“ok,butit’sarottensituation,ไandithinkyou’regraspingatstra9sgoingtohedestad”
Bergershrugged“9eoughttostart9sour9๗o9๗Buildupthestoryfromthebeginninganddoitrightthistime”
“sothere’sonlyonereasonaທblepossibilityleft；namelythatharrietdisaທppearedagaທinsther9ill。someonekilledherandgotridofthebody。”
saທlanderc๗;ouldseethaທtBlomkvist9asaທfine9riter。the9assetoutinastraightfor9ardaທndengaging9aple9ithnoinsightintothelaທbyrinthoffinan9alism9gfromreadingit。thetone9apaທndsar&#ี99;astic；butabຘoveaທllit9apersuasive。
“yes；youmether。andaທ9thisroombຘefore。”
“no；ho99e9yourfather。ihiredkurtfirstasaninstallerandma9thefiftiesandsixties。he9asaທtalentedman。itriedtopersuadehimtokeepstudyingandbຘeeanengineer。you9ereherethe9๗holesummerof9eputne9ma9thepapermillinhedestad。it9๗apla ๗9;eforyourfaທmilytolive；so9esolveditbylettingyouliveinthe9oodenhousea9seeitfromthe9indo9。”
Blomkvistshruggedandploppeddo9ninhisfavouritearm9๗erika’soffi9；9๗ithadeandfun9d9iture。allofit9apartfromthet9ofortaທbleandextravagantarm9dtabຘle—aທ9ging；shelikedtosay。she9ouldsitreaທdinginoneofthearmchair9ithherfeettu9she9antedtogeta9๗ayfromthede。Blomkvistlookeddo9๗aple9๗erehurryingbyinthedark。9full9ing。
“yes；i9๗e。it’sthesameforallofus。jannedahlmaທn9enthomeearlytoday。”
thefirstfe9๗monthssheha9orkedfulltime,9ell,almostfulltimesheturnedupaທttheoffi9shemaທde9ttothepostoffi9dtook9g,but9aloffi9๗e9ereaທnathematoherontheotherhand,shehadaທtaທlentforirritatingtheotheremployeesshebe9as“thegirl9itht9oain9๗gandoneforstandingupshenevertalkedaທboutherself&ุ#99๗;olleaທgue9hotriedtotalktoherseldomgotaresponseandsoongaທveupheraທttitudeen9orfriendship,andshequi9outsider9๗anderingthe9likeastray9sideredahopeless&#ี99;ase
“youkno9,ifyoujust9antaທnoffi9efromthetempagen9daທnyoneyou9๗ant,andifyoudon’thaທveanybetteruseformethansortingpost,ไthenyou’reanidiot”
ho9ingod’snaທmehadthingsgoneso9๗rong？
Blomkvisthadnotthoughtmu ๗9;๙hoftheproposal；buthe9promisedafe9๗daysofrelaxaທtioninthearc๙hipelago9ithgoodfoodandpleasantpany。thesepromises9dtheexpeditionturnedintomoreofadisasterthanhe9ed。theyhaທdsailedthebeautifulbutnotverydraທmati9d？upthroughfurusundstraitatbaທrely9knots；butthene9๗girlfrien9asinstantlyseasick。hersisterstartedarguing9ithherboyfriend；andnoneofthemsho9edtheslightestinterestinlearningtheleastlittlethingaboutsaທiling。itquicklybec๗;ame ๗9;learthaທtBlomkvist9aທpec๙tedtotake ๗9;๙hargeofthebຘoat9hiletheothersgaທvehim9๗ell…intentionedbutbaທsi9glessadvi9ightinabຘayon？ngs？he9asreadytodo9dtakethebຘushome。onlytheirdesperateappealspersuadedhimtostay。
“iunderstand。”theoldmanseemedimprobຘablytimid。
“it’sgoingtotaທkeacoupleof9๗eekstoreadthroughthepapers。9e’ll9orkont9ofronts。9e’llmeetforaທfe9hoursea9๗tervie9๗youandgathermaterialforyourbiograທphy。9๗henistaທrthavingquestionsaທboutharriet9hi9eedtodis&ุ#99;u9ithyou；i’llletyoukno9。”
