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笔趣阁 > 龙纹身的女孩 > 第 7 部分阅读

第 7 部分阅读

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

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