shehadfollowedthetrialinthefirbeliefthatthingswerejustasherfathersaid：hewasinnocent；buthecouldnotproveit。

shetoldhiaboutasort…ofboyfriendwhowasinanotherclass；andshesurprisedhibysayingthatshehadjoinedachurch。blokvistrefrainedfroent。

hewasinvitedtostayfordinnerbuthewasexpectedwithhissisterandherfailyoutintheyuppiesuburbofst？ket。

thatorninghehadalsohadaninvitationtocelebratechristasevewiththebeckansinsaltsj？baden。hesaidno；butthankyou；certainthattherewasaliittobeckan’sindulgenceandquitesurethathehadnoabitiontofindoutwhatthatliitightbe。

insteadhewasknockingonthedoorwhereannikablokvist；nowannikagiannini；livedwithheritalian…bornhusbandandtheirtwochildren。withaplatoonofherhusband’srelatives；theywereabouttocarvethechristasha。duringdinnerheansweredquestionsaboutthetrialandreceiveduchwell…eaningandquiteuselessadvice。

theonlyonewhohadnothingtosayabouttheverdictwashissister；althoughshewastheonlylawyerintheroo。shehadworkedasclerkofadistrictcourtandasanassistantprosecutorforseveralyearsbeforesheandthreecolleaguesopenedalawfiroftheirownwithofficesonkungsholen。shespecialisedinfailylaw；andwithoutblokvisthavingtakenstockofitshappening；hislittlesisterbegantoappearinnewspapersasrepresentingbatteredorthreatenedwoen；andonpaneldiscussionsontvasafeinistandwoen’srightsadvocate。

ashewashelpingherpreparethecoffee；sheputahandonhisshoulderandaskedhihoashedoing。hetoldherhefeltaslowashehadinlife。

“getyourselfareallawyernexttie；”shesaid。

“itprobablywouldn’thavehelpedinthiscase。butwe’lltalkitallthewaythrough；sis；soeothertiewhenallthedustissettled。”

shegavehiahugandkissedhionthecheekbeforetheycarriedoutthechristascakeandthecoffee。thenblokvistexcusedhiselfandaskedtousethetelephoneinthekitchen。hecalledthelawyerinhedestadandcouldheartheretoothebuzzofvoicesinthebackground。

“merrychristas；”frodesaid。“dareihopeyouhaveadeupyourind？”

“ireallydon’thaveanyiediateplansandiacurioustoknowore。i’lleupthedayafterchristasifthatsuitsyou。”

“excellent；excellent。iaincrediblypleased。youwillfivee；i’vegotchildrenandgrandchildrenvisitingandcanhardlyhearyselfthink。canicallyoutoorrowtoagreeonatie？wherecanireachyou？”

blokvistregrettedhisdecisionbeforeevenheleftforhoe；butbythenitwastooawkwardtocallandcancel。soontheorningofdeceber26hewasonthetrainheadingnorth。hehadadriver’slicense；buthehadneverfelttheneedtoownacar。

frodewasright；itwasnotalongjourney。afteruppsalacaethestringofsallindustrialtownsalongthenorrlandcoast。hedestadwasoneofthesallerones；alittleorethananhournorthofg？vle。

onchristasnighttherehadbeenabigsnowstor；buttheskieshadnowclearedandtheairwasice…coldwhenblokvistalightedathedestad。herealisedatoncethathewasn’twearingenoughclothesforwinterinnorrland。frodeknehathelookedlikeandkindlycollectedhifrotheplatforandledhistraighttothewarthofhismercedes。inthecentreofhedestad；snowclearingwasinfullswing；andfrodewovehiscarefulwaythroughthenarrowstreets。highbanksofsnowpresentedapicturesquecontrasttostockhol。thetownseeedalostlikeanotherpla；yethewasonlyalittleorethanthreehoursfrosergelstindowntownstockhol。hestoleaglanceatthelawyer：anangularfacewithsparse；bristlywhitehairandthickglassesperchedonanipressivenose。

“firsttieinhedestad？”frodesaid。

blokvistnodded。

“it’sanoldindustrialtownwithaharbour。populationofonly24；000。butpeoplelikelivinghere。herrvangerlivesinhedeby—atthesouthernedgeofthetown。”

“doyouliveheretoo？”

“idonow。iwasborninsk？nedownsouth；butistartedworkingforvangerrightafterigraduatedin1962。i’acorporatelawyer；andovertheyearsherrvangerandibecaefriends。todayi’officiallyretired；andherrvangerisyonlyclient。he’sretiredtoo；ofcourse；anddoesn’tneedyservicesveryoften。”

“onlytoscrapeupjournalistswithruinedreputations。”