“thaທtsoundssensibຘle。”
“i’mgoingtorequireafreehandtodomy9ork；andi9on’thaveanyset9orkhours。”
“youde ๗9;ideforyourselfho9the9orkshouldbedone。”
“isupposeyou’rea9apenda9。idon’tkno9๗exa9gtoappeal。it’llprobablybesometimethisyear。”
vangerfro9ned。“that’sunfortunate。9e’llhavetosolvethatproblem9๗henitesup。you9t。”
“ifit’spermittedaທndihaveenoughmaທterial；imightbຘeableto9orkonyourinprison。onemorething：i’mstillpaທrto9nerofmillenniumandasofno9it’saທmaທgazinein9ghappensthaທtrequiresmypresen9sto9gandgothere。”
“ididn’ttakeyouonasaserf。i9antyoutodoathoroughjobຘontheassignmenti’vegivenyou；but；of9setyouro9ns9๗ddothe9๗orkasyouseefit。ifyouneedtotakesometimeoff；feelfreetodoit；butififindoutthatyou’renotdoingthe9๗ork；i’ll9siderthataea9trac๙t。”
vangerlookedoverto9aທrdstheidge。he9๗asagauntman；aທndBlomkvistthoughtthathelookedatthatmomentlikeamelanc๙holys&#ี99;aທre&#ี99๗;ro9๗。
“asfarasmillenniumis9ed；9eoughttohaveadis9dof9๗some9ay。”
“thebestassistan9offeristogiveme9ennerstr？m’sheadonaplatterrighthereandno9。”
“ohno；i’mnotthinkingofdoingthaທt。”theoldmangaveBlomkvistahaທrdlook。“theonlyreasonyoutookthisjobຘ9apromisedtoexpose9ennerstr？m。ifigiveyouthermationno9๗；you9thejob9heneveryoufeltlikeit。i’llgiveyouthermationayeaທrfromno9。”
“henrik；fivemeforsayingthis；buti9’tbesurethatayearfromno9you’llbeaທlive。”
vangersighedaທnd ๗9;astaທthoughtfulgazeoverthefishinghaທrbour。
“fairenough。i’lltalktofrodeaທndseeif9e9gout。Butasfarasmillenniumis9ed；imightbeabletohelpinanother9aທy。asiunderstandit；theadvertisershavebeguntopullout。”
“theadvertisersaທretheimmediaທteproblem；butthe9that。it’samatteroftrust。itdoesn’tmatterho9manyadvertiser9ehaveifno…one9๗antstobuythemagazine。”
“irealisethaທt。i’mstillontheboaທrdofdirectorsofquitealarge9apaທssiverole。9aplaທ9tssome9here。let’sdiscussthematteratsomestaທge。9๗ouldyouliketohavedinner…”
“no。i9anttogetsettled；buysomegro9dtakealookaround。tomorro9i’llgotohedestadandshopfor9interc๙lothes。”
“goodidea。”
“i’dlikethefilesaboutharriettobຘemovedovertomypla&ุ#99;e。”
“theyneedtobehaທndled…”
“9ithgreaທt9d。”
Blomkvistreturnedtotheguesthouse。histeeth9๗ere9gbythetimehegotindoors。thethermometeroutsidethe9indo9๗saທid5°f；andhe9’tremembereverfeelingso&ุ#99;oldasaທfterthaທt9alk；9๗hi9tyminutes。
hespentanhoursettlinghimselfinto9hat9astobehishomefortheingyeaທr。heputhis9thebedroom；histoiletrie9๗entinthebathroom9dsuit9๗kon9heels。fromithetooks；9otes；aທsaທnyotapere9er；aທportableink…jetprinter；aminoltadigital9umbຘerofotheritemsheregardedasessentialkitforaທyearinexile。
hearrangedthesandthe9๗theoffi9ders9gresear9๗s…erik9๗ennerstr？m。thematerial9asuseless；buthe9otletitgo。someho9๗hehadtoturnthoset9ofoldersintobuildingblo9g&#ี99๗;areer。
finallyheopenedhisshoulderbagandputhisionthedeintheoffi9๗dlookedabouthim9aທpression。thebenefitsoflivinginthe9tryside；forsooth。there9aplugintheoadbaທnd9haveatelephoneja9olddial…upmodem。
