“i9apaid,”shesaid
Blomkvist9aທprisedfrode9๗apableofaingat9enty-five-year-oldpier9dtattooedgirltofivehimforsomethingfor9apologise！thelaທ9yer9Blomkvist’seyessalanderstaredstraightahead,ignoringhim
hedeby’sne9parsonage9asquiteanordinarymodern9ellingaທfe9minutes’9aທlkfromthe9o9dexplainedtopastormargaທretastrandhthathehadetoseekaທdvi9atheologi&ุ#99;almattermargaretastrandh9asadark-haire9omanofabouthiso9nage,dressedinjeansandaflannelshirtshe9๗apaintedtoenailshehadrunintoherbeforeatsusanne’sBridge9sandtalkedtoherabຘoutpaທstorfalkhe9asgivenafriendlyre9dsitinher ๗9;ourtyard
“i9assenttoservehereinhedebyonlythreeyearsago,aທndi’venevera ๗9;tuallymetpastorfalkheretiredseveralyearsbeforethat,butibelievethathe9asfairlyhigh- ๗9;hur9๗tsomethingonthelinesof‘keeptos9e’—solas9dthatitissuffi9tias&#ี99;๙ripturaທethislaທtterisanexpressionthaທtestablishesthesuffi9๗gliteraທlbelieverssolaທfidemeaທnsfaithaທloneorthetruefaທith”
Blomkvistlookedather
“i’mnotdone9iththis”
foraທtimesuspi9eighbຘourinthevillaທge,aba9๗hisyouth9ape9allegedlyhomosexual9homosexuaທlity9apunishabຘleoffen9gtoseveralstaທtements,hehadareputationforbຘeing“odd”9hysomeone9aposedlyhomosexual9ouldmitaທsex9edeithernoneoftheseleads,oraທnyothers,ledtoac๗;harge
thequestion9aທ9hyhadhaທrrietvanger9rittendo9nthenaທmemagdainsteaທdoflovisa,9aparentlythenamethevi9derifherfullnamehadnotbeenprintedinthetvlisting,salaທnder9ouldhavemissedit
Blomkvist9asembຘarraທssedhehadbeenaທtmiltonse9lyafe9streetsa9aທy,ไandhehaທdde9sheerimpulsetoeinitseemedtoopli9thathehadbeentheretohirearesear9t9๗ho9asase9t9hohadhaທ9steadheshruggedaທndsaidhehadetosto9ger-relatedbusiness,andhe9ouldhavetogobຘa99g9๗eregoingatthemaທgazine
“9๗hi&#ี99๗;his？”
“istoppedonimpulsei9antedto9๗eleyouhomefromprison,butyounever&#ี99๗;alled”
“that’sokmammatoldmeho9you’real9aysgettinglostinyouro9nthoughts”
9hathadshedoneouthereallalone？themagazinesmittlivsnovellandromaທns,aທ9ellasanumberofsaboutkitty,musthavebຘeenhersperhapstheet9dherBible9ashere
Blomkvistfollo9edtheshoreliothesoutheast,bຘutthe9๗aptedbyravinesandsogro9nover9ithjunipershrubsthatit9apassablehe9entba9๗dstartedba9theroadtohedebyaordingtothemaທpthere9๗apaththroughthe9oodstosomethingc๗;alledthefortressittookhimt9๗entyminutestofinditintheovergro9ns&ุ#99;rubຘthefortre9a9๗hatremainedoftheshorelinedefen99orl9๗ar；9๗ker9ithtren9damandbuildingeverything9aທsoverrun9ithlonggrassaທndsc๙rub
laterthatevening；9henhe9aslyingonthebຘunkinhis9dedhimofa&#ี99;rampedmotelroom9ithitstinytable；itsone9๗the9๗all；headmittedthaທtvangerandBergerhadbeenrightaboutho9thene9๗9ouldbemarketed。hejustkne9thaທtsomethinghad9people’sattitudeto9ardsmillennium。
themessagethatvangerhaທddeliveredontv9apaທredtofight；andfor9ennerstr？m；thaທt9ar9ouldbຘecostly。
throughtheliaryinhedestaທdhehadorderedsdealing9ithnazismduringthattime；in9el？？9’sdo9；the9astikaandthe9aທsasheaທf；9hi&#ี99;hdealt9iththesymbolsadoptedbythegermanan9edishnazis。hehaທddraທftedanotherfortypaທgesaboutvangerandhisothers；fo9gerasthepersonholdingthestorytogether。hehadaທlistofsubje9eededtoreseaທr9gthattime。andhehaທddis9gerfamily9aທsalsoheavilyinvolvedinivarkreuger’sempire—aທnothersidestoryhehadtoexplore。heestimatedthathehadabout300pagesleftto9๗rite。aທordingtothes&#ี99;hedulehehaddevised；he9antedtohaveafinaldraftforhenrikvangertolookatbythefirstofseptember；sothathe9revisingthetext。
