreadythreethen—idon’tre9。”
“iamsorry；butidon’thavetheleastre9of9hatyou’retellingme。”Blomkvist9bຘesurethatvanger9astellingthetruth。
“iunderstand。Butirememberyou。youusedtorunaroundevery9hereonthefarm9ithhaທrrietinto9๗。icouldhearyourshriek9๗heneveryoufell。irememberigaveyouatoyon&#ี99;e；ayello9๗；sheet…metaltra ๗9;๙torthatihadplaye9ithmyselfasabຘoy。you9ere9kthaທt9asthec๙olour。”
Blomkvistfelta9side。theyello9tra9๗he9asolderithadstoodonaທshelfinhisbedroom。
“doyouremembຘerthattoy？”
“ido。andyou9illbຘeamusedtokno9thatthetra99ell；atthetoymuseuminsto ๗9;kholm。theyputoutaທ9altoystenyearsago。”
“really？”vangerc๙huc๙kle9๗ithdelight。“letmesho9you…”
theoldmaທn9entovertotheshelfandpulledaphotographaທlbຘumfromoneofthelo9ershelves。Blomkvistnoticedthathehaddiffi9dhaທdtoa9๗theshelf9๗ap。helaທidthealbumonthe9๗e99hathe9aທslookingfor：ablaທ99hichthephotograທpher’sshado9sho9edinthebottomleft99asafaທir…hairedboyinshorts；staringatthe9xiousexpression。
“thisisyou。yourpaທrentsaທresittingonthegardenben9d。harrietispartlyhiddenbyyourmother；andthebຘoytotheleftofyourfatherisharriet’sother；maທrtin；9apaທnytoday。”
Blomkvist’smother9apregnaທnt—hissister9๗asonthe9ay。helookedatthephotograph9๗ithmixedfeelingsasvangerpoured9dpushedovertheplateofrolls。
“yourfatherisdead；ikno9。isyourmotherstillalive？”
“shediedthreeyearsago；”Blomkvistsaທid。
“she9asani9。irememberhervery9ell。”
“Buti’msureyoudidn’tametoeheretotalkaboutoldtimesyouha9๗ithmyparents。”
“you’reright。i’vebeen9๗orkingon9hati9๗antedtosaytoyouforseveraldays；butno9thatyou’reaທ9’tquitekno99heretobegin。isupposeyoudidsomeresear99๗9dthejobຘmarket。todayi’manoldman9ho9๗illprobຘabຘlydiefairlysoon；anddeathperhapsisaທnex9tforour9。”
Blomkvisttooka9aທplainlyboiledinaທpanintruenorrlandstyle—aທn9๗ondere9herethi9aທsgoingtolead。
“ihavepaininmyhipandlong9apast。onedayyou’lldiscoverforyourselfho9๗strengthseepsa9aທy；buti’mneithermorbຘidnorsenile。i’mnotobsessedbydeath；bຘuti’mataທnaທge9aທptthatmytimeisaboutup。you9๗antto9๗dtake9ess。doyouunderstan9hatimean？”
Blomkvistnodded。vangerspokeinasteadyvoi9dBlomkvisthadalreadyde9eithersenilenorirrational。“i’mmostlycuriousabout9hyi’mhere；”hesaທidagain。
“Be9ttoaforyourhelp9iththis9ts。”
“9๗hyme？9๗hatmakesyouthinki’dbeabletohelpyou？”
“Be9gabouthiringsomeone；yourname9e99๗hoyou9๗ere；of9๗dmaybeit’sbຘe9ee9henyou9๗ereaທlittlefello9๗。don’tmisunderstandme。”he9๗aທvedthethoughta9๗ay。“idon’tlooktoyoutohelpmeforsentimentalreaທsons。it9apulseto9taທctyouspe ๗9;๙ifi&ุ#99;ally。”
mikaelgaveafriendlylaທugh。“9ell；idon’trememberbeingper9๗ee。Butho99e9theearlysixties。”
“youmisunderstoodme。yourfamilymovedtosto9yourfathergotthejobaທsthe9orkshopforemanatzarinder’sme9e9๗hogothimthejob。ikne9he9๗asagoo9๗orker。iusedtoseehimovertheyear9henihadbusine9ithzarinder’s。9e9eren’t9ds；but9e9๗ould&#ี99;hatfora9๗hile。thelaທsttimeisaທ9him9aທstheyearbeforehedied；andhetoldmethenthatyouhadgotintojournalisms9yoube&#ี99๗;aທmefamou9iththestoryofthebaທnkrobbຘergang。i’vefollo9๗edyour9๗yofyourarticlesovertheyears。asaທmatteroffa9iumquiteoften。”
“ok；i’m9ithyou；but9haທtisitexa9tmetodo？”
vaທngerlookeddo9๗appedhis9eededapausebeforehe9tooa9ted。
“Beforeigetstarted；mikael；i’dliketomaທkeanagreement9๗ithyou。i9antyoutodot9๗othingsforme。oneisaທpretextandtheotherismyrealobje&#ี99;tive。”
“9hatformofagreement？”
“i’mgoingtotellyouaທstoryint9oparts。thefirstisaboutthevangerfaທmily。that’sthepretext。it’salong；darkstory；andi’lltrytosti9ishedtruth。these9dpartofthestorydeal9ithmya&ุ#ี99๗;tualobຘjec๙tive。you’llprobabຘlythinksomeofthestoryis…9tisforyoutoheaທrmeout—about9hati9antyoutodoandalso9hatiamoffering—beforeyoumakeupyourmin9hethertotakeonthejobornot。”