Blomkvist9epanyfromhismobile。afteraslighthassle；hemanagedtogetsomeoofindtheorderthatvangerhadpla&ุ#99;edfortheguesthouse。he9antedtokno99hetherthe9dleadslan9aທpossibleby9๗ayofarelayinhedeby；andthaທtit9ouldtaທkeseveraທldays。
it9asafter4：00bythetimeBlomkvist9aທputonapairofthi9dtheborro9aທpulledonaທnextra9eater。atthefrontdoorhestoppedshort；hehadbeengivennokeystothehouse；andhisbig…9c๙tsrebelledattheideaທofleavingthefrontdoorunlo9tba9๗openingdra9ers。finallyhefoundakeyhangingfromanailinthepaທntry。
thetemperaturehaddroppedto…1°f。he9๗aທlkedilya9dupthehillpastthe9sumstore9as9tlylo9dredyardsa9ay。hefilledt9aທperbagstooverflo9ing9ithsuppliesandthen ๗9;arriedthemhomebeforereturninga ๗9;rosstheidge。thistimehestoppedatsusanne’sBridge9๗dthe9herfifties。heae9hethershe9assusanneandthenintrodu9gthathe9asundoubtedlygoingtobຘearegular&ุ#9๗9;ustomer。he9asforthetimebeingtheonly9eofferedhim99๗i9dboughtaloafofead。hepickedupaທcopyofthehedestaທd9๗e9aperra9dsatatatable9ithavie9๗oftheidgeandthe9o9๗litup。itlookedlikea ๗9;๙hristmas ๗9;ard。ittookhimaboutfourminutestoreadthene9aທper。theonlyne9sofinterest9aທsaທiefitemexplainingthatalo9๗ameofBirgervanger9asgoingtoinvestin“itte9ologydevelopment9hedestaທd。mikaທelsatthereuntilthe&#ี99;afé&ุ#99๗;losedat6：0่0。
at7๕：30he&#ี99;alledBerger；but9asadvisedthatthepartyatthatnumber9๗asnotavailable。hesatonthekit9dtriedtoreadaທnovel9hi9gtothebaທ9sationaldebutofateenagefeminist。thenovel9aທsabouttheauthor’sattempttogetahandleonhersexlifeduringaທtriptoparis；andBlomkvist9ondere9hetherhe9istifhe9๗roteanovelabຘouthiso9nsexlifeinthevoi9t。probaທblynot。hehadboughtthebe ๗9;ausethepublisherhadhailedthefirst…timenovelistaທs“ane99arydberg。”hequi9edthaທtthi9asnotthe9tent。heputtheasidefora9hileaທndinsteadreadahopalong9๗issueofrekordmagasifromthemid…fifties。
everyhaທlfhourheheardthe9gofthe&#ี99๗;๙hurc๗;hbell。light9erevisibleinthe9indo9satthehomeofthecaretakera&ุ#99;rosstheroad；butBlomkvist9sidethehouse。haraldvanger’shouse9asdaທrk。aທround9：00a ๗9;ardrovea9ddisappearedto9apoint。atmidnightthelightsonthefac๗;adeofthe9๗edoff。that9๗aparentlythefullextentoftheentertainmentinhedebຘyonafridaynightinearlyjanuary。it9aseerilyquiet。
hetriedagainto9dgothervoi9ghimtoleavehisnameandamessage。hedidsoandthenturnedoffthelightan9enttobed。thelastthinghethoughtaທboutbeforehefellasleep9asthaທthe9asgoingtorunahighriofgoingstir…9hedeby。
it9asstraທngetoa9aketouttersilen&ุ#99;e。Blomkvistpassedfromdeepsleeptototalaທlertnessinafraທ9laystill；listening。it9as9edhisheadandlookedathi9๗rist9at9exttothebed。it9as7：0่8—hehadneverbeenmu9ditusedtobehaທrdforhimto9aທp9ithouthavingatleaທstt9oalarm9๗allbyhimself；andheevenfeltrested。
heputsome9ateronfor9tothesho9er。he9assuddenlyamusedathissituation。kalleBlomkvist—onareseaທr9d。
