throughthewindowinthegablethedeskhadaviewofthebridgeandthechurch。therewasasofaandcoffeetablewherethehousekeeperhadsetoutatheros；rolls；andpastries。

vangergesturedtowardsthetray；butblokvistpretendednottosee；insteadheadeatouroftheroo；firststudyingtheshelfandthenthewalloffraedflowers。thedeskwasorderly；onlyafewpapersinoneheap。atitsedgewasasilver…fraedphotographofadark…hairedgirl；beautifulbutwithaischievouslook；ayoungwoanonherwaytobeingdangerous；hethought。itwasapparentlyaconfirationportraitthathadfadedovertheyearsithadbeenthere。

“doyoureeberher；mikael？”vangersaid。

“reeber？”

“yes；youether。andactuallyyouhavebeeninthisroobefore。”

blokvistturnedandshookhishead。

“no；howcouldyoureeber？iknewyourfather。ihiredkurtfirstasaninstallerandachinistseveraltiesinthefiftiesandsixties。hewasatalentedan。itrie. comersuadehitokeepstudyingandbeeanengineer。youwereherethewholesuerof1963；whenweputnewachineryinthepaperillinhedestad。itwashardtofindaplaceforyourfailytolive；sowesolveditbylettingyouliveinthewoodenhouseacrosstheroad。youcanseeitfrothewindow。”

vangerpickedupthephotograph。

“thisisharrietvanger；granddaughterofybrotherrichard。shetookcareofyouanytiesthatsuer。youweretwo；goingonthree。maybeyouwerealreadythreethen—idon’trecall。shewasthirteen。”

“iasorry；butidon’thavetheleastrecollectionofwhatyou’retellinge。”blokvistcouldnotevenbesurethatvangerwastellingthetruth。

“iunderstand。butireeberyou。youusedtorunaroundeverywhereonthefarwithharrietintow。icouldhearyourshriekswheneveryoufell。ireeberigaveyouatoyonce；ayellow；sheet…etaltractorthatihadplayedwithyselfasaboy。youwerecrazyaboutit。ithinkthatwasthecolour。”

blokvistfeltachillinside。theyellowtractorhedidreeber。whenhewasolderithadstoodonashelfinhisbedroo。

“doyoureeberthattoy？”

“ido。andyouwillbeausedtoknowthatthetractorisstillaliveandwell；atthetoymuseuinstockhol。theyputoutacallforoldoriginaltoystenyearsago。”

“really？”vangerchuckledwithdelight。“leteshowyou…”

theoldanwentovertotheshelfandpulledaphotographalbufrooneofthelowershelves。blokvistnoticedthathehaddifficultybendingoverandhadtobracehiselfontheshelfwhenhestraightenedup。helaidthealbuonthecoffeetable。heknehathewaslookingfor：ablack…and…whitesnapshotinwhichthephotographer’sshadowshowedinthebottoleftcorner。intheforegroundwasafair…hairedboyinshorts；staringatthecaerawithaslightlyanxiousexpression。

“thisisyou。yourparentsaresittingonthegardenbenchinthebackground。harrietispartlyhiddenbyyourother；andtheboytotheleftofyourfatherisharriet’sbrother；martin；whorunsthevangerpanytoday。”

blokvist’sotherwasobviouslypregnant—hissisterwasontheway。helookedatthephotographwithixedfeelingsasvangerpouredcoffeeandpushedovertheplateofrolls。

“yourfatherisdead；iknow。isyourotherstillalive？”

“shediedthreeyearsago；”blokvistsaid。

“shewasanicewoan。ireeberherverywell。”

“buti’sureyoudidn’tasketoeheretotalkaboutoldtiesyouhadwithyparents。”

“you’reright。i’vebeenworkingonwhatiwantedtosaytoyouforseveraldays；butnowthatyou’reactuallyhereidon’tquiteknoheretobegin。isupposeyoudidsoeresearch；soyouknowthationcewieldedsoeinfluenceinswedishindustryandthejobarket。todayi’anoldanwhowillprobablydiefairlysoon；anddeathperhapsisanexcellentstartingpointforourconversation。”

blokvisttookaswallowofblackcoffee—plainlyboiledinapanintruenorrlandstyle—andwonderedwherethiswasgoingtolead。

