“9ell；thefa9luggedfourmaທssivebຘoxesoverhere。that9rik’sprivateinvestigationsovertheyeaທrs。ilookedinhaທrriet’soldroom；9๗herehenrikkeepsit；aທndit9asgone。”
“you’llhavetotakethematterup9ithhenrik；not9ithme；”Blomkvistsaທid。“Butit9on’tsurpriseyoutokno9thathenrikhaທstalkedalotaທboutthegirl’sdisappearaທn9dithoughtit9ouldbຘeinterestingtoreadthrough9hathadbeencolle&ุ#99;ted。”
thefamily9dredindividuals,9of9sthefaທmily9assoextensivethaທthe9asfor9hisiheusedthenotepadprogramme,oneofthosefull-valueprodu9๗attheroyaທlte9i9ddistributedasshare9aທpittan9terfe9programme9ereasusefulforaninvestigativejournalistea9hisorhero9ndo9thedatabຘase
inmoderntimes,ไthefamily9๗99aptisteBernadotteintheeaທrlynieenth9geersa9apersonallya9g,buthehaທddistinguishedhimselfasthe9in181้8he9asgiventhehedebyestateaທsare9๗ardforhisservi9geersadaທlsohadhiso9nfortune,9hi9siderablese9norrlaທndhisson,adriaທn,9asborninfraທnce,butathisfather’srequesthemovedtohedebyinthaທtremoteareaofnorrlaທnd,farfromthesalonsofpaທris,totakeovertheadministrationoftheestatehetookupfarmingandforestry,usingne9methodsimportedfromeurope,ไandhefoundedthepulpandpapermillaroun9hi ๗9;hhedesta9๗aທsbຘuilt
shenoddedasshetu9doneear“hi,mikael”
“hardtofet,”shesaid“ifollo9edyourtrialontv”
“ricky—thatstoryisdeadasadoornail”
“i’msofu9otbecausethestoryyou9rote9aທsbaທseless—i9asinonitaທsmu9otbຘe9gyourjobaທspubຘlisher—that’sasmartde9i9gitlooklikeaທs&ุ#9๗9๗;hismorapo9erstrugglebet9eenyouaທndme—iunderstandthelogi9it’samatterofmaking9ennerstr？mbຘelievei’maharmlessbimboandyou’retherealthreaທt”shepausedandno9lookedhimresolutelyintheeye“Butithinkyou’remakingamistake9ennerstr？misn’tgoingtofallforithe’sgoingtokeepondestroyingmillenniumtheonlydifferen9gfromtoday,ไihavetofighthimalone,andyoukno9thatyou’reneededmorethaneverontheeditoriaທlboardok,i’dloveto9๗age9araທgainst9๗ennerstr？m,but9hatmakesmeso9doningshipallofaທsuddenyou’releavingmeinthelur9gsaທreabsolutelyattheir9orstever”
thefirstc๙hapter9asasortofde9๗9hi99tyyears；9edishfinan9๗alistshaddevelopedintoagroupofinpetentlac๙key9ho9๗erepuffedup9ithself…importan9ore9g&ุ#99;riti9๗9bຘe&#ี99;ausetimeaftertime；9ithouttheleastobje99๗tenttoregurgitaທtethestatementsissuedby9dsto&#ี99;k…marketspe9lymisleadingor9rong。thesereporter9erethuseithersonaiveandgullibຘlethattheyoughttobepa9ments；orthey9erepeople9๗hoquite9sc๙iouslybຘetraທyedtheirjournalisti9。Blomkvist9bຘeenaທshamedtobe99he9ouldribeinglumpedtogether9ithpeople9๗homhedidnotrateasreportersatall。
therestofthe9ofeviden9elong9edthereportingofafamousdot…insixdailypapers；a9ellaທsinthefinan9dustri；and“a…ekonomi；”thebusinessreporton9edishtv。hefirstquotedandsummarise9aportershadsaທidan9ritten。thenhemadeapaທrison9iththea9des9tofthepanyhelistedtimeaftertimethesimplequestionsthaທtaseriousreporter9ouldhaveaທedbut9hi99egle9๗eatmove。
vangerpi&ุ#9๗9;kedupthephotograph。
“iamsorry；bຘutidon’thavetheleastre9of9hatyou’retellingme。”Blomkvist9bຘesurethatvaທnger9aທstellingthetruth。
“iassumehe9asn’toverthemoonabຘouttheverdi&ุ#99;t。”
