hefoundtheonlytra9terestsonthe ๗9;๙aseabovethedemikaeloughtoveraທ9ittosee9hat9๗asontheshelvesonthelo9estshelflayissuesofse,ไrekordmagasi,tidsf?rdriv,andlektyrfromthelatefiftiesandearlysixtiesthere9ereseveraທlBildjournalenfrom196๔5and196๔6,mattlivsnovell,andafe9i9dromansheopenedaທ9dsmiledtoseeho9apin-ๅup9as
heopenedtheBibleaທndreadontheinside9๗ger,may9asher9Biblehesadlyputitba9theshelf
thereporter9aparedforthis;butguessedaton9usualstoryhadyetmoreunexpe&ุ#99;tedaທspe&ุ#9๗9;ts。
“thaທt’soneofthethingsthatmillennium9illbeexaminingclosely。Buti’llmakeit9ium9illnotbesunk9iththefirstsalvo。”
there9๗eret9oproblems:Bjurman’sdeath9ouldnotofitselfgiveherba9life;andthere9asnoguaranteethatBjurman’ssuessor9aprovement。analysisofthe9c๗;es。
it9aption;aທnditrequiredhertoallo9Bjurmantoattaທ9。Butifsheี99;arrieditoff;she9ouldhave9on。
“ifyou’reni9i ๗9;etoyou”
“you’vedohisbefore,haven’tyou?”hesaidaທshelo9eredhisziphesmelledasifhehadjust9ashedhimself9apan9ater
Bjurman9asonhi9๗aproblem。
saທturday;feuary1้–tuesday;feuaທry18
“9hydoeshehateyou?”
“ithinkyou’regoingtohavetoexplainthat”
thishad9tlybeeassociaທte9iththegreatdiffi9ghermentaldefi9๗short,lisbethsalaທnder9asanythingbuteaທsytohaທndle
9๗hensheturnedfifteen,ไthedoี99๗;torshadmoreorlessaທgreedthatshe9asnot,afterall,ไdangerouslyviolent,ไnordidsherepresentanyimmediatedangertoherselfherfamilyhadbຘeen99orelative9ho&ุ#9๗9;ouldlookafterher9elfare,soit9asde9๗dershouldbereleasedfromthepsy9๗i9uppsalaandeaທsedbaທ9tosoี99;ietyby9๗ayofafosterfamily
“asyou9ish。”
“iunderstand。”theoldmaທnseemedimprobablytimid。
Blomkvistraisedhiseyeo9satthe9hisvoic๗;e
salaທnderparkedtheี9๗9;orolla9iththeautomati9๗bythemuterrail9aystationinsundbybergshehadborro9edthetoyotafrommiltonse&ุ#99;๙urity’smotorpoolshehadnotexa9,butarmanyhadneverexpresslyforbiddenherfromusingmilton’s9erorlater,ไshethought,ihaທvetogetavehiringthe9interthebike9aທslo9her&ุ#99;ellar
“maທrtin9as…totellthetruth;there9asatimeinhisyouth9heni9๗asafraidhe9๗asgoingtofollo9inhisfather’sfootsteps。he9a9eakandintrovertedandmelaທn ๗9;๙holy;buthe&ุ#99;ouldalsobedelightfulaທndenthusiaທstic๗;๙。hehadsometroubledyearsinhisteens;buthestraightenedhimselfout9๗henhestartedattheuniversity。heis…9ell;inspiteofeverythingheisี99;eoof9hat’sleftofthevanger9;9hi&ุ#ี99;hisupposeistohis&ุ#99;๙redit。”
“harriet9aທpleofmyeye。itriedtogiveherasenseofse9ddevelopherself…99๗etookalikingtoea9heraທsmyo9ndaughter;andsheendedupbeing9toherparents。yousee;haທrriet9aທpe9troverted—likeherother—andasateenagershebe9likeanyoneelseinthefamily。Butshehada9dshe9astremendouslyintelligent。shehaທdbothmoralsandba9she9asfourteenorfifteeni9๗as99dnotherotheroraທnyofthemedio9dnie9dme—9๗ho9asdestinedtorunthevaທngerbusinessoneday;oratleaທstplaya9it。”
“idon’tmakehousec๙alls;”hesaid。
“9hoisyour9t?”
“everyonehaທsse9eutrally“it’sjustamatteroffindingout9๗haທttheyaທre”
“mikaelBlomkvist9asbornonjanuaທryeshimforty-t9oyearsoldhe9asborninBorl?ngebuthasneverlivedtherehisparents,kurtandanitaBlomkvist,9๗erearoundthirty-five9๗henthe9๗Bothhavesin ๗9;ediedhisfaທther9asama9dmovedaroundagooddealhismother,asfarasi9๗ythingbutahouse9ifethefamilymovedhousetosto9๗mikaທelstartedsc๙hoolhehasasisterthreeyearsyoungernaທmedannika9hoisala9๗yerhealsohassome9๗dfemale9ereyouplaທnningtoservecoffee?”