“ihavepaininyhipandlongwalksareathingofthepast。onedayyou’lldiscoverforyourselfhowstrengthseepsaway；buti’neitherorbidnorsenile。i’notobsessedbydeath；buti’atanagewhenihavetoaeptthatytieisaboutup。youwanttoclosetheaountsandtakecareofunfinishedbusiness。doyouunderstandwhatiean？”

blokvistnodded。vangerspokeinasteadyvoice；andblokvisthadalreadydecidedthattheoldanwasneithersenilenorirrational。“i’ostlycuriousaboutwhyi’here；”hesaidagain。

“becauseiwanttoaskforyourhelpwiththisclosingofaounts。”

“whye？whatakesyouthinki’dbeabletohelpyou？”

“becauseasiwasthinkingabouthiringsoeone；yournaecroppedupinthenews。iknehoyouwere；ofcourse。andaybeit’sbecauseyousatonykneewhenyouwerealittlefellow。don’tisunderstande。”hewavedthethoughtaway。“idon’tlooktoyoutohelpeforsentientalreasons。itwasjustthatihadtheipulsetocontactyouspecifically。”

mikaelgaveafriendlylaugh。“well；idon’treeberbeingperchedonyourknee。buthowcouldyouaketheconnection？thatwasintheearlysixties。”

“youisunderstoode。yourfailyovedtostockholwhenyourfathergotthejobastheworkshopforeanatzarinder’smechanical。iwastheonewhogothithejob。iknewhewasagoodworker。iusedtoseehiovertheyearswhenihadbusinesswithzarinder’s。weweren’tclosefriends；butwewouldchatforawhile。thelasttieisawhiwastheyearbeforehedied；andhetoldethenthatyouhadgotintojournalisschool。hewasextreelyproud。thenyoubecaefaouswiththestoryofthebankrobbergang。i’vefollowedyourcareerandreadanyofyourarticlesovertheyears。asaatteroffact；ireadmillenniuquiteoften。”

“ok；i’withyou；butwhatisitexactlythatyouwantetodo？”

vangerlookeddownathishands；thensippedhiscoffee；asifheneededapausebeforehecouldatlastbegintobroachwhathewanted。

“beforeigetstarted；mikael；i’dliketoakeanagreeentwithyou。iwantyoutodotwothingsfore。oneisapretextandtheotherisyrealobjective。”

“whatforofagreeent？”

“i’goingtotellyouastoryintwoparts。thefirstisaboutthevangerfaily。that’sthepretext。it’salong；darkstory；andi’lltrytosticktotheunvarnishedtruth。thesecondpartofthestorydealswithyactualobjective。you’llprobablythinksoeofthestoryis…crazy。whatiwantisforyoutoheareout—aboutwhatiwantyoutodoandalsowhatiaoffering—beforeyouakeupyourindwhethertotakeonthejobornot。”

blokvistsighed。obviouslyvangerwasnotgoingtolethigointietocatchtheafternoontrain。hewassurethatifhecalledfrodetoaskforalifttothestation；thecarwouldsoehowrefusetostartinthecold。

theoldanusthavethoughtlongandhardhowhewasgoingtohookhi。blokvisthadthefeelingthateverylastthingthathadhappenedsincehearrivedwasstaged：theintroductorysurprisethatasachildhehadethishost；thepictureofhisparentsinthealbu；andtheephasisonthefactthathisfatherandvangerhadbeenfriends；alongwiththeflatterythattheoldanknehomikaelblokvistwasandthathehadbeenfollowinghiscareerforyearsfroadistance…。nodoubtithadacoreoftruth；butitwasalsoprettyeleentarypsychology。vangerwasapractisedanipulator—howelsehadhebeeoneofsweden’sleadingindustrialists？

blokvistdecidedthatvangerwantedhitodosoethingthathewasnotgoingtohavetheslightestdesiretodo。hehadonlytowrestfrohiwhatthiswasandthensaynothankyou。andjustpossiblybeintietocatchtheafternoontrain。

“fivee；herrvanger；”hesaid；“i’vebeenherealreadyfortwentyinutes。i’llgiveyouexactlythirtyinutesoretotellewhatyouwant。theni’callingataxiandgoinghoe。”

foraoenttheaskofthegood…naturedpatriarchslipped；andblokvistcoulddetecttheruthlesscaptainofindustryfrohisdaysofpowerconfrontedbyasetback。hisouthcurledinagrisile。

“iunderstand。”