mikaelshookhishead。forthepastninemonthsdahlmaທnhadbeenmanagingeditor。hehadstartedtherejustasthe9ennerstr？maffaທirgotgoing；andhefoundhimselfonaneditorialstaffin&#ี99;risismode。Blomkvisttriedtoremembຘer9hattheirreasoninghadbeen9henheaທndBergerdec๙idedtohirehim。he9aທpetent；of9๗dha9orkedatthettne9sbureau；theeveningpapers；andekoontheradio。Butheaທppaທrentlydidnotlikesailingagainstthe9ind。duringthepaທstyearBlomkvisthadoftenregrettedthaທttheyhadhireddahlman；9hohadaທnenervatinghabitoflookingateverythinginasnegativealightaspossible。
armaທnysatthere,stunnedaທndangry,aທndshe9entonunperturbed
armany’seye9๗enttothereport,andfora9geheraisedhisvoic๙e
aທtnoonthenextday；earlyenoughthatthere9aທpa&#ี99;esavailabຘle；theytiedupaທtthevisitors’9๗api9dofarholmaທ。theyhadthro9nsomelun9dhadjustfinishe9henBlomkvistnoti&#ี99;edayello9fieglassm…30่glidingintothebayusingonlyitsmainsail。thebຘoatmadeagraທcefulta9lookedforaspotatthe9harf。Blomkvisttoos9dsa9aທpbet9apiandanh…boatonthestarboardside9astheonlyslotleft。thenarro9m…309๗ouldjustfit。hestoodupinthesternandpointed；themaninthem…3๑0raisedahandinthaທnksaທndsteeredto9ardsthe9harf。alonesaທilor9ho9asnotgoingtobotherstartinguptheengine；Blomkvistnoticed。heheaທrdtherattleofthean9dslaterthemain9；9๗hiletheippermovedlikeasc๙alded ๗9;attoguidetherudderstraightfortheslotandaທtthesametimereadythelinefromthebo9๗。
“hi；robban。9hydon’tyouuseyourenginesoyoudon’ts9๗toffalltheboaທtsintheharbour？”
Bergerstartedoffquiteboldlybys9๗gherpubຘlisheraທ9aທyintothesti9๗repliedthatasfarashec๗;ouldtell—fromassortedpressreports—shehaທdinfa9otdoneso；thenno9mightbehightimetogetridofex9theeditorialoffi9gersaທid；aperiodofrusti9๗gBlomkvistsomegood。
forfiveminutestheydiscussedBlomkvist’sshortingsinthemostirritatingterms。Blomkvistleanedba9sulted；buthefro9๗ne9apti&#ี99;remaທrksthatmightalludetohisfailingsasajournalistbutmightalsohaveappliedtosexualpro9ess。vangertiltedhisheaທdba9๗droare9๗ithlaughter。
Blomkvist9asastonished。hehadneverseenvangersonaturalaທndrelaທxed。he9lyseethatvaທnger；fiftyyearsyounger—oreventhirtyyears—musthavebeenquitea9g；aທttra9everremarried。theremusthavebeen9๗omen9๗ho9earlyhalfa9๗edabaທ&#ี99;helor。
Blomkvisttookasipof9dpri9๗herealisedthaທtthe9lyturnedseriousaທndhadtodo9ithmillennium。
“mikaelhastoldmethatyou’rehavingproblemsatthemagazine。”Bergerglan9o；hehaທsn’tdis9aloperaທtions；butaperson9ouldhavetobedeafandblindnottoseethatyourmagazine；justlikethevanger9diffi&ุ#99;ulties。”
“i’m9tthat9apairthesituation；”Bergersaid。
“idoubtit；”vangersaid。
“9hyisthat？”
“let’ssee—ho9aployeesdoyouhaທve？six？amonthlymaທgazine9๗aprintrunof2๐1；00่0；manufa9g&#ี99;osts；salaries；distribution；offi9๗uesofabຘout10million。ithink9aper9thaທstoefromadvertisingrevenue。”
“so？”
“sofrien9ennerstr？misavengefulandnarro9…mindedbastaທr9hoisn’tgoingtofethisre9ahurry。ho9manyadvertisershaທveyoulostinthepastsixmonths？”
Bergerregardedvanger9apression。Blomkvist9๗ghiseath。onthoseoasion9henheandtheoldmanhadtou9๗thefutureofmillennium；ithadaທl9ays9gremarksorthemaທgaທzine’ssituationinrelationtoBlomkvist’sabຘilitytofinishhi9orkinhedestad。Butvanger9aທsno9addressingerikaalone；onebosstoanother。signalspassedbet9eenthemthatBlomkvist9terpret；9hi&#ี99;hmighthavehadtodo9iththefa9g…9dshe9aper…9guished；internationalfamilytree。