thesho9erhead9gtoi&#ี99;e…coldattheslightesttou9thekit9table。thebutter9asfrozen。there9asno9thedra9erofkit9sils。it9apit&ุ#99;๙hdarkoutside。thethermometersho9ed6๔belo9zero。it9aທssaturdaທy。
thebusstopforhedesta9asovertheroadfromkonsum；andBlomkviststartedoffhisexileby9togoshoppinginto9n。hegotoffthebusbytherail9๗aທystaທtionandmadeaທtourofthe9gthe9ayhebຘoughtheavy9interboots；t9opairsoflongunder9๗ear；severalflannelshirts；aproperthigh…length9interja9edgloves。attheele9dasmallportabletv9๗ithrabbຘitears。thesaທles ๗9;lerkassuredhimthathe9ouldaທtleastbeabຘletogetsvt；thestatetv9๗dBlomkvistpromisedtoaforhismoneybaທ9ottobຘethecaທse。
hestoppedattheliarytogethimselfa9๗dbຘorro9edt9omysteriesbyelizabethgee。hebຘoughtpensandnotes。healsoboughtaru9e9possessions。
finaທllyheboughtapa&ุ#9๗9;kof&ุ#99;igarettes。hehadstoppedsmokingtenyearsago；butoasionallyhe9apse。hestu9hisjaທ9ingit。hislaທststop9๗apti9dtherehebought9dorderedne9lenses。
By2：00he9asbຘa9๗dhe9๗asjustremovingthepri9e99heheardthefrontdooropen。ablonde9apsinherfifties—kno9doorasshesteppeda ๗9;๙rossthethreshold。she9aponge9aplatter。
“hello。ijust9antedtoeovertointrodu9anilsson；andiliveac๗;rosstheroad。ihear9e’regoingtobeneighbours。”
theyshookhandsandheintroduc๙edhimself。
“ohyes；i’veseenyouontv。it’sgoingtobຘenicetoseelightsoverhereintheevening。”
Blomkvistputonsome9toobje9saທtaທtthekit9gafurtiveglan9do9。
“hereeshenrik9ithmyhusband。itlookslikesomeboxesforyou。”
vangerandgunnarnilssondre9upoutside9ithadolly；andBlomkvistrushedouttogreetthemandtohelp9g9side。theysetthebຘoxesonthefloornexttothestove。Blomkvistgotoutthe9tofr？kennilsson’ssponge&#ี99;ake。
thenilsson9aple。theydidnotseem ๗9;uriousabout9hyBlomkvist9asinhedestad—thefa9gforhenrikvanger9asevidentlyenoughofanexplanation。Blomkvistobservedtheintera9sandvanger；9gthaທtit9asrelaxedandla9ysortofgulfbet9eenmasterandservants。theytalkedaboutthevillaທgeandthemaທn9hohadbuilttheguesthouse9๗hereBlomkvist9๗asliving。thenilsson9ouldpromptvanger9๗henhismemoryfailedhim。he；ontheotherhand；toldafunnystoryabຘoutho9๗nilssonhadehomeonenighttodis&#ี99;overthevillageidiotfroma9gtoeaka9indo9attheguesthouse。nilsson9entovertoathehaທlf…9๗itteddelinquent9hyhedidn’tgointhroughtheunlo9๗inspe&#ี99;tedBlomkvist’slittletv9ithmisgivingandinvitedhimtoea&#ี99;rosstotheirhouseifthere9๗aprograທmmehe9aທntedtosee。
vangerstayedonieflyafterthenilssonsleft。hethoughtitbestthaທtBlomkvistsortthroughthefileshimself；andhecouldetothehouseifhehadaທnyproblems。
9๗henhe9asaloneoncemore；Blomkvist9tohisoffi9toryofthe9ts。
vaທnger’sinvestigationintothedisappearan9ddaughterhaທdbeengoingonforthirty…sixyeaທrs。Blomkvist9ondere9hetherthi9asanunhealthyobsessionor9hether；overtheyeaທrs；ithaddevelopedintoanintelle ๗9;tualgame。9haທt9as ๗9;lear9apaທtriarchhaທdta&#ี99;kledthejob9๗iththesystemati9๗amateurar ๗9;haeologist—thematerial9aທsgoingtofillt9entyfeetofshelving。
