“iheardtheverdictontheradio。shefrotv4calledandwantedaent。”

“what’dyousay？”

“soethingtotheeffectthatweweregoingtoreadthejudgeentcarefullybeforeweakeanystateents。soisaidnothing。andyopinionstillholds：it’sthewrongstrategy。weeofflookingweakwiththeedia。theywillrunsoethingontvthisevening。”

blokvistlookedglu。

“howareyoudoing？”

blokvistshruggedandploppeddowninhisfavouritearchairnexttothewindowinerika’soffice。thedecorwasspartan；withadeskandfunctionalcasesandcheapofficefurniture。allofitwasfroikeaapartfrothetwofortableandextravagantarchairsandasallendtable—aconcessiontoyupbringing；shelikedtosay。shewouldsitreadinginoneofthearchairswithherfeettuckedunderneathherwhenshewantedtogetawayfrothedesk。blokvistlookeddownong？tgatan；wherepeoplewerehurryingbyinthedark。christasshoppingwasinfullswing。

“isupposeit’llpass；”hesaid。“butrightnowitfeelsasifi’vegotyselfaveryrawdeal。”

“yes；icaniagine。it’sthesaeforallofus。jannedahlanwenthoeearlytoday。”

“iassuehewasn’tovertheoonabouttheverdict。”

“he’snottheostpositivepersonanyway。”

mikaelshookhishead。forthepastnineonthsdahlanhadbeenanagingeditor。hehadstartedtherejustasthewennerstr？affairgotgoing；andhefoundhiselfonaneditorialstaffincrisisode。blokvisttriedtoreeberwhattheirreasoninghadbeenwhenheandbergerdecidedtohirehi。hewaspetent；ofcourse；andhadworkedatthettnewsbureau；theeveningpapers；andekoontheradio。butheapparentlydidnotlikesailingagainstthewind。duringthepastyearblokvisthadoftenregrettedthattheyhadhireddahlan；whohadanenervatinghabitoflookingateverythinginasnegativealightaspossible。

“haveyouheardfrochrister？”blokvistaskedwithouttakinghiseyesoffthestreet。

christermalwastheartdirectoranddesignerofmillenniu。hewasalsopartowneroftheagaziogetherwithbergerandblokvist；buthewasonatripabroadwithhisboyfriend。

“hecalledtosayhello。”

“he’llhavetobetheonewhotakesoveraspublisher。”

“layoff；micke。aspublisheryouhavetocountonbeingpunchedinthenoseeverysooften。it’spartofthejobdescription。”

“you’rerightaboutthat。butiwastheonewhowrotethearticlethatwaspublishedinaagazineofwhichialsohappentobethepublisher。thatakeseverythinglookdifferentallofasudden。thenit’saatterofbadjudgeent。”

bergerfeltthatthedisquietshehadbeencarryingwithheralldaywasabouttoexplode。intheweeksbeforethetrialstarted；blokvisthadbeenwalkingaroundunderablackcloud。butshehadneverseenhiasglooyanddejectedasheseeedtobenowinthehourofhisdefeat。shewalkedtohissideofthedeskandsatonhislap；straddlinghi；andputherarsroundhisneck。

“mikael；listentoe。webothknowexactlyhowithappened。i’asuchtoblaeasyouare。wesiplyhavetorideoutthestor。”

“thereisn’tanystortorideout。asfarastheediaareconcerned；theverdicteansthati’vebeenshotinthebackofthehead。ican’tstayonasthepublisherofmillenniu。thevitalthingistoaintaintheagazine’scredibility；to. comthebleeding。youknowthataswellasido。”

“ifyouthinkiintendtoletyoutaketherapallbyyourself；thenyouhaven’tlearnedadanthingabouteintheyearswe’veworkedtogether。”

“iknowhowyouoperate；ricky。you’re100percentloyaltoyourcolleagues。ifyouhadtochoose；you’dkeepfightingagainstwennerstr？’slawyersuntilyourcredibilitywasgooo。wehavetobesarterthanthat。”

“andyouthinkit’ssarttojupshipandakeitlookasifisackedyou？”

“ifmillenniuisgoingtosurvive；itdependsonyounow。christerisgreat；buthe’sjustaniceguywhoknowsaboutiagesandlayoutanddoesn’thaveaclueaboutstreetfightingwithbillionaires。it’sjustnothisthing。i’goingtohavetodisappearforawhile；aspublisher；reporter；andboardeber。wennerstr？knowsthatiknohathedid；andi’absolutelysurethataslongasi’anywherenearmillenniuhe’sgoingtotrytoruinus。”