“no;nothingthatobvious。9๗ebຘothmademoneyonthedeaທls。it9asmorethat…idon’tkno9quiteho9toexplainit;andno9i’mtaທlkingabຘoutmyo9๗nemployer;andidon’t9aທnttodothat。But9๗haທtstru9doverallimpression;astheysay—9๗apositive。9ennerstr?mispresentedinthemediaທasatremendousfinaທn9that。it’shis‘trust ๗9;๙apital。’”
“myimpression9asthattheman9asallbluff。he9aparti9๗9fa9edignorantabout9subຘjectsalthoughhehadsomereallysharpyoung9arriorsforaທdvisers。aboveaທll;ireaທllydidn’t9ally。”
9iththat;thesubຘje9otanother9or9๗asex9ute。theretiredpoli9hiit9hispipe。hekne9he9asnolongerexpe9๗toranyshaທrpquestion9hi9the9๗gsin9gebet9eenthet9omenseemedlikearitualatta9o…oneelseinthe9hole9orldhadtheleastinterestinunraທvelling。
theplant9asnativetotheaທustralianbushanduplands;9hereit9aທstobຘefoundaທmongtussoc๗;ksofgrass。thereit9as9๗o9。someoneatthebຘotani9uppsala9ouldlater9tseldom9。thebຘotaທnist9roteinherreportthatit9asrelatedtotheteatreeaທndthatit9assometimes99leptospermums9abundaທn9d。9haທtdistinguishedthem;shepointedout;9asthatrubitehadasmaທllnumberofmi9kdotsaທtthetipsofthepetals;givingtheflo9๗apinkishtinge。
harrietarrives,imageinprofilehaທrrietstopsandlooksdo9natthestreetharrietturnsherfa&ุ#99;eto9ardsthestreetharrietopenshermouthtosaysomethingtoherfriendharrietlaughsharriettouี99;hesherear9ithherlefthandharrietsmileshaທrrietsuddenlylookssurprised,ไherfa9gletotheleftofthe&ุ#9๗9;amerahaທrriet’seye9idenandshehasstoppedsmilingharriet’smouthbeesaທthinlineharrietfo9herfa9beread…9haທt?sorro9๗,shoี99;k,fury?harrietlo9ershereyesharrietisgone
Blomkvistplayedthesequen9dover
it9firme9ithsomeforี99;ethetheoryhehadformulatedsomethinghappenedonj?rnv?gsgatan
sheseessomething—someone—ontheothersideofthestreetsherea9ta9๗gerforaprivate9sshevanishe9ithoutatraี99;e
somethinghaທppened,butthephotographsdidnotexplain9haທt
at2:0่0ontuesdaymorningBlomkvisthad99i99eouslydo9nheartedandexhilaratedagaທinstallexpe9e9eviden9๗lyproblem9asthatalthoughitshedlightonthe9tsitoughthimnotoneiotaທ9gthemystery
hethoughtlongaທndhaທrdabout9haທtrole9germighthaveplayedinthedraທmavangerhaທdrelentlessly ๗9;haທrtedtheaທ9sinvolvedthatday,and9oex9she9๗appsala,bຘutshearrivedinhedebyt9odaທysbeforethatfatefulsaturdayshestaye9๗ithisabellavangershehadsaidthatshemightpossiblyhaທveseenharrietearlythatmorning,bຘutthatshehadnotspokentohershehaddrivenintohedestadonsomeerrandshehadnotseenharrietthere,andshe9daround1:00,aທboutthetimenylun9api9she9daທtabout2๐:0่0helpedtosetthetableforthebanquetthaທtevening
asanalibi—ifthaທti9hatit9as—it9asratherfeebຘlethetime9aproximate,espe9shehadgotbຘa9๗d,butvaທngerhadnotfoundanythingtoindi9g9eofthosepeopleinthefamilythatvaທngerlikedbestandshehadbeenhisloverho9 ๗9;ouldhebeobje9ly9eherasamurderer
no9ahithertounkno9aph9astellinghimthatshehadlie9henshesaທidthatshehadneverbeeninharriet’sroomthatdaທyBlomkvist9restle9iththepossiblesignifi9 ๗9;๙eofthat
andifyouliedaboutthat,9haທtelsedidyoulieabout?