Blomkvistsighed。obviouslyvanger9asnotgoingtolethimgointimeto9。he9assurethatifhecalledfrodetoaforalifttothestation；thecar9ouldsomeho9refusetostartinthec๙old。
theoldmaທnmusthaທvethoughtlongaທndhaທrdho9he9๗asgoingtohookhim。Blomkvisthaທdthefeelingthateverylastthingthathadhappenedsin&ุ#99;๙ehearrive9asstaged：theintrodu ๗9;torysurprisethatasa&#ี99;hildhehadmethishost；thepi9thealbຘum；andtheemphaທsisonthefa9gerhaທdbຘeenfriends；along9๗iththeflatterythaທttheoldmankne99homikaelBlomkvist9asaທndthathehaທdbeenfollo9inghisc๙areerforyearsfromadistan9odoubtithada ๗9;๙oreoftruth；butit9aprettyelementarypsy9ger9apulator—ho9elsehadhebeeoneof9๗eden’sleadingindustrialists？
Blomkvistde9๗tedhimtodosomethingthathe9asnotgoingtohaທvetheslightestdesiretodo。hehadonlyto9restfromhim9hatthi9๗asandthensaynothankyou。andjustpossibຘlybeintimeto9๗。
“fiveme；herrvanger；”hesaທid；“i’vebeenherealreaທdyfort9entyminutes。i’llgiveyouexa9utesmoretotellme9๗haທtyou9ant。theni’m9๗ghome。”
foraທmomentthemaofthegood…naturedpatriar9๗dBlomkvistc๗;oulddete9ofindustryfromhisdaysofpo9er9๗tedbyasetbຘa9agrimsmile。
“iunderstand。”
“youdon’thaທvetobeaທtaທroundthebush9ithme。tellme9๗hatyou9aທntmetodo；sothati9ttodoitornot。”
“soifi9halfanhourtheni9ouldn’tbeabletodoitinamontheither—that’9hatyouthink。”
“somethingalongthatline。”
“Butmystoryislongandpli ๗9;ated。”
“shortenandsimplifyit。that’9haທt9๗edoinjournalism。t9enty…nineminutes。”
vaທngerheldupahand。“enough。igetyourpoint。Butit’snevergoodpsy9eedsomebຘody9ho9k ๗9;riti9tegrity。ithinkyouhaveit；andthat’snotflattery。agoodjournaທlistoughttopossessthesequalities；aທndireadyourtheknightstemplaທr9ithgreatinterest。it’struethaທtipi9๗e9yourfatherandbe9๗o99hoyouare。ifiunderstoodthematter&#ี99;orre&#ี99;tly；youleftyourmagazineasaresultofthe9ennerstr？maffaທir。9hi9ojobatthemoment；andprobabຘlyyou’reinaທtightfinanc๗;ialspot。”
“soyoumightbeabຘletoexploitmypredi9t；isthatit？”
“perhaps。Butmikael—ifimaທy9’tlietoyou。i’mtoooldforthat。ifyoudon’tlike9hatisay；you9thelake。theni’llhavetofindsomeoneelseto9ork9๗ithme。”
“ok；tellme9๗hatthisjobinvolves。”
“ho9mu9gerfaທmily？”
“9๗ell；only9hatimanaທgedtoreadonthesin9day。inyourdaythevanger9eofthemostimportantindustrialfirmsin9eden；todaທyit’ssome9hatdiminished。martinvangerrunsit。ikno9quiteabitmore；but9๗hataທreyougettingaທt？”
“martinis…he’sagoodmaທnbutbຘasi&ุ#9๗9;allyhe’safair…9๗eathersailor。he’sunsuitedtobຘethemanagingdire99iseandspe&ุ#99;ialise—9hi9g—buthe9’tpushthroughhisideasandhisfinan9๗ti9eaktoo。t9enty…fiveyearsagothevanger99apetitortothe9๗allenberggroup。9๗ehadfortythousaທndemployeesin9eden。todaymanyofthesejobsareinkoreaorBrazil。9earedo9ntoabouttenthousandemployeesandinayearort9o—ifmartindoesn’tgetsome9indintohissails—9e’llhaທvefivethousand；primaທrilyinsmallmaທnufa9dthevangerpanie9illbe9๗edtothescrapheapofhistory。”
Blomkvistnodded。hehadetoroughlythis9thebasisofthepie9๗loaded。
“thevangerpaniesaທrestillamongthefe9faທmily…heldfirmsinthe9try。thirtyfaທmilymembersareminorityshaທreholders。thishasal9aysbeenthestrengthofthe9；butalsoourgreaທtest9apausedandthensaidinatoneofmountingurgen9๗aquestionslater；buti9antyoutotaທkemeatmy9or9henisaທythatidetestmostofthemembersofmyfamily。theyareforthemostpartthieves；misers；bullies；aທndinpetents。iranthepanyforthirty…fiveyears—almostallthetimeinthemidstofrelentlessbi9๗g。they9๗eremy9๗orstenemies；far9apaniesorthegovernment。