1

提供

hegirlwiththedragontattoo

larssonstieg

prologue

afridayinnoveber

ithappenedeveryyear；wasalostaritual。andthiswashiseighty…secondbirthday。when；asusual；theflowerwasdelivered；hetookoffthewrappingpaperandthenpickedupthetelephoocalldetectivesuperintendentmorellwho；whenheretired；hadovedtolakesiljanindalarna。theywerenotonlythesaeage；theyhadbeenbornonthesaeday—whichwassoethingofanironyunderthecircustances。theoldpoliceanwassittingwithhiscoffee；waiting；expectingthecall。

“itarrived。”

“whatisitthisyear？”

“idon’tknohatkinditis。i’llhavetogetsoeootellewhatitis。it’swhite。”

“noletter；isuppose。”

“justtheflower。thefraeisthesaekindaslastyear。oneofthosedo…it…yourselfones。”

“postark？”

“stockhol。”

“handwriting？”

“saeasalways；allincapitals。upright；neatlettering。”

withthat；thesubjectwasexhausted；andnotanotherwordwasexchangedforalostainute。theretiredpoliceanleanedbackinhiskitchenchairanddrewonhispipe。heknewhewasnolongerexpectedtoeupwithapithyentoranysharpquestionwhichwouldshedanewlightonthecase。thosedayshadlongsincepassed；andtheexchangebetweenthetwoenseeedlikearitualattachingtoaysterywhichno…oneelseinthewholeworldhadtheleastinterestinunravelling。

thelatinnaewasleptosperurubite。itwasaplantaboutfourincheshighwithsall；heather…likefoliageandawhiteflowerwithfivepetalsaboutoneinchacross。

theplantwasnativetotheaustralianbushanduplands；whereitwastobefoundaongtussocksofgrass。thereitwascalleddesertsnow。soeoneatthebotanicalgardensinuppsalawouldlaterconfirthatitwasaplantseldocultivatedinsweden。thebotanistwroteinherreportthatitwasrelatedtotheteatreeandthatitwassoetiesconfusedwithitsoreoncousinleptosperuscopariu；whichgrewinabundanceinnewzealand。whatdistinguishedthe；shepointedout；wasthatrubitehadasallnuberoficroscopicpinkdotsatthetipsofthepetals；givingtheflowerafaintpinkishtinge。

rubitewasaltogetheranunpretentiousflower。ithadnoknownedicinalproperties；anditcouldnotinducehallucinatoryexperiences。itwasneitheredible；norhadauseintheanufactureofplantdyes。ontheotherhand；theaboriginalpeopleofaustraliaregardedassacredtheregionandthefloraaroundayersrock。

thebotanistsaidthatsheherselfhadneverseenonebefore；butafterconsultinghercolleaguesshewastoreportthatatteptshadbeenadetointroducetheplantatanurserying？teb；andthatitight；ofcourse；becultivatedbyaateurbotanists。itwasdifficulttogrowinswedenbecauseitthrivedinadrycliateandhadtoreainindoorshalfoftheyear。itwouldnotthriveincalcareoussoilandithadtobewateredfrobelow。itneededpapering。

thefactofitsbeingsorareafloweroughttohaveadeiteasiertotracethesourceofthisparticularspecien；butinpracticeitwasanipossibletask。therewasnoregistrytolookitupin；nolicencestoexplore。anywherefroahandfultoafewhundredenthusiastscouldhavehadaesstoseedsorplants。andthosecouldhavechangedhandsbetweenfriendsorbeenboughtbyailorderfroanywhereineurope；anywhereintheantipodes。

butitwasonlyoneintheseriesofystifyingflowersthateachyeararrivedbypostonthefirstdayofnoveber。theywerealwaysbeautifulandfortheostpartrareflowers；alwayspressed；ountedonwater…colourpaperinasiplefraeeasuringsixinchesbyeleveninches。

thestrangestoryoftheflowershadneverbeenreportedinthepress；onlyaveryfewpeopleknewofit。thirtyyearsagotheregulararrivaloftheflowerwastheobjectofuchscrutiny—atthenationalforensiclaboratory；aongfingerprintexperts；graphologists；criinalinvestigators；andoneortworelativesandfriendsoftherecipient。nowtheactorsinthedraawerebutthree：theelderlybirthdayboy；theretiredpolicedetective；andthepersonwhohadpostedtheflower。thefirsttwoatleasthadreachedsuchanagethatthegroupofinterestedpartieswouldsoonbefurtherdiinished。

thepoliceanwasahardenedveteran。hewouldneverfethisfirstcase；inwhichhehadhadtotakeintocustodyaviolentandappallinglydrunkworkeratanelectricalsubstationbeforehecausedothershar。duringhiscareerhehadbroughtinpoachers；wifebeaters；conen；carthieves；anddrunkdrivers。hehaddealtwithburglars；drugdealers；rapists；andonederangedbober。hehadbeeninvolvedinnineurderoranslaughtercases。infiveofthesetheurdererhadcalledthepolicehiselfand；fullofreorse；confessedtohavingkilledhiswifeorbrotherorsoeotherrelative。twoothersweresolvedwithinafewdays。anotherrequiredtheassistanceofthenationalcriinalpoliceandtooktwoyears。

theninthcasewassolvedtothepolice’ssatisfaction；whichistosaythattheyknehotheurdererwas；butbecausetheevidencewassoinsubstantialthepublicprosecutordecidedno. comroceedwiththecase。tothedetectivesuperintendent’sdisay；thestatuteofliitationseventuallyputanendtotheatter。butallinallhecouldlookbackonanipressivecareer。

hewasanythingbutpleased。

forthedetective；the“caseofthepressedflowers”hadbeennaggingathiforyears—hislast；unsolved；andfrustratingcase。thesituationwasdoublyabsurdbecauseafterspendingliterallythousandsofhoursbrooding；ondutyandoff；hecouldnotsaybeyonddoubtthatacriehadindeedbeenitted。

thetwoenknewthatwhoeverhadountedtheflowerswouldhaveworngloves；thattherewouldbenofingerprintsonthefraeortheglass。thefraecouldhavebeenboughtincaerashopsorstationerystorestheworldover。therewas；quitesiply；noleadtofollow。mostoftentheparcelwaspostedinstockhol；butthreetiesfrolondon；twicefroparis；twicefrocopenhagen；oncefromadrid；oncefrobonn；andoncefropensacola；florida。thedetectivesuperintendenthadhadtolookitupinanatlas。

afterputtingdownthetelephoheeighty…two…year…oldbirthdayboysatforalongtielookingattheprettybuteaninglessflowerwhosenaehedidnotyetknow。thenhelookedupatthewallabovehisdesk。therehungforty…threepressedflowersintheirfraes。fourrowsoften；andoneatthebottowithfour。inth. comrowonewasissingfrotheninthslot。desertsnoouldbenuberforty…four。

withoutwarninghebegantoweep。hesurprisedhiselfwiththissuddenburstofeotionafteralostfortyyears。

part1

incentive

december20–january3

eighteenpercentofthewoeninswedenhaveatoiebeenthreatenedbyaan。

chapter1