“butyou’renotheretolookintoherdisappearance？”

“whatakesyouthinkthat？”

“well；thefactthatnilssonluggedfourassiveboxesoverhere。thatcouldbehenrik’sprivateinvestigationsovertheyears。ilookedinharriet’soldroo；wherehenrikkeepsit；anditwasgone。”

ceciliavangerwasnofool。

“you’llhavetotaketheatterupwithhenrik；notwithe；”blokvistsaid。“butitwon’tsurpriseyoutoknowthathenrikhastalkedalotaboutthegirl’sdisappearance；andithoughtitwouldbeinterestingtoreadthroughwhathadbeencollected。”

ceciliagavehianotherofherjoylesssiles。“iwondersoetieswho’scrazier；yfatheroryuncle。iusthavelistenedtohionharriet’sdisappearanceathousandties。”

“whatdoyouthinkhappenedtoher？”

“isthisaninterviewquestion？”

“no；”hesaidwithalaugh。“i’justcurious。”

“whati’curiousaboutiswhetheryou’reanutcasetoo。whetheryou’veswallowedhenrik’sconvictionorwhetherinfactyou’retheonewho’segginghion。”

“youthinkthathenrik’sanutcase？”

“don’tgetewrong。he’soneofthewarestandostthoughtfulpeopleiknow。i’veryfondofhi。butonthisparticula. comic；he’sobsessive。”

“butharrietreallydiddisappear。”

“i’justsodansickofthewholestory。it’spoisonedourlivesfordecades；anditdoesn’t. comdoingso。”shegotupabruptlyandputonherfurcoat。“ihavetogo。youseelikeapleasantsort。martinthinkssotoo；buthisjudgeentisn’talwaysreliable。you’reweletoeforcoffeeatyhousewheneveryoulike。i’alostalwayshoeintheevening。”

“thankyou；”blokvistsaid。“youdidn’tanswerthequestionthatwasn’taninterviewquestion。”

shepausedatthedoorandrepliedwithoutlookingathi。

“ihavenoidea。ithinkitwasanaidentthathassuchasipleexplanationthatitwillastonishusifweeverfindout。”

sheturnedtosileathi—forthefirsttiewithwarth。thenshewasgone。

ifithadbeenanagreeablefirsteetingwithceciliavanger；thesaecouldnotbesaidofhisfirstencounterwithisabella。harriet’sotherwasexactlyashenrikvangerhadwarned：sheprovedtobeanelegantwoanwhoreindedhivaguelyoflaurenbacall。shewasthin；dressedinablackpersianlabcoatwithatchingcap；andshewasleaningonablackcanewhenblokvistranintoheroneorningonhiswaytosusanne’s。shelookedlikeanageingvapire—stillstrikinglybeautifulbutasvenoousasasnake。isabellavangerwasapparentlyonherwayhoeaftertakingawalk。shecalledtohifrothecrossroad。

“hellothere；youngan。ehere。”

theandingtonewashardtoistake。blokvistlookedaroundandconcludedthathewastheonesuoned。hedidasinstructed。

“iaisabellavanger；”thewoansaid。

“hello。mynaeismikaelblokvist。”hestuckouthishand；whichsheignored。

“areyouthatpersonwho’sbeensnoopingaroundinourfailyaffairs？”

“well；ifyoueanaithepersonthathenrikvangerhasputundercontracttohelphiwithhisaboutthevangerfaily；thenyes。”

“that’snoneofyourbusiness。”

“which？thefactthathenrikvangerofferedeacontractorthefactthatiaepted？”

“youknowperfectlywellwhatiean。idon’tcareforpeoplepokingaroundinylife。”

“iwon’tpokearoundinyourlife。therestyou’llhavetodiscusswithhenrik。”

isabellaraisedhercaneandpressedthehandleagainstmikael’schest。shedidnotuseuchforce；buthetookastepbackinsurprise。

