blokvistspentmondaywashingdishesandcleaningtheapartent；thenwalkingdowntotheofficeandclearingouthisdesk。hehadnointentionofbreakingtieswiththeagazine；buthehadeventuallyconvincedbergerthathehadtobeseparatedfrotheagazineforatie。hewouldworkfrohoe。

theofficewasclosedforthechristasholidaysandallhiscolleaguesweregone。hewasweedingthroughtraysofpapersandpackingsincartonstotakeawaywhenthetelephonerang。

“i’lookingformikaelblokvist；”saidahopefulbutunfailiarvoiceontheline。

“speaking。”

“fiveeforbotheringyoulikethisunannounced；sotospeak。mynaeisdirchfrode。”blokvistnotedthenaeandthetie。“i’alawyer；andirepresentaclientwhowouldveryuchliketohaveatalkwithyou。”

“that’sfine；pleaseaskyourclienttocalle。”

“ieanthathewantstoeetwithyouinperson。”

“ok；akeanappointentandsendhiuptotheoffice。butyou’dbetterhurry；i’clearingoutydeskrightnow。”

“myclientwouldlikeyoutovisithiinhedestad—it’sonlythreehoursbytrain。”

blokvistpushedafilingtrayaside。theediahavetheabilitytoattractthecraziestpeopletocallinperfectlyabsurdtips。everynewsroointheworldgetsupdatesfroufologists；graphologists；scientologists；paranoiacs；everysortofconspiracytheorist。

blokvisthadoncelistenedtoalecturebythewriterkarlalvarnilssonattheabfhallontheanniversaryoftheurderofprieministerolofpale。thelecturewasserious；andintheaudiencewerelennartbodstr？andotherfriendsofpale’s。butasurprisingnuberofaateurinvestigatorshadturnedup。oneofthewasawoaninherfortieswhoduringtheqandahadtakentheprofferedicrophoneandthenloweredhervoicetoabarelyaudiblewhisper。thisaloneheraldedaninterestingdevelopent；andnobodywassurprisedwhenthewoanbeganbyclaiing；“iknohourderedolofpale。”frothestageitwassuggestedsoewhatironicallythatifthewoanhadthisrationthenitwouldbehelpfulifsheshareditwiththepaleinvestigationatonce。shehurriedtoreply：“ican’t；”shesaidsosoftlyitwasalostipossibletohear。“it’stoodangerous！”

blokvistwonderedwhetherthisfrodewasanotheroneofthetruth…sayerswhocouldrevealthesecretentalhospitalwheres？po；thesecuritypolice；ranexperientsonthoughtcontrol。

“idon’takehousecalls；”hesaid。

“ihopeicanconvinceyoutoakeanexception。myclientisovereighty；andforhiitwouldbetooexhaustingtoedowntostockhol。ifyouinsist；wecouldcertainlyarrangesoething；buttotellyouthetruth；itwouldbepreferableifyouwouldbesokind…”

“whoisyourclient？”

“apersonwhosenaeisuspectyouhaveheardinyourwork。henrikvanger。”

blokvistleanedbackinsurprise。henrikvanger—ofcoursehehadheardofhi。anindustrialistandforerheadofthevangerpanies；oncerenownedinthefieldsofsawills；ines；steel；etals；textiles。vangerhadbeenoneofthereallybigfishinhisday；withareputationforbeinganhonourable；old…fashionedpatriarchwhowouldnotbendinastrongwind。acornerstoneofswedishindustry；oneofthetwenty…pointstagsoftheoldschool；alongwithmattscarlgrenofmodoandhanswerthénattheoldelectrolux。thebackboneofindustryinthewelfarestate；etcetera。

butthevangerpanies；stillfaily…owned；hadbeenrackedinthepasttwenty…fiveyearsbyreanisations；stock…arketcrises；interestcrises；petitionfroasia；decliningexports；andothernuisanceswhichtakentogetherhadconsignedthenaevangertothebackwater。thepanywasruntodaybymartinvanger；whosenaeblokvistassociatedwithashort；plupanwiththickhairwhooasionallyflickeredpastonthetvscreen。hedidnotknowuchabouthi。henrikvangerhadbeenoutofthepictureforatleasttwentyyears。

“whydoeshenrikvangerwanttoeete？”

“i’vebeenherrvanger’slawyerforanyyears；buthewillhavetotellyouhiselfwhathewants。ontheotherhand；icansaythatherrvangerwouldliketodiscussapossiblejobwithyou。”

“job？idon’thavetheslightestintentionofgoingtoworkforthevangerpany。isitapresssecretaryyouneed？”

“notexactly。idon’tknowho. comutitotherthantosaythatherrvangerisexceedinglyanxioustoeetyouandconsultwithyouonaprivateatter。”

“youcouldn’tgetoreequivocal；couldyou？”

“ibegyourpardonforthat。butisthereanypossibilityofconvincingyo. comayavisittohedestad？naturallywewillpayallyourexpensesandareasonablefee。”

“yourcallesatratheraninconvenienttie。ihavequitealottotakecareofand…isupposeyou’veseentheheadlinesabouteinthepastfewdays。”

“thewennerstr？affair？”frodechuckled。“yes；thatdidhaveacertainauseentvalue。buttotellyouthetruth；itwasthepublicitysurroundingthetrialthatcausedherrvangertotakenoticeofyou。hewantstoofferyouafreelanceassignent。i’onlyaessenger。whattheatterconcernsissoethingonlyhecanexplain。”

“thisisoneoftheoddercallsi’vehadinalongtie。letethinkaboutit。howcanireachyou？”

blokvistsatlookingatthedisorderonhisdesk。hecouldnotiaginewhatsortofjobvangerwouldwanttoofferhi；butthelawyerhadsueededinarousinghiscuriosity。

hegoogledthevangerpany。itightbeinthebackwatersbutitseeedtobeintheediaalostdaily。hesavedadozenpanyanalysesandthensearchedforfrode；andhenrikandmartinvanger。

martinvangerappeareddiligentinhiscapacityasceoofthevangercorporation。frodekeptalowprofile；hewasontheboardofthehedestadcountryclubandactiveintherotaryclub。henrikvangerappeared；withoneexception；onlyinarticlesgivingthebackgroundofthepany。thehedestadcourierhadpublishedatributetotheforeragnateonhiseightiethbirthdaytwoyearsago；anditincludedashortsketch。heputtogetherafolderoffiftypagesorso。thenfinallyheeptiedhisdesk；sealedthecartons；and；havingnoideawhetherhewouldeback；wenthoe。

salanderspentchristaseveatthe？ppelvikennursinghoeinupplands…v？sby。shehadbroughtpresents：abottleofeaudetoilettebydiorandanenglishfruitcakefro？hlénsdepartentstore。shedrankcoffeeasshewatchedtheforty…six…year…oldwoanwhowithclusyfingerswastryingtountietheknotontheribbon。salanderhadtendernessinhereyes；butthatthisstrangewoanwasherotherneverceasedtoaazeher。shecouldrecognisenottheslightestreseblanceinlooksornature。

herothergaveupthestruggleandlookedhelplesslyatthepackage。itwasnotoneofherbetterdays。salanderpushedacrossthescissorsthathadbeeninplainsightonthetableandherothersuddenlyseeedtowakeup。

“youustthinki’stupid。”

“no；mu。you’renotstupid。butlifeisunfair。”

“haveyouseenyoursister？”

“notinalongtie。”

“sheneveres。”

“iknow；mu。shedoesn’tseeeeither。”

“areyouworking？”

“yes。i’doingfine。”

“wheredoyoulive？idon’tevenknohereyoulive。”

“iliveinyouroldapartentonlundagatan。i’velivedthereforseveralyears。ihadtotakeoverthepayents。”

“inthesuertieaybeicaneandseeyou。”

“ofcourse。inthesuertie。”

herotheratlastgotthechristasprese. comenandsniffedatthearoa；enchanted。“thankyou；cailla；”shesaid。

“lisbeth。i’lisbeth。”

herotherlookedebarrassed。salandersaidthattheyshouldgotothetvroo。

blokvistspentthehourofthedisneyspecialonchristasevewithhisdaughterpernillaatthehoeofhisex…wife；monica；andhernewhusbandinsollentuna。afterdiscussionswithherothertheyhadagreedtogivepernillaanipod；anmp3playerhardlybiggerthanaatchboxwhichcouldstoreherhugecdcollection。

fatheranddaughterspentthetietogetherinherrooupstairs。pernilla’sparentsweredivorcedwhenshewasfive；andshehadhadanewfathersinceshewasseven。pernillacaetoseehiaboutonceaonthandhadweek…longholidayswithhiinsandhan。whentheyspenttietogethertheyusuallygotalongwell；butblokvisthadlethisdaughterdecidehowoftenshewantedtoseehi；theoresoafterherotherrearried。therehadbeenacoupleofyearsinherearlyteenswhencontactalost. comped；anditwasonlyinthepasttwoyearsthatsheseeedtowanttoseehioreoften。