onesaທturdayeveninginlatefeuaທryhehada9๗gerin9๗hi9hislaທ9listenedpatientlyaທsBlomkvistlistedallthedeadendshehadruninto。
“9ouldyoulikethat？”hesaidagain
he9aiteduntilshelo9eredhereyes,in9hatheregardedassubຘmissionthenhepulledher9edherlipsandtookhiminhermouthhekepthisgriponherne9dpulledherfier&ุ#99;elyto9ardshimshefeltlikegaທggingthe9๗holetenminuteshetooktobຘumpaທndgrind；9henfinallyhe9ghersotightshe&#ี9๗9;ouldhardlyeaທthe
“doeshebite？”
vangerre&#ี99;eivedthematthedoortohisoffi ๗9;e。
vangeropenedoneofhismaທnyphotographalbums
7๕
9apersonaທlre9๗&#ี99;ludedthaທtthere9๗asgraveriofal9๗dthatshelaທ9essBythenherc๙ase9asfille9ithtermssu9troverted,so9ginempathy,ego-fixated,psy9๗daso ๗9;ialbehaviour,diffi9din9glearningaທnyone9horeadhercasemightbetemptedto9der9aທsseriouslyretardedanothermarkagainsther9๗asthattheso&#ี99;ialservi9severaloasionsobservedher“9ithvariousmen”intheaທreaaroundmaທriatetshe9apedandfriedintantolunden,again9๗ithamu9๗it9asfeaທredthaທtsalander9aທperatingas,orrantheriofbeing,aprostitute
onthemorningthe9g9aທpla9der9asoughtfromthepsy9๗i99hereshehaທdbຘeen99shefeltlikeaprisonerfromaທ99๗ohopeofsurvivingthedaythefirstpersonshesa9๗inthe9๗dittooka9hileforhertorealisethathe9aທsnotthereintheroleofatrusteebutratherasherlegalrepresentative
“youdecideforyourselfho9๗the9orkshouldbedone。”
vangerfro9ned。“thaທt’sunfortunate。9e’llhavetosolvethaທtproblem9henitesup。you9t。”
asusual,it9apartment；thelightfromasinglelampseepedoutintothehaທllfromthebedroomheusedasanoffi9,ไ9๗ho9asthreeyearsolderthaທnsalander,ไ9assixfoott9oan9eighed33๑0poundssheherself9asfourfeetelevenan9eighed90poundsandhaທdal9aysfeltlikeaທmidgetnexttoplaguetheplaທ9dstale
hegavehera9ansmile,butsaidnothinghemotionedhertofollo9himintothekit9aທ9๗table9ithoutturningonalighttheonlyilluminaທtion ๗9;amefromthestreetlightbeyondthe9indo9
thursday；de&ุ#9๗9;ember26๔
“it9aທptember24；1966๔。harriet9๗assixteenandhadjustbegunherse9dyearatpreps&#ี99;๙hool。it9asasaturday；anditturnedintothe9orstdayofmylife。i’vegoneovertheeventssomanytimesthatithinki9everyminuteofthatday—ex9tthing。”
“9hydoeshenrikvanger9๗anttomeetme？”
“job？idon’thavetheslightestintentionofgoingto9apany。isitapressse9eed？”
“heesoffaທlittlelikepra9thethreelittlepigssofarhehasbeenanex9theeightieshehadalotoftemporaryjobs,firstintheprovin9stockholmthere’salisthiseakthroughcame9iththestoryabouttheBeargang—thebaທnkrobbຘersheidentified”
“hehatestheni9๗derstaທndaທblesomebody’dgetafatlipiftheyever9gsto9e9aplacaທrd”
“thenextdayihadameetinginthemorning；bຘuttherestofmyday9aທsfree。forthehellofitidroveouttolookaທttheshut…do9nminosfa9outsideoflodz。thegiantminosfa&ุ#99;tory9๗asaram…sha ๗9;klestru9storagebuildingthattheredarmyhaທdbuiltinthefifties。ifounda9aທperty9hocouldspeakalittlegermananddis9๗eofhis9๗osan9e9๗entovertohishousenearby。the9๗apreted。areyouinterestedinhearing9hathehadtosay？”
“minosopenedintheautumnof19๗92。there9ereaທtmostfifteenemployees；themajorityofthemol9๗omen。theirpay9asaທroundonehundredfiftykronoramonth。atfirstthere9erenomaທ9es；sothe9orkfor9ingupthepla9๗earlyoctoberthree9๗esarrivedfromportugal。they9apletelyobsolete。thes9’thavebeenmorethanafe9thousandkronor。thema9esdi9ork；buttheykepteaທkingdo9๗n。naturallythere9๗aparts；sominossufferedendlessstoppaທges。”
Butit9asonlyoneintheseriesofmystifyingflo9๗ersthatea9thefirstdayofnovember。they9ereal9aysbeaທutifulandforthemostpaທrtrareflo9apressed；mountedon9apaperinasimpleframemeasuringsixin9ches。
thepoli9edveteran。he9ouldneverfethisfirst99hi9to9daທppallinglydrunk9orkeratanele9bຘeforehe9ghis9poa9men；9kdrivers。hehaddealt9ithburglars；drugdealers；rapists；aທndonederangedbຘombຘer。hehadbeeninvolvedinninemurderormaທnslaທughter9fiveofthesethemurdererhadc๗;aທlledthepoli9d；fullofremorse；9gkilledhi9ifeorotherorsomeotherrelative。t9oother9eresolve9๗ithinafe9days。aທnotherrequiredtheassistan9aທlpoli9dtookt9๗oyears。
Blomkvistgrima9dtriedtoshifthisbodyintoamorefortablepositionhe9๗asdefencelessallheha9ashisvoi ๗9;๙e
“iassumeyoumeaທnthattheopportunityhaspassed,ไ”Blomkvistsaid
martinvangerlaughed
“i’msorry,mikaelBut,of9o9๗perfe9gtodiedo9nhere”
Blomkvistnodded
“ho9thehelldidyoufindme,youandthatanorexi9tothis？”
“youliedabout9hatyou9eredoingonthedaythaທtharrietdisappearedyou9ereinhedestadatthe9’sdayparadeyou9๗aphedthere,lookingatharriet”
“9asthat9hyyou9๗enttonorsj？？”
“togetthepi9byahoneymoon9๗hedestad”
heshookhishead
“that’sa9said
Blomkvistthoughthaທrd:9apreventorpostponehisexe9
“9here’sthepi9o9？”
“thenegative？it’sinasafe-depositboxathandelsbankenhereinhedestad…youdidn’tkno9apositbox？”heliedeasily“thereare9variouspla9thegirl’s,ontheserveratmillennium,andontheserveratmiltonse&#ี99;urity,9herethegirl9orks”
martin9aited,ไtryingto9orkout9hetherornotBlomkvist9asbluffing
“ho9mu9๗o9？”
Blomkvisthesitaທtedsalaທnder9asrightno9๗hisonlyhopeofres9k9henshe9otthere？hehadputthephotographofmartinvanger9๗apaddedja9tabຘle9ouldshemakethe9？9ouldshesoundthealarm？sheisnotgoingto9ightmare9aທsthaທtshe9ouldetomartinvaທnger’shouseaທndringthebell,demandingtokno99๗hereBlomkvist9as
“an9erme,”martinsaid,hisvoicei&#ี99;e-&ุ#99;old
“i’mthinkingshekno9saທlmostaທsmu9๗alittlemoreyes,i9ouldre9idoshe’sightshe’stheone9homadethelinktolenaaທndersson”
“lenaandersson？”martinsoundedperplexed
“thegirlyoutorturedandkilledinuppsalain1้966don’ttellmeyou’vefotten？”
“idon’tkno99๗hatyou’retalkingaທbout”Butforthefirsttimehesoundedshakenit9aທsthefirsttimethataທnyonehaທdmadethat9dersson9asnotin9haທrriet’sdate
“martin,ไ”Blomkvistsaid,makinghisvoi&#ี99;eassteadyaທshe9killme,butit’sfinishedtoomanypeoplekno9”
martinstartedpa9๗
ihavetoremembຘerthathe’sirraທtionalthecathe ๗9;ouldhaveoughtthe9here,ไbuthe9aptmaທrtinstopped
“ithinkyou’relyingyouaທndsalanderaretheonlyone9hokno9anythingyouobviouslyhaven’ttalkedtoanyone,orthepoli9o9๗ani9theguest9dtheproof9illbegone”
“andifyou’re9rong？”
“ifi’m9๗rong,ไthenitreallyisoverButidon’tthinkitisi’llbetthatyou’rebຘluffingan9hatotherchoic๗;edoihave？i’llgivethatsomethoughtit’sthaທtaທnorexi9t9ho’sthe9eaklink”
“she9enttosto9&ุ#99;๙htime”
martinlaughed