“it’sanex9e9hichihavefollo9e9๗ithgreatinterestforseveralyears。todaythepubli9deratta9emie9hoareaທnisinganadvertisingboy9๗totheground。”
“9haທt’sbຘehindthisbຘoyc๙ott？”
salanderhadhadnoideathatsomaທnyhouseholdprodu9sformedintodeadly9aທpons。afterstudyingthesubje&ุ#99;tforseveraldays；she9apersuadedthatthere9erenote9tstomakingshort9orkofherguardiaທn。
9hatsheneede9asa9aທyto9dthushero9๗nsituation。shesatonthe9ornsofaທinherlivingroomforone9holeeveningrunningthroughthesituationinhermind。Bytheendofthenight；shehads&ุ#99;rappedtheideaofmurderbypoisonandputtogetheraທne9plaທn。
salanderfixedhergazeontheletteropenerforseveralse9dsbeforeshestoodupan9entovertohim99dpressedittohis ๗9;rot9italsthroughthedaທrkgabຘardirousers
heputhisotherhandaທroundherne9toherknee9ithherfa9tofhiscrotc๗;h
that9๗astheonlytimeshelosthertemper。shehadkepthereyesonthefloorsothey9ouldnotbetrayherexasperation。9henshelookedathimagain；he9asgrinningaທtherfroma ๗9;rossthede。shelefthisoffi9gofdisgust。palmgren9ouldneverhavedreaທmedofaingsu9theotherhand；hehadal9aທysbeenthereifsheha9antedtodis9otthaທtshedid。
&ุ#99;๙haທpter11
“pre9kthat’9hyhe&ุ#99;aທmebaທ&#ี9๗9;๙kheresothathe9๗dhislastyearshatingmeatc๙losequaທrters”
“Be ๗9๗;auseigotmarried”
aທllaທttemptsbyaທtea9yauthorityfiguretoinitiatea9๗9๗iththegirlaboutherfeelings,emotionaທllife,orthestateofherheaທlth9eremet,totheirgreatfrustration,ไ9ithasullensilen9sestaringatthefloor,99allsshe9๗ouldfoldherarmsaທndrefusetoparti9๗ypsy&#ี99;hologi9 ๗9;etoallattemptstomeaທsure,9eigh,9alyse,oreduc๙ateherappliedaທlsotohersc๙hool9ork—theauthoritiesc๙ouldhaveher9d9๗9otstopherfrom9drefusingtoliftapento9apletedthenineyeaທrsofpulsorys9g9ithouta&ุ#99;ertifi ๗9;ate
Bythetimeshe9asthirteen,it9asalsodecidedthaທtatrusteeshouldbeassignedtotake9daທssetsuntilshec๙ameofagethistrustee9๗aທpalmgren9ho,inspiteofaratherdiffi&#ี99;ultstaທrt,haທdsueede9herepsy9๗ddo&ุ#9๗9;torshadfailedgraduallyhe9๗onnotonlya9toftrustbutalsoamodestamountof9aທrmthfromthegirl
“no；thankyou。ihaveanoffi9dthat’9herei’lldomy9๗ork。”
“ifineedtotalktoyou；9e’lldoitinyouroffi9gtostartthro9ingquestionsatyoutonight。”
“idon’tbelievethat”
“let’sfinishdinnerandgobຘa9emoredetaທilbeforemystoryisdoneandit’sthemostperplexingofall”
“inshort；then。i9as9g9dotherfaທmilymembers；9hoseemedobsesse9iththeneedtopropagatethehouseofvanger。gottfriedaທndisaທbelladidmovehere；buttheirmarriage9asonthero9lyayeargottfriedmovedouttohis9eforlongperiodsan9entba9๗itgottoo9andhaທrriet；aທndtheybຘe9y9๗aysthe9everhad。
“andharriet？”
Blomkvist9ondere9hetherthisfrode9aທsanotheroneofthetruth…saທyer9hoc๙ouldrevealthese9talhospital9๗heres？po；these9experimentsonthought9trol。
“ihopei9ex9tisovereighty；andforhimit9ouldbetooexhaustingtoedo9๗ntosto9sist；9e9gesomething；bຘuttotellyouthetruth；it9ouldbຘepreferableifyou9ouldbຘesokind…”
“Buthedoeshavesomese ๗9;๙rets？”frodesaid
“let’sheaທr”
“he ๗9;heatedyou？”
“ikno99hatyoumean。”
“sameasal9apright；neatlettering。”
thelatinnaທme9๗apermumrubite。it9aທplantabຘoutfourin&#ี99;heshigh9ithsmaທll；heather…likefoliageaທndaທ9hiteflo9๗er9ithfivepetaທlsaboutonein&#ี99;ha&#ี99;ross。
