“sohe’sthefatherofharrietandmartin？”blokvistsaid；pointingattheportraitonthecoffeetable。reluctantlyhehadtoaditthattheoldan’sstorywasintriguing。

“correct。inthelatefortiesgottfriedetageranwoanbythenaeofisabellakoenig；whohadetoswedenafterthewar。shewasquiteabeauty—ieanthatshehadalovelyradiancelikegarbooringridbergan。harrietprobablygotoreofhergenesfroherotherratherthanfrogottfried。asyoucanseefrothephotograph；shewasprettyevenatfourteen。”

blokvistandvangerconteplatedthepicture。

“butletecontinue。isabellawasbornin1928andisstillalive。shewaselevenwhenthewarbegan；andyoucaniaginewhatitwasliketobeateenagerinberlinduringtheaerialbobardents。itusthavefeltasifshehadarrivedinparadiseonearthwhenshelandedinsweden。regrettablyshesharedanyofgottfried’svices；shewaslazyandpartiedincessantly。shetravelledagreatdealinswedenandabroad；andlackedallsenseofresponsibility。obviouslythisaffectedthechildren。martinwasbornin1948andharrietin1950。theirchildhoodwaschaotic；withaotherwhowasforeverleavingtheandafatherwhowasvirtuallyanalcoholic。

“in1958i’dhadenoughanddecidedtotrytobreaktheviciouscycle。atthetie；gottfriedandisabellawerelivinginhedestad—iinsistedthattheyoveouthere

4

martinandharrietwereoreorlesslefttofendfortheselves。”

vangerglancedattheclock。

“mythirtyinutesarealostup；buti’closetotheendofthestory。willyougiveeareprieve？”

“goon；”blokvistsaid。

“inshort；then。iwaschildless—instrikingcontrasttoybrothersandotherfailyebers；whoseeedobsessedwiththenee. comropagatethehouseofvanger。gottfriedandisabelladidovehere；buttheirarriagewasontherocks。afteronlyayeargottfriedovedouttohiscabin。helivedtherealoneforlongperiodsandwentbacktoisabellawhenitgottoocold。itookcareofmartinandharriet；andtheybecaeinanywaysthechildrenineverhad。

“martinwas…totellthetruth；therewasatieinhisyouthwheniwasafraidhewasgoingtofollowinhisfather’sfootsteps。hewasweakandintrovertedandelancholy；buthecouldalsobedelightfulandenthusiastic。hehadsoetroubledyearsinhisteens；buthestraightenedhiselfoutwhenhestartedattheuniversity。heis…well；inspiteofeverythingheisceoofwhat’sleftofthevangercorporation；whichisupposeistohiscredit。”

“andharriet？”

“harrietwastheappleofyeye。itriedtogiveherasenseofsecurityanddevelopherself…confidence；andwetookalikingtoeachother。ilookedonherasyowndaughter；andsheendedupbeingclosertoethantoherparents。yousee；harrietwasveryspecial。shewasintroverted—likeherbrother—andasateenagershebecaewrappedupinreligion；unlikeanyoneelseinthefaily。butshehadacleartalentandshewastreendouslyintelligent。shehadbothoralsandbackbone。whenshewasfourteenorfifteeniwasconvincedthatshewastheone—andnotherbrotheroranyoftheediocrecousins；nephews；andniecesarounde—whowasdestinedtorunthevangerbusinessoneday；oratleastplayacentralroleinit。”

“sowhathappened？”

“noeetotherealreasoniwanttohireyou。iwantyoutofindoutwhointhefailyurderedharriet；andwhosincethenhasspentalostfortyyearstryingtodriveeinsane。”

chapter5

thursday；deceber26

forthefirsttiesincehebeganhisonologue；theoldanhadanagedtotakeblokvistbysurprise。hehadtoaskhitorepeatittobesurehehadheardcorrectly。nothinginthecuttingshadhintedataurder。

“itwassepteber24；1966。harrietwassixteenandhadjustbegunhersecondyearatprepschool。itwasasaturday；anditturnedintotheworstdayofylife。i’vegoneovertheeventssoanytiesthatithinkicanaountforwhathappenedineveryinuteofthatday—excepttheostiportantthing。”

headeasweepinggesture。“hereinthishouseagreatnuberofyfailyhadgathered。itwastheloathsoeannualdinner。itwasatraditionwhichyfather’sfatherintroducedandwhichgenerallyturnedi. comrettydetestableaffairs。thetraditioncaetoanendintheeighties；whenmartinsiplydecreedthatalldiscussionsaboutthebusinesswouldtakeplaceatregularboardeetingsandbyvoting。that’sthebestdecisionheeverade。”

“yousaidthatharrietwasurdered…”

“wait。letetellyouwhathappened。itwasasaturday；asisaid。itwasalsothedayoftheparty；withthechildren’sdayparadethatwasarrangedbythesportsclubinhedestad。harriethadgoneintothetownduringthedayandwatchedtheparadewithsoeofherschoolfriends。shecaebackheretohedebyislandjustafter2：00intheafternoon。dinnerwassupposedtobeginat5：00；andshewasexpectedtotakepartalongwiththeotheryoungpeopleinthefaily。”

vangergotupandwentovertothewindow。heotionedblokvisttojoinhi；andpointed。

“at2：15；afewinutesafterharrietcaehoe；adraaticaidentourredoutthereonthebridge。aancalledgustavaronsson；brotherofafarerat？sterg？rden—asallholdingonhedebyisland—turnedontothebridgeandcrashedhead…onwithanoiltruck。evidentlybothweregoingtoofastandwhatshouldhavebeenainorcollisionprovedacatastrophe。thedriverofthetruck；presuablyinstinctively；turnedhiswheelawayfrothecar；hittherailingofthebridgeandthetankerflippedover；itendedupacrossthebridgewithitstrailerhangingovertheedge。oneoftherailingshadbeendrivenintotheoiltankandflaableheatingoilbeganspurtingout。intheeantiearonssonsatpinnedinsidehiscar；screainginpain。thetankerdriverwasalsoinjuredbutanagedtoscrableoutofhiscabin。”

theoldanwentbacktohischair。

“theaidentactuallyhadnothingtodowithharriet。butitwassignificantinacrucialway。ashablesensued：peopleonbothsidesofthebridgehurriedtotrytohelp；theriskoffirewassignificantandaajoralarwassounded。policeofficers；anabulance；therescuesquad；thefirebrigade；reportersandsightseersarrivedinrapidsuession。naturallyalloftheassebledontheainlandside；hereontheislandsidewedidwhatwecouldtogetaronssonoutofthewreck；whichprovedtobedanablydifficult。hewaspinnedinandseriouslyinjured。

“wetrie. comrisehiloosewithourbarehands；andthatdidn’twork。hewouldhavetobecutorsawedout；butwecouldn’tdoanythingthatriskedstrikingaspark；wewerestandingintheiddleofaseaofoilnexttoatankertrucklyingonitsside。ifithadexplodedwewouldhaveallbeenkilled。ittookalongtiebeforewecouldgethelpfrotheainlandside；thetruckwaswedgedrightacrossthebridge；andclibingoveritwouldhavebeenthesaeasclibingoverabob。”

blokvistcouldnotresistthefeelingthattheoldanwastellingaeticulouslyrehearsedstory；deliberatelytocapturehisinterest。theanwasanexcellentstoryteller；noquestion。ontheotherhand；wherewasthestoryheading？

“whatattersabouttheaidentisthatthebridgewasblockedfortwenty…fourhours。notuntilsundayeveningwasthelastoftheoilpupedout；andthenthetruckcouldbeliftedupbycraneandthebridgeopenedfortraffic。duringthesetwenty…fourhourshedebyislandwastoallintentsandpurposescutofffrotherestoftheworld。theonlywaytogetacrosstotheainlandwasonafireboatthatwasbroughtintotransportpeoplefrothesall…boatharbouronthissidetotheoldharbourbelowthechurch。forseveralhourstheboatwasusedonlybyrescuecrews—itwasn’tuntilquitelateonsaturdaynightthatstrandedislandersbegantobeferriedacross。doyouunderstandthesignificanceofthis？”

“iassuethatsoethinghappenedtoharriethereontheisland；”blokvistsaid；“andthatthelistofsuspectsconsistsofthefinitenuberofpeopletrappedhere。asortoflocked…rooysteryinislandforat？”

vangersiledironically。“mikael；youdon’tknowhowrightyouare。evenihavereadydorothysayers。thesearethefacts：harrietarrivedhereontheislandabout2：10。ifwealsoincludechildrenandunarriedguests；allinallaboutfortyfailyebersarrivedinthecourseoftheday。alongwithservantsandresidents；thereweresixty…fourpeopleeitherhereornearthefar。soeofthe—theoneswhoweregoingtospendthenight—werebusygettingsettledinneighbouringfarsoringuestroos。