theyhadlabcutletswithpotatoesincreasauceanddrankredwine。blokvisttriedtotakeupthethreadoftheirearlierconversation；butbergerwasinnooodtodiscussmillenniu。insteadtheytalkedfortwohoursaboutwhatblokvistwasdoingupthereandhowheandvangerweregettingon。latertheywenttoseeifthebedwasbigenoughtoholdbothofthe。

herthirdeetingwithadvokatnilsbjuranwasrescheduled；andfinallysetfor5：00onthatsaefridayafternoon。atthepreviouseetings；salanderwasgreetedbyaiddle…agedwoanwhoselledofuskandworkedashissecretary。thistieshehadleftfortheday；andbjuranselledfaintlyofdrink。hewavedsalandertoavisitor’schairandleafeddistractedlythroughthedocuentsonhisdeskuntilheseeedsuddenlytobeeawareofherpresence。

itturnedouttobeanotherinterrogation。thistieheaskedsalanderabouthersexlife—whichshehadnointentionofdiscussingwithanyone。

aftertheeetingsheknewthatshehadhandleditbadly。atfirstsherefusedtoanswerhisquestions。hisinterpretationofthiswasthatshewasshy；retarded；orhadsoethingtohide；andhepressedherforanswers。salanderrealisedthathewasnotgoingtogiveup；soshestartedgivinghibrief；colourlessanswersofthesortsheassuedwouldfitwithherpsychologicalprofile。sheentioned“magnus”—who；aordingtoherdescription；wasanerdyputerprograerherownagewhotreatedherlikeagentleanshould；tookhertothecinea；andsoetiessharedherbed。“magnus”wasfiction；sheadehiupasshewentalong；butbjurantookheraountasapretextforeticulouslyappingouthersexlife。howoftendoyouhavesex？oasionally。whotakestheinitiative—youorhi？ido。doyouusecondos？ofcourse—sheknewabouthiv。what’syourfavouriteposition？h；usuallyonyback。doyouenjoyoralsex？er；waitasecond…haveyoueverhadanalsex？

“no；it’snotparticularlynicetobefuckedinthearse—butwhatthehellbusinessisitofyours？”

thatwastheonlytieshelostherteper。shehadkepthereyesonthefloorsotheywouldnotbetrayherexasperation。whenshelookedathiagain；hewasgrinningatherfroacrossthedesk。shelefthisofficewithafeelingofdisgust。palgrenwouldneverhavedreaedofaskingsuchquestions。ontheotherhand；hehadalwaysbeenthereifshehadwantedtodiscussanything。notthatshedid。

bjuranwasonhiswaytobeingamajorproble。

chapter11

saturday；february1–tuesday；february18

duringthebriefhoursofdaylightonsaturday；blokvistandbergertookawalkpastthesall…boatharbouralongtheroadto？sterg？rden。hehadbeenlivingonhedebyislandforaonth；buthehadnevertakenawalkinland；thefreezingteperaturesandregularsnowstorshaddeterredhi。butsaturdaywassunnyandpleasant。itwasasifbergerhadbroughtwithherahintofspring。theroadwaslinedwithsnow；ploughedthreefeethigh。assoonastheyleftthesuer…cabinareatheywerewalkingindensefirforest。blokvistwassurprisedbyhowuchhigherandoreinaessibles？derberget；thehillacrossfrothecabins；wasthanitappearedfrothevillage。hethoughtabouthowanytiesharrietvangerusthaveplayedhereasachild；butthenhepushedallthoughtsofheroutofhisind。afteraboutailethewoodsendedatafencewherethe？sterg？rdenfarlandbegan。theycouldseeawhitewoodenstructureandredfarbuildingsarrangedinasquare。theyturnedtoheadbackthesaeway。

astheypassedthedrivewaytotheestatehouse；vangerknockedontheupstairswindowandgesturedfirlyforthetoeup。blokvistandbergerlookedateachother。

“wouldyouliketoeetacorporatelegend？”blokvistsaid。

“doeshebite？”

“notonsaturdays。”

vangerreceivedtheatthedoortohisoffice。

“youustbefr？kenberger；irecogniseyou。”hesaid。“mikaeldidn’tsayawordaboutyouringtohedeby。”

oneofberger’soutstandingtalentswasherabilitytoinstantlygetonfriendlyterswiththeostunlikelyindividuals。blokvisthadseenherturnonthecharforfive…year…oldboys；whowithinteninuteswerefullypreparedtoabandontheirothers。menovereightyseeednottobeanexception。aftertwoinutesbergerandhenrikvangerwereignoringblokvistastheychatteredon。itwasasiftheyhadknowneachothersincechildhood—well；sinceerika’schildhood；atanyrate。