“sowhynotpublisheverythingweknow？sinkorswi？”

“becausewecan’tproveadanthing；andrightnowihavenocredibilityatall。let’saeptthatwennerstr？wonthisround。”

“ok；i’llfireyou。whatareyougoingtodo？”

“ineedabreak；tobehonest。i’burnedrightout。i’goingtotakesoetieforyselfforawhile；soeofitinprison。thenwe’llsee。”

bergerputherarsaroundhiandpulledhisheaddowntoherbreasts。shehuggedhihard。

“wantsoepanytonight？”shesaid。

blokvistnodded。

“good。i’vealreadytoldgregeri’atyourplacetonight。”

thestreetlightsreflectingoffthecornersofthewindowswereallthatlittheroo。whenbergerfellasleepsoetieafter2：00intheorning；blokvistlayawakestudyingherprofileinthediness。thecoversweredownaroundherwaist；andhewatchedherbreastsslowlyrisingandfalling。hewasrelaxed；andtheanxiousknotinhisstoachhadeased。shehadthateffectonhi。shealwayshadhad。andheknewthathehadthesaeeffectonher。

twentyyears；hethought。that’showlongithadbeen。asfarashewasconcerned；theycouldgoonsleepingtogetherforanothertwodecades。atleast。theyhadneverseriouslytriedtohidetheirrelationship；evenwhenitledtoawkwardnessintheirdealingswithotherpeople。

theyhadetatapartywhentheywerebothintheirsecondyearatjournalisschool。beforetheysaidgoodnighttheyhadexchangedtelephonenubers。theybothknewthattheywouldendupinbedtogether；andinlessthanaweektheyrealisedthisconvictionwithouttellingtheirrespectivepartners。

blokvistwassurethatitwasnottheold…fashionedkindoflovethatleadstoasharedhoe；asharedortgage；christastrees；andchildren。duringtheeighties；whentheywerenotboundbyotherrelationships；theyhadtalkedofovingintogether。hehadwantedto；buterikaalwaysbackedoutatthelastinute。itwouldn’twork；shesaid；theywouldriskwhattheyhadiftheyfellinlovetoo。blokvisthadoftenwonderedwhetheritwerepossibletobeorepossessedbydesireforanyotherwoan。thefactwasthattheyfunctionedwelltogether；andtheyhadaconnectionasaddictiveasheroin。

soetiestheyweretogethersooftenthatitfeltasthoughtheyreallywereacouple；soetiesweeksandonthswouldgobybeforetheysaweachother。butevenasalcoholicsaredrawntothestateliquorstoreafterastintonthewagon；theyalwayscaebacktoeachother。

inevitablyitdidnotworkinthelongrun。thatkindofrelationshipwasalostboundtocausepain。theyhadbothleftbrokenproisesandunhappyloversbehind—hisownarriagehadcollapsed

3

becausehecouldnotstayawayfroerikaberger。hehadneverliedabouthisfeelingsforhertohiswife；monica；butshehadthoughtitwouldendwhentheyarriedandtheirdaughterwasborn。andbergerhadalostsiultaneouslyarriedgregerbeckan。blokvisttoohadthoughtitwouldend；andforthefirstyearsofhisarriageheandbergerhadonlyseeneachotherprofessionally。thentheystartedmillenniuandwithinafeeeksalltheirgoodintentionshaddissolved；andonelateeveningtheyhadfurioussexonherdesk。thatledtoatroublesoeperiodinwhichblokvistwantedveryuchtolivewithhisfailyandseehisdaughtergrowup；butatthesaetiehewashelplesslydrawntoberger。justassalanderhadguessed；itwashiscontinualinfidelitythatdrovehiswifetoleave。

strangelyenough；beckanseeedtoaepttheirrelationship。bergerhadalwaysbeenopenaboutherfeelingsformikael；andshetoldherhusbandassoonastheystartedhavingsexagain。maybeittookthesoulofanartisttohandlesuchasituation；soeonesowrappedupinhisowncreativity；orpossiblyjustwrappedupinhiself；thathedidnotrebelwhenhiswifesleptwithanotheran。sheevendividedupherholidaysoshecouldspendtwoweekswithherloverinhissuercabinatsandhan。blokvistdidnotthinkveryhighlyofbeckan；andhehadneverunderstoodberger’sloveforhi。buthewasgladthatheaeptedthatshecouldlovetwoenatthesaetie。