“arowingboat？”

“no。thatdaytherewerepreciselythirteenboatsonhedebyisland。mostofthepleasureboatswerealreadyinstorageonland。downinthesall…boatharbourbythesuercabinsthereweretwopetterssonboatsinthewater。thereweresevenekarowingboats；ofwhichfivewerepulleduponshore。belowtheparsonageonerowingboatwasonshoreandoneinthewater。by？sterg？rdentherewasarowingboatandaotorboat。alltheseboatswerecheckedandwereexactlywheretheyweresupposedtobe。ifshehadrowedacrossandrunaway；shewouldhavehadtoleavetheboatontheotherside。”

vangerheldupfourfingers。

“sothere’sonlyonereasonablepossibilityleft；naelythatharrietdisappearedagainstherwill。soeonekilledherandgotridofthebody。”

lisbethsalanderspentchristasorningreadingmikaelblokvist’scontroversialaboutfinancialjournalis；theknightsteplar：acautionarytaleforfinancialreporters。thecoverhadatrendydesignbychristermalfeaturingaphotographofthestockholstockexchange。malhadworkedinphotoshop；andittookaoenttonoticethatthebuildingwasfloatinginair。itwasadraatioverwithwhichtosetthetoneforwhatwastoe。

salandercouldseethatblokvistwasafinewriter。thewassetoutinastraightforwardandengagingway；andevenpeoplewithnoinsightintothelabyrinthoffinancialjournaliscouldlearnsoethingfroreadingit。thetonewassharpandsarcastic；butaboveallitwaspersuasive。

thefirstchapterwasasortofdeclarationofwarinwhichblokvistdidnotincewords。inthelasttwentyyears；swedishfinancialjournalistshaddevelopedintoagroupofinpetentlackeyswhowerepuffedupwithself…iportanceandwhohadnorecordofthinkingcritically。hedrewthisconclusionbecausetieaftertie；withouttheleastobjection；soanyfinancialreportersseeedcontenttoregurgitatethestateentsissuedbyceosandstock…arketspeculators—evenwhenthisrationwasplainlyisleadingorwrong。thesereporterswerethuseithersonaiveandgulliblethattheyoughttobepackedofftootherassignents；ortheywerepeoplewhoquiteconsciouslybetrayedtheirjournalisticfunction。blokvistclaiedthathehadoftenbeenashaedtobecalledafinancialreporter；sincethenhewouldriskbeinglupedtogetherwithpeoplewhohedidnotrateasreportersatall。

heparedtheeffortsoffinancialjournalistswiththewaycriereportersorforeigncorrespondentsworked。hepaintedapictureoftheoutcrythatwouldresultifalegalcorrespondentbeganuncriticallyreproducingtheprosecutor’scaseasgospelinaurdertrial；withoutconsultingthedefencearguentsorinterviewingthevicti’sfailybeforeforinganopinionofwhatwaslikelyorunlikely。aordingtoblokvistthesaeruleshadtoapplytofinancialjournalists。

therestoftheconsistedofachainofevidencetosupporthiscase。onelongchapterexainedthereportingofafaousdot…insixdailypapers；aswellasinthefinancialjournal；dagensindustri；and“a…ekonoi；”thebusinessreportonswedishtv。hefirstquotedandsuarisedwhatthereportershadsaidandwritten。thenheadeaparisonwiththeactualsituation。indescribingthedevelopentofthepanyhelistedtieaftertiethesiplequestionsthataseriousreporterwouldhaveaskedbutwhichthewholecorpsoffinancialreportershadneglectedtoask。itwasaneatove。

anotherchapterdealtwiththeipoofteliastock—itwasthe’sostjocularandironicsection；inwhichsoefinancialwriterswerecastigatedbynae；includingonewilliab；towhoblokvistseeedtobeparticularlyhostile。achapterneartheendoftheparedthelevelofpetenceofswedishandforeignfinancialreporters。hedescribedhowseriousreportersatlondon’sfinancialties；theeconoist；andsoegeranfinancialnewspapershadreportedsiilarsubjectsintheirowncountries。theparisonwasnotfavourabletotheswedishjournalists。thefinalchaptercontainedasketchwithsuggestionsastohowthisdeplorablesituationcouldbereedied。theconclusionoftheechoedtheintroduction：

ifaparliaentaryreporterhandledhisassignentbyuncriticallytakingupalanceinsupportofeverydecisionthatwaspushedthrough；noatterhowpreposterous；orifapoliticalreporterweretoshowasiilarlackofjudgeent—thatreporterwouldbefiredorattheleastreassignedtoadepartentwhereheorshecouldnotdosouchdaage。intheworldoffinancialreporting；however；thenoraljournalisticandatetoundertakecriticalinvestigationsandobjectivelyreportfindingstothereadersappearsnottoapply。insteadtheostsuessfulrogueisapplauded。inthiswaythefutureofswedenisalsobeingcreated；andallreainingtrustinjournalistsasacorpsofprofessionalsisbeingproised。

salanderhadnodifficultyunderstandingtheagitateddebatethathadfollowedinthetradepublicationthejournalist；certainfinancialnewspapers；andonthefrontpagesandinthebusinesssectionsofthedailypapers。eventhoughonlyafewreporterswereentionedbynaeinthe；salanderguessedthatthefieldwassallenoughthateveryonewouldknowexactlywhichindividualswerebeingreferredtowhenvariousnewspaperswerequoted。blokvisthadadehiselfsoebittereneies；whichwasalsoreflectedinthealiciousentstothecourtinthewennerstr？affair。

sheclosedtheandlookedatthephotographontheback。blokvist’sdarkblondshockofhairfellabitcarelesslyacrosshisforehead；asifcaughtinagustofwind。orasifchristermalhadposedhi。hewaslookingintothecaerawithanironicsileandanexpressionperhapsaiingtobecharingandboyish。averygood…lookingan。onhiswaytodothreeonthsintheslaer。

“hello；kalleblokvist；”shesaidtoherself。“you’reprettypleasedwithyourself；aren’tyou？”

atlunchtiesalanderbootedupheriandopenedeudoratowriteaneail。shetyped：“haveyougottie？”shesigneditwaspandsentittotheaddresstobeonthesafeside；sherantheessagethroughherpgpencryptionprograe。

thensheputonblackjeans；heavywinterboots；awarpoloshirt；adarkpeajacketandatchingknittedgloves；cap；andscarf。shetooktheringsoutofhereyebrowsandnostril；putonapalepinklipstick；andexainedherselfinthebathrooirror。shelookedlikeanyotherwoanoutforaweekendstroll；andsheregardedheroutfitasappropriatecaouflageforanexpeditionbehindeneylines。shetookthetunnelbanafrozinkensdato？steralstandwalkeddowntowardsstrandv？gen。shesaunteredalongthecentralreservereadingthenubersonthebuildings。shehadalostgottodjurg？rdsbridgewhenshe. compedandlookedatthedoorshehadbeensearchingfor。shecrossedthestreetandwaitedafewfeetfrothestreetdoor。

shenoticedthatostpeoplewhowereoutwalkinginthecoldweatheronthedayafterchristaswerewalkingalongthequay；onlyafeereonthepaveentside。

shehadtowaitforalosthalfanhourbeforeanoldwoanwithacaneapproachedfrothedirectionofdjurg？rden。thewoan. compedandstudiedsalanderwithsuspicion。salandergaveherafriendlysileinreturn。theladywiththecanereturnedhergreetingandlookedasthoughsheweretryingtoreeberwhenshehadlastseentheyoungwoan。salanderturnedherbackandtookafewstepsawayfrothedoor；asthoughshewereipatientlywaitingforsoeone；pacingbackandforth。whensheturned；theladyhadreachedthedoorandwasslowlyputtinginanuberonthecodelock。salanderhadnodifficultyseeingthatthebinationwas1260。

shewaitedfiveinutesorebeforeshewenttothedoor。shepunchedinthecodeandthelockclicked。shepeeredintothestairwell。therewasasecuritycaerawhichsheglancedatandignored；itwasaodelthatmiltonsecuritycarriedandwasactivatedonlyifanalarforabreak…inoranattackwassoundedontheproperty。fartherin；totheleftofanantiqueliftcage；therewasadoorwithanothercodelock；shetried1260anditworkedfortheentrancetothecellarlevelandrubbishroo。sloppy；verysloppy。shespentthreeinutesinvestigatingthecellarlevel；whereshelocatedanunlockedlaundryrooandarecyclingroo。thensheusedasetofpicklocksthatshehad“borrowed”fromilton’slocksithtoopenalockeddoortowhatseeedtobeaeetingrooforthecondoiniuassociation。atthebackofthecellarwasahobbyroo。finallyshefoundwhatshewaslookingfor：thebuilding’ssallelectricalroo。sheexainedtheeters；fuseboxes；andjunctionboxesandthentookoutacanondigitalcaerathesizeofacigarettepacket。shetookthreepictures。

onthewayoutshecasthereyedownthelistofresidentsbytheliftandreadthenaefortheapartentonth. comfloor。wennerstr？。

thensheleftthebuildingandwalkedrapidlytothenationalmuseu；whereshewentintothecafeteriatohavesoecoffeeandwarup。afterabouthalfanhoursheadeherwaybacktos？derandwentuptoherapartent。

therewasananswerfrowhenshedecodeditinpgpitread：20。

chapter6

thursday；deceber26

thetieliitsetbyblokvisthadbeenexceededbyagoodargin。itwas4：30；andtherewasnohopeofcatchingtheafternoontrain；buthestillhadachanceofakingtheeveningtrainat9：30。hestoodbythewindowrubbinghisneckashestaredoutattheilluinatedfacadeofthechurchontheothersideofthebridge。vangerhadshownhiascrapwitharticlesfroboththelocalnewspaperandthenationaledia。therehadbeenquiteabitofediainterestforawhile—girlfronotedindustrialist’sfailydisappears。butwhennobodywasfoundandtherewasnobreakthroughintheinvestigation；interestgraduallywaned。despitethefactthataproinentfailywasinvolved；thirty…sixyearslaterthecaseofharrietvangerwasallbutfotten。theprevailingtheoryinarticlesfrothelatesixtiesseeedtobethatshedrownedandwassweptouttosea—atragedy；butsoethingthatcouldhappentoanyfaily。

blokvisthadbeenfascinatedbytheoldan’saount；butwhenvangerexcusedhiselftogotothebathroo；hisscepticisreturned。theoldanhadstillnotgottotheend；andblokvisthadfinallyproisedtolistentothewholestory。

“whatdoyouthinkhappenedtoher？”hesaidwhenvangercaebackintotheroo。

“norallythereweresoetwenty…fivepeoplelivinghereyear…round；butbecauseofthefailygatheringtherewereorethansixtyonhedebyislandthatday。ofthese；betweentwentyandtwenty…fivecanberuledout；prettyuchso。ibelievethatofthosereaining；soeone—andinalllikelihooditwassoeonefrothefaily—killedharrietandhidthebody。”

“ihaveadozenobjectionstothat。”

“let’shearthe。”

“well；thefirstoneisthatevenifsoeonehidherbody；itshouldhavebeenfoundifthesearchwasasthoroughastheoneyoudescribed。”