bergerstartedoffquiteboldlybyscoldingvangerforluringherpublisherawayintothesticks。theoldanrepliedthatasfarashecouldtell—froassortedpressreports—shehadinfactfiredhi。andhadshenotdoneso；thennowightbehightietogetridofexcessballastintheeditorialoffices。andinthatcase；vangersaid；aperiodofrusticlifewoulddoyoungblokvistsoegood。

forfiveinutestheydiscussedblokvist’sshortingsintheostirritatingters。blokvistleanedbackandpretendedtobeinsulted；buthefrownedwhenbergeradesoecrypticrearksthatightalludetohisfailingsasajournalistbutightalsohaveappliedtosexualprowess。vangertiltedhisheadbackandroaredwithlaughter。

blokvistwasastonished。hehadneverseenvangersonaturalandrelaxed。hecouldsuddenlyseethatvanger；fiftyyearsyounger—oreventhirtyyears—usthavebeenquiteacharing；attractiveladies’an。hehadneverrearried。thereusthavebeenwoenwhocrossedhispath；yetfornearlyhalfacenturyhehadreainedabachelor。

blokvisttookasipofcoffeeandprickeduphisearsagainwhenherealisedthattheconversationhadsuddenlyturnedseriousandhadtodowithmillenniu。

“mikaelhastoldethatyou’rehavingproblesattheagazine。”bergerglancedatblokvist。“no；hehasn’tdiscussedyourinternaloperations；butapersonwouldhavetobedeafandblindnottoseethatyouragazine；justlikethevangercorporation；isindifficulties。”

“i’confidentthatwecanrepairthesituation；”bergersaid。

“idoubtit；”vangersaid。

“whyisthat？”

“let’ssee—howanyeployeesdoyouhave？six？aonthlyagazinewithaprintrunof21；000；anufacturingcosts；salaries；distribution；offices…youneedrevenuesofabout10illion。ithinkweknohatpercentageofthataounthastoefroadvertisingrevenue。”

“so？”

“sofriendwennerstr？isavengefulandnarrow…indedbastardwhoisn’tgoingtofethisrecentcontretepsinahurry。howanyadvertisershaveyoulostinthepastsixonths？”

bergerregardedvangerwithawaryexpression。blokvistcaughthiselfholdinghisbreath。onthoseoasionswhenheandtheoldanhadtouchedonthefutureofmillenniu；ithadalwaysconcernedannoyingrearksortheagazine’ssituationinrelationtoblokvist’sabilitytofinishhisworkinhedestad。butvangerwasnowaddressingerikaalone；onebosstoanother。signalspassedbetweenthethatblokvistcouldnotinterpret；whichighthavehadtodowiththefactthathewasbasicallyapoorworking…classboyfronorrlandandshewasanupper…classgirlwithadistinguished；internationalfailytree。

“couldihavealittleorecoffee？”bergerasked。vangerpouredheracupatonce。“ok；you’vedoneyourhoework。we’rebleeding。”

“howlong？”

“we’vegotsixonthstoturnourselvesaround。eightonths；ax。wedon’thaveenoughcapitaltokeepourselvesafloatlongerthanthat。”

theoldan’sexpressionwasinscrutableashestaredoutofthewindow。thechurchwasstillstandingthere。

“didyouknowthatiwasonceinthenewspaperbusiness？”hesaid；onceoreaddressingtheboth。

blokvistandbergerbothshooktheirheads。vangerlaughedagain；ruefully。

“weownedsixdailynewspapersinnorrland。thatwasbackinthefiftiesandsixties。itwasyfather’sidea—hethoughtitightbepoliticallyadvantageoustohaveasectionoftheediabehindus。we’reactuallystilloneoftheownersofthehedestadcourier。birgeristhechairanoftheboardforthegroupofowners。harald’sson；”headded；forblokvist’sbenefit。

“andalsoalocalpolitician；”blokvistsaid。

“martinisontheboardtoo。hekeepsbirgerinline。”

“whydidyouletgoofthenewspapersyouowned？”blokvistasked。

“corporaterestructuringinthesixties。publishingnewspaperswasinsoewaysoreahobbythananinterest。whenweneededtotightenthebudget；itwasoneofthefirstassetsthatwesold。butiknohatittakestorunapublication…mayiaskyouapersonalquestion？”

thiswasdirectedaterika。

“ihaven’taskedmikaelaboutthis；andifyoudon’twanttoanswer；youdon’thaveto。i’dliketoknowhowyouendedupinthisquagire。didyouhaveastoryordidn’tyou？”

nowitwasblokvist’sturntolookinscrutable。bergerhesitatedonlyasecondbeforeshesaid：“wehadastory。butitwasaverydifferentstory。”

vangernodded；asifheunderstoodpreciselywhatbergerwassaying。blokvistdidnot。

“idon’twanttodiscusstheatter。”blokvistcutthediscussionshort。“ididtheresearchandwrotethearticle。ihadallthesourcesineeded。butthenitallwenttohell。”

“youhadsourcesforeverylastthingyouwrote？