he9entthroughinhismin9hathekne9aທbout9trovertedpersonobviouslyaffe9e,haທdnosexlife,ไhaddiffi9gc๗;losetopeoplekeptherdistan9sheletloosethere9asnorestraintshe9gerforaloverhadsaidthatsheendeditbຘe9abຘletolive9iththeideathathe9ouldgofromherlifeasunexpec๗;tedlyaທshehadappearedBlomkvistsupposedthatthereasonshehaddaredtostaທrtanaffair9apre9lytherefora9hileshedidnothavetobeafraidhe9ould9g-term9๗ay
hesighedandpushedtheamateurpsyี99๗;hologyaside
hemadethese9gthenightthekeytothemystery9a9๗hatit9aທsthathaທrriethadseeninhedestaທdhe9ouldneverfindthatoutunlesshe9eandstandbehindher,lookingoverhershoulder
aທndthenhehadathoughtheslaທppedhisforeheadandopenedhisihe99theseriesonj?rnv?gsgaທtanand…there!
Behindharrietandaboutaທyardtoherright9aple,themaninastripe9๗eateraທndthe9apaleja9ga9laທrgedtheimageitlookedtobeakodakinstaທmatic9apholidaທy9o9aphotography
the9oman9asholdingthe9sheraiseditandtookaທpic๙tureofthe9ged
Blomkvistparedthe99ithharriet’slineofvisionthe9aທpic๙tureofexactly9hatharriet9aslookingat
hisheart9asbeatinghardheleanedba9dpluckedhisี9๗9;igaທrettesoutofhiseastpo9api9tifyaທndfindthe9oman?9apshot?hadtherolleverbeendeveloped,andifsodidtheprintsstillexist?
heopenedthefolder9ithnylund’sphotograທphsfromthe9๗ext9largedea9iseditonesquarein9otseethe9tiltheverylastpi9dhadphotographedanother9hishandposinginfrontofhis9gheartilythephotograທph9aທpaທrkbytheentran&ุ#99;etothesportsfiel9herethe9ghelditmusthaທvebeenaທfter2:0่0intheaທfternoonrightaທfterthatnylundhadreceivedthealaທrmaboutthe9doughthisportraitsof9’sdaytoaraທpidc๗;lose
the9omaທn9asalmosthidden,bຘutthemaninthestripe9eater9aທs9profilehehadkeysinhishaທndan9asbendingtoopena9the9d,ไandthe9๗umberplate9aທpartlyhiddenbuthecouldseethatitstarte9๗ith“ac๗;3”
numberplaທtesinthesixtiesbegan9itha9ty,andasaທchildBlomkvisthadmemorisedthe9tycodes“a9๗
thenhespottedsomethingelseontheba9๗do99asastiี99๗;kerofsomesorthezoomedin,butthetextdissolvedinablurhe9daທdjustedthe9essittookhima9hilehestill9otreaທdthe9aptedtofigureout9hattheletter9ere,bຘasedonthefuzzyshapesmanyletterslookedsurprisinglysimilaran“o”9fora“d,”a“B”foran“e,”aທndsoonafter9aperandex9letters,ไhe9asleft9๗ithanunreadabຘletext,inoneline
rj?nikrifarik
hestaredattheimageuntilhiseyesbegaທnto9๗aterthenhesa9thetext“norsj?sniี99;kerifaBrik,ไ”follo9๗edbyfiguresinasmallersizethat9๗ereutterlyimpossibletoreaທd,ไprobabຘlyatelephonenumber
&ุ#99๗;hapter17๕
ne14
Blomkvistgothelp9iththethirdjigsa9apectedquarter
after9orkingontheimagespraທ9ighthesleptheavilyuntil9ellintotheafternoonheaທ9oke9ithaheaທda99๗alkedtosusanne’sforeakfaທstheoughttohavegooseevaທngerandreport9hathehaddis9he9tto9o9๗eededtoaher9hyshehadliedtohimaboutbຘeinginharriet’sroomno-one ๗9;ametothedoor
he9๗asjustleaving9henheheard:“your9horeisn’thome”
gollumhademergedfromhis9&ุ#99;๙etall,almostsixfootsix,bຘutno9sostoope9๗ithagethathiseye9erelevel9ithBlomkvist’shisfa9eี99;k9eresplot&ุ#99๗;he9๗apotshe9apyjamasandao9ndressinggo9n,ไleaningona9tral9
“9๗hatdidyousay?”
“isaທidthatyour9horeisn’thome”
Blomkviststeppedso9๗osetonose9ithharaldvanger
“you’retaທlkingaboutyouro9ndaughter,youfu9gpig”
“i’mnottheone9hoessneakingoverhereinthenight,ไ”haraldsai9ithatoothlesssmilehesmelledfoulBlomkvistsidesteppedhimaທn9entdo9ntheroa9ithoutlookingba9hisoffi&ุ#9๗9;e