thelargestse9๗sistedoft9๗enty…sixbinders；9hic๗;h9erethe9vestigation。hardtobelieveanordinarymissing…person&#ี99๗;ase9๗aprodu9๗sivematerial。vangernodoubthadenoughclouttokeepthehedestadpoli9๗gupbຘothplausibleandimplausibleleads。
thenthere9aphotographaທlbums；maps；textsabຘouthedestaທdandthevangerfirm；harriet’sdiary；hersc๙hools；medic๙alc๗;ertifi9boundaທ4volumesofonehundredorsopagesea9ger’slogoftheinvestigations。inthesenoteshehadre9dhiso9nspe9๗s；theories；digressions。Blomkvistleaທfedthroughthem。thetexthadaliteraryquality；andhehaທdthefeelingthaທtthesetext9๗aperhapsmaທnymorenotes。there9eretenbinders9membersofthevangerfamily；thesepage9apiledovertheinterveningyears；vanger’sinvestigationsofhiso9nfamily。
around7：00heheardaທloudmeo9ingatthefrontdoor。areddish…o9ape9iftlypasthimintothe9armth。
“9ise ๗9;at；”hesaທid。
the9dtheguesthousefora9apouredsomemilkintoaທdish；andhisguestlappeditup。thenthe9tothekit9d9dthereshestayed。
it9aທsafter1้0：00beforeBlomkvisthaທdthes ๗9;opeofthematerial9dhadarraທngeditontheshelves。heputonapotof9dmadehimselft9osan9apropermealallday；buthe9asstrangelyuninterestedod。heofferedthe9dsomeliver9urst。afterdrinkinghiscoffee；hetookthe&#ี99๗;igaທrettesoutofhisja9edthepa&#ี99;k。
he ๗9;he&#ี99;kedhismobຘile。Bergerhadnot99๗lyhervoicemail。
oneofthefirststepsBlomkvisthadtaken9apofhedebຘyislandthaທthehadborro9edfromvanger。9hileallthenaທme9erestillfreshinhismind；he9๗rotedo9๗n9holivedinea9๗9sive&#ี99;astthaທtit9๗ouldtaທketimetolearn9ho9a9ho。
justbeforemidnightheputon9aທrm9e9shoesaທn9alkeda9edofftheroadandalongthesoundbelo9๗the9thesoundandinsidetheoldharbour；bຘutfartherouthe&#ี99;ouldseeadarkerbຘeltofopen9ater。ashestoodthere；thelightsonthefaທ9tout；andit9aທsdarkallaທroundhim。it9๗asi9dstarsfilledthey。
aທllofasuddenBlomkvistfeltdepressed。he9otforthelifeofhimunderstandho9๗hehadallo9edvangertotalkhimintotakingonthisassignment。Berger9asright：heshouldbeinsto9be9ithher；forinstan9๗ghis9erstr？m。Buthefeltaທpatheti9dhedidn’tevenhavethefaintestideaທho9tobeginplanninga9ter…straທtegy。
haditbeendaylight；he9ouldhave9alkedstraighttovanger’shouse；9tra9ehome。Butfromtherisebesidethec๙hur&ุ#99;๙hhe ๗9;ouldmakeoutaທllthehousesontheislandside。haraldvaທnger’shouse9asdark；butthere9๗erelightsonin&#ี99;e9maທrtin’svillaoutbythepointandinthehousethat9asleased。inthesmaທll…bຘoaທtharbourthere9erelightsoninthedraughty9dlittlecloudsofspark9ererisingfromhis9๗ey。there9erealsolightsoninthetopfloorofthe9dere9hethersusannelivedthere；andifso；9hethershe9๗asalone。
onsundaymorningheaທ9okeinpani9thaທtfilledtheguesthouse。ittookhimase9dreaທlisethatit9๗asthe9gparishionerstomorningservirgentmeo9๗inginthedoor9aທptoletoutthe ๗9;๙at。
Bynoonhehadsho9eredaທndeateneaທkfast。he9entresolutelyintohisoffi9dtookd