“don’tsellyourselfshort。you’renotthefirstooloseaatchagainsthans…erikwennerstr？。”

blokvistturnedtofrode；unsurehowtoreadthatreply。

“doesthisinvitationhaveanythingtodowithwennerstr？？”hesaid。

“no；”saidfrode。“butherrvangerisnotreotelyinwennerstr？’scircleoffriends；andhefollowedthetrialwithinterest。hewantstoeetyoutodiscussawhollydifferentatter。”

“whichyoudon’twanttotelleabout。”

“whichitisn’typlacetotellyouabout。wehavearrangeditsothatyoucanspendthenightatherrvanger’shouse。ifyouwouldrathernotdothat；wecanyouaroointhegrandhotelintown。”

“iightbetakingtheeveningtrainbacktostockhol。”

theroadintohedebywasstillunploughed；andfrodeanoeuvredthecardownfrozentyreruts。theoldtowncentreconsistedofhousesalongthegulfofbothnia；andaroundthelarger；oreodernhoes。thetownbeganontheainlandandspilledacrossabridgetoahillyisland。ontheainlandsideofthebridgestoodasall；whitestonechurch；andacrossthestreetglowedanold…fashionedneonsignthatreadsusanne’sbridgecaféandbakery。frodedroveaboutahundredyardsfartherandturnedleftontoanewlyshovelledcourtyardinfrontofastonebuilding。thefarhousewastoosalltobecalledaanor；butitwasconsiderablylargerthantherestofthehousesinthesettleent。thiswastheaster’sdoain。

“thisisthevangerfar；”frodesaid。“onceitwasfulloflifeandhubbub；buttodayonlyhenrikandahousekeeperlivethere。thereareplentyofguestroos。”

theygotout。frodepointednorth。

“traditionallythepersonwholeadsthevangerconcernliveshere；butmartinvangerwantedsoethingoreodern；sohebuilthishouseonthepointthere。”

blokvistlookedaroundandwonderedwhatinsaneipulsehehadsatisfiedbyaeptingfrode’sinvitation。hedecidedthatifhuanlypossiblehewouldreturntostockholthatevening。astonestairwayledtotheentry；butbeforetheyreacheditthedoorwasopened。heiediatelyrecognisedhenrikvangerfrothephotographpostedontheinter。

inthepicturestherehewasyounger；buthelookedsurprisinglyvigorousforeighty…two：awirybodywitharugged；weather…beatenfaceandthickgreyhairbedstraightback。heworeneatlypresseddarktrousers；awhiteshirt；andawell…wornbrowncasualjacket。hehadanarrowoustacheandthinsteel…riedglasses。

“i’henrikvanger；”hesaid。“thankyouforagreeingtovisite。”

“hello。itwasasurprisinginvitation。”

“einsidewhereit’swar。i’vearrangedaguestrooforyou。wouldyouliketofreshenup？we’llbehavingdinneralittlelater。andthisisannanygren；wholooksaftere。”

blokvistshookhandswithashort；stoutwoaninhersixties。shetookhiscoatandhungitinahallcupboard。sheofferedhiapairofslippersbecauseofthedraught。

mikaelthankedherandthenturnedtohenrikvanger。“i’notsurethatishallbestayingfordinner。itdependsonwhatthisgaeisallabout。”

vangerexchangedaglancewithfrode。therewasanunderstandingbetweenthetwoenthatblokvistcouldnotinterpret。

“ithinki’lltakethisopportunitytoleaveyoutwoalone；”saidfrode。“ihavetogohoeanddisciplihegrandkidsbeforetheytearthehousedown。”

heturnedtomikael。

“iliveontheright；justacrossthebridge。youcanwalkthereinfiveinutes；thethirdhousetowardsthewaterdownfrothebakery。ifyouneede；justtelephone。”

blokvistreachedintohisjacketpocketandturnedonataperecorder。hehadnoideawhatvangerwanted；butafterthepasttwelveonthsofhavocwithwennerstr？heneededapreciserecordofallstrangeourrencesanywherenearhi；andanunlooked…forinvitationtohedestadcaeintothatcategory。

vangerpattedfrodeontheshoulderinfarewellandclosedthefrontdoorbeforeturninghisattentiontoblokvist。

“i’llgetrighttothepointinthatcase。thisisnogae。iaskyoutolistentowhatihavetosayandthenakeupyourind。you’reajournalist；andiwanttogiveyouafreelanceassignent。annahasservedcoffeeupstairsinyoffice。”

theofficewasarectangleoforethan1；300squarefeet。onewallwasdoinatedbyafloor…to…ceilingshelfthirtyfeetlongcontainingarearkableassortentofliterature：biographies；history；businessandindustry；anda4binders。theswerearrangedinnoapparentorder。itlookedlikeashelfthatwasused。theoppositewallwasdoinatedbyadeskofdarkoak。onthewallbehindthedeskwasalargecollectionofpressedflowersinneateticulousrows。

throughthewindowinthegablethedeskhadaviewofth