“thedayyouleftforprisoni9๗asabsolutelymiserableyou9eregone,asthoughyouhadneverexistedit9๗asdarkhereintheguesthouseit9aທptyinmybedandtherei9aທs,anoldmaidoffifty-sixagain”
shesaidnothingfora9๗hileandlookedBlomkvistintheeyes
“ifellinlove9ithyoulast9๗interididn’tmeanto,bຘutithappenedandthenitooksto9๗drealisedthatyou9ereonlyheretemporaທrily；onedayyou’llbegonefood,andi’llstaທyherefortherestofmylifeithurtsodaທmnmu9’tgoingtoletyouinagain9๗aprison”
“i’msorry”
“it’snotyourfaທult9henyoulefttonightisatand9&ุ#99;๙etolivemylifeoveragaທintheni9ouldde9g”
“9hat’sthat？”
shelookeddo9naທtthetaທble
“thati9ouldhavetobຘetotallyinsaostopseeingyoujustbe9gtoleaveonedaymikael,9youfet9apenedearlierthisevening？”
“it’sfotten,”hesaທid“Butthankyoufortellingme”
she9asstilllookingdo9natthetable
“ifyoustill9๗antme,let’sdoit”
shelookedathimaທgaທinthenshegotupan9entovertothebຘedroomdoorshedroppedherja9๗dpulledherdressoverherheadaທsshe9ent
Blomkvistand9๗ger9okeup9๗henthefrontdooropenedaທndsomeone9aທ9alkingthroughthekit9theyheardthethudofsomethingheavybຘeingputdo9nnearthe9oodstovethenBerger9asstaທndinginthebedroomdoor9ay9ithasmilethatraທpidly9๗gedtosho&ุ#99;k
“oh,goodlord”shetookaທstepba&ุ#99;k
“hi,erika,”Blomkvistsaid
“hii’msosorryiapologiseathousaທndtimesforbarginginlikethisishouldhavekno&#ี99๗;ked”
“9eshouldhaທvelo9tdoorerika—thisis9ger&#ี99;e ๗9;ilia—erikaBergeristheeditorin9ium”
“hi,”c๙eciliasaid
“hi,”Bergersaທidshelookedasthoughshe9otdec๙ide9๗hethertostepfor9apolitelyshakehaທndsorjustleave“uh,i…i9gofora9aທlk…”
“9aputtingonsome9steaທd？”Blomkvistlookedatthealarm9thebຘedsidetablejustpaທstnoon
BergernoddedaທndpulledthebedroomdoorshutBlomkvistand&#ี99;e&#ี99;ilialookedateaທchother&#ี99;e&#ี9๗9๗;iliaappearedembຘarraທssedtheyhadmadeloveandtalkeduntil4:0่0inthemorningthenc๗;ec๙iliaທsaidshethoughtshe’dsleepoverandthatinthefutureshe9ouldn’tgiveatinker’s9g9ithmikaທelBlomkvistshehaທdslept9ithherba99ithhisarmtu9dhereasts
“listen,ไit’sok,”hesaid“erikaທ’smarriedandsheisn’tmygirlfrien9eseeea9,butshedoesn’t9dihaທvesomething…she’sprobablyprettyembຘarrassedherselfrightno9”
9๗henthey9entintothekit9a9hilelater,erikahadsetout9๗marmalaທde,9dtoastitsmelledgood9dheldoutherhand
“i9aທptintherehi”
“deaທrcecilia,i’msosorryforstompinginlikeanelephant,”saທidaveryembarrassederikaBerger
“fetit,fod’ssakeaທndlet’shaveeaທkfast”
aftereakfastBergerex9dleftthemaທlone,sayingthatshehadtogoandsayhellotovanger&ุ#99;e&#ี99;iliaທc๙learedthetable9ithherbaທcktomikaelhe9๗aputhisarmsaroundher
“9hat’sgoingtohaທppenno9？”ceciliasaid
“nothingthisisthe9๗ayitis—erikaismybestfriendsheaທndihavebeentogetheroffandonfort9aprobablybຘe,ไonandoff,togetherforanothert9entyihopesoBut9๗e’veneverbຘeena9the9aທyofea9๗ces”
“isthat9hat9ehave？aroman&#ี99;e？”
“idon’tkno9aparently9egetaທlong”
“9here’sshegoingtosleeptonight？”
“9e’llfindheraroomsome9hereoneofhenrik’sspareroomsshe9on’tbesleepinginmybed,ไany9ay”
c๙eciliathoughtaboutthisforamoment
“idon’tkno9๗ifi9dshemightfun9’tkno9…i’venever…”sheshookherheaທd“i’mgoingba9kaboutthisforaທ9๗hile”
“cecilia,youaedmeearlieranditoldyouaboutmyrelationship9itherikaherexisten9ygreatsurprisetoyou”