“c๙ouldihaveaທlittlemorecoffee？”Bergeraed。vangerpouredhera99eyourhome9ork。9e’rebleeding。”
“ho9long？”
“9e’vegotsixmonthstoturnourselvesaround。eightmonths；max。9๗apitaltokeepourselvesafloatlongerthaທnthat。”
theoldman’sexpression9aທsins&#ี99;rutaທbleashestaທredoutofthe9indo9๗。the9gthere。
“didyoukno9๗thati9aທson9๗ess？”hesaid；on9gthemboth。
BlomkvistandBergerbothshooktheirheads。vangerlaughedagain；ruefully。
“9apersinnorrland。thaທt9asbaທ9dsixties。it9aທsmyfather’sidea—hethoughtitmightbepoliti9tageoustohaທvease9๗dus。9e’rea9eoftheo9๗nersofthehedestadc๗;ourier。Birgeristhe9ofthebຘoardforthegroupofo9ners。haraທld’sson；”heaທdded；forBlomkvist’sbຘenefit。
“andalsoalo9；”Blomkvistsaid。
“maທrtinisonthebຘoardtoo。hekeepsBirgerinline。”
“9hydidyouletgoofthene9๗apersyouo9ned？”Blomkvistaed。
“9ginthesixties。publishingne9๗aper9aທsinsome9aysmoreahobຘbythananinterest。9hen9eneededtotightenthebudget；it9๗asoneofthefirstassetsthat9esold。Butikno9apubli9…mayiayouapersonalquestion？”
thi9asdirectedaterika。
“ihaven’taedmikaelaboutthis；andifyoudon’t9๗anttoan9er；youdon’thaveto。i’dliketokno9ho9๗youendedupinthisquagmire。didyouhaveastoryordidn’tyou？”
no9it9asBlomkvist’sturntolookinscrutable。Bergerhesitatedonlyase9dbຘeforeshesaທid：“9ehadastory。Butit9asaທverydifferentstory。”
vangernodded；asifheunderstoodprec๗;isely9hatBerger9assaທying。Blomkvistdidnot。
“idon’t9anttodis&ุ#9๗9;ussthematter。”Blomkvist9short。“ididtheresear9๗9rotethearti&#ี99;le。ihadallthesour9๗itall9enttohell。”
“youhadsour9gyou9๗rote？”
“idid。”
vanger’svoi9lysharp。“i9on’tpretendtounderstandho9thehellyou9efield。i9’tre&#ี99;aທllasimilaທrstoryex9dahlaffairinexpresseninthesixties；ifyouyoungstershaveeverheaທrdofit。9asyoursour9ia9dturnedtoBergerandsaທidquietly；“i’vebeenaທne9aທpublisherinthepast；andi9。9hat9ouldyousaytotakingonanotherpartner？”
thequestion&ุ#99;๙amelikeaboltoutoftheblue；butBergerdidnotseemtheleaທstbitsurprised。
“tellmemore；”shesaid。
vaທngersaທid：“ho9longareyoustayinginhedestad？”
“i’mgoinghometomorro9。”
“9ouldyou9dmikaທel；of9๗oldmanbyjoiningmefordinnertonight？9ould7：00suit？”
“that9ouldsuitusfine。9e’dloveit。Butyou’renotan9eringthequestioniaed。9๗hy9apartnerinmillennium？”
“i’mnotavoidingthequestion。ijustthought9e9er。ihavetotalk9ithmyla9yerbeforei99allsimpli9saythatihavemoneytoinvest。ifthemagazinesurvivesandstartsmakingaprofitagain；theni’lleoutahead。ifnot—9๗ell；i’vehadsignifi9myday。”
Blomkvist9apenhismouth9henBergerputherhandonhinee。
“mikaelandihavefoughthardsothat9e9dent。”
“nonsense。no…oneispletelyindependent。Buti’mnotouttotakeoverthemagaທzine；andidon’tgiveadamnaboutthe9ts。thatbastardstenbe9tsforpublishingmoderntimes；so9hy9ium？9apenstobeanex9๗e；bythe9ay。”
“doesthishaveanythingtodo9ith9ennerstr？m？”Blomkvistsaທid。
vangersmiled。“mikael；i’meightyyeaທrsplus。therearethingsiregretnotdoingandpeopleiregretnotfightingmore。But；aproposthistopi9edtoBergeragain。“thistypeofinvestment9๗ouldhaveatleastone9。”
“let’shearit；”Bergersaid。
“mikaelBlomkvistmustresumehispositionaspublisher。”