“justyoukeepawayfroe；”shesaid；andturnedonherheelandwalkedunsteadilytowardsherhouse。blokvistwentonstandingwherehewas；lookinglikeaanwhohasjustetarealliveic…character。whenhelookeduphesawvangerinthewindowofhisoffice。inhishandhewasholdingacup；whichheraisedinanironicsalute。

theonlytravellingthatblokvistdidduringthatfirstonthwasadrivetoabayonlakesiljan。heborrowedfrode’smercedesanddrovethroughasnowylandscapetospendtheafternoonwithdetectivesuperintendentmorell。blokvisthadtriedtoforanipressionofmorellbasedonthewayhecaeacrossinthepolicereport。whathefoundwasawiryoldanwhoovedsoftlyandspokeevenoreslowly。

blokvistbroughtwithhianotewithtenquestions；ainlyideasthathadcroppedupwhilehewasreadingthepolicereport。morellansweredeachquestionputtohiinaschoolasterlyway。finallyblokvistputawayhisnotesandexplainedthatthequestionsweresiplyanexcuseforaeeting。whathereallywantedwastohaveachatwithhiandaskonecrucialquestion：wasthereanysinglethingintheinvestigationthathadnotbeenincludedinthewrittenreport？anyhunches；even；thattheinspectorightbewillingtosharewithhi？

becausemorell；likevanger；hadspentthirty…sixyearsponderingtheystery；blokvisthadexpectedacertainresistance—hewasthenewanwhohadeinandstartedtrapingaroundinthethicketwheremorellhadgoneastray。buttherewasnotahintofhostility。morellethodicallyfilledhispipeandlititbeforehereplied。

“wellyes；obviouslyihadyownideas。butthey’resovagueandfleetingthaticanhardlyputtheintowords。”

“whatdoyouthinkhappened？”

“ithinkharrietwasurdered。henrikandiagreeonthat。it’stheonlyreasonableexplanation。butweneverdiscoveredwhattheotiveighthavebeen。ithinkshewasurderedforaveryspecificreason—itwasn’tsoeactofadnessorarapeoranythinglikethat。ifwehadknowntheotive；we’dhaveknownwhokilledher。”morell. compedtothinkforaoent。“theurderayhavebeenittedspontaneously。bythatieanthatsoeoneseizedanopportunitywhenitpresenteditselfintheingandgoinginthewakeoftheaident。theurdererhidthebodyandthenatsoelatertiereoveditwhileweweresearchingforher。”

“we’retalkingaboutsoeonewhohasnervesofice。”

“there’sonedetail…harrietwenttohenrik’sroowantingtospeaktohi。inhindsight；itseestoeastrangewaytobehave—sheknewhehadhishandsfullwithalltherelativeswhowerehangingaround。ithinkharrietaliverepresentedagravethreattosoeone；thatshewasgoingtotellhenriksoething；andthattheurdererknewshewasaboutto…well；spillthebeans。”

“andhenrikwasbusywithseveralfailyebers？”

“therewerefourpeopleintheroo；besideshenrik。hisbrothergreger；acousinnaedmagnussj？gren；andtwoofharald’schildren；birgerandcecilia。butthatdoesn’ttellusanything。let’ssupposethatharriethaddiscoveredthatsoeonehadebezzledoneyfrothepany—hypothetically；ofcourse。sheayhaveknownaboutitforonths；andatsoepointsheayevenhavediscusseditwiththepersoninquestion。sheayhavetriedtoblackailhi；orsheayhavefeltsorryforhiandfeltuneasyaboutexposinghi。sheayhavedecidedallofasuddenandtoldtheurdererso；andheindesperationkilledher。”

“you’vesaid‘he’and‘hi。’”

“thesaysthatostkillersareen。butit’salsotruethatinthevangerfailyareseveralwoenwhoarerealfirebrands。”

“i’veetisabella。”

“she’soneofthe。butthereareothers。ceciliavangercanbeextreelycaustic。haveyouetsarasj？gren？”

blokvistshookhishead。

“she’sthedaughterofsofiavanger；oneofhenrik’scousins。inhercasewe’retalkingaboutatrulyunpleasantandinconsideratelady。butshewaslivinginmal？；andasfarasicouldascertain；shehadnootiveforkillingthegirl。”

“soshe’soffthelist。”

“theprobleisthatnoatterhoetwistedandturnedthings；wenevercaeupwithaotive。that’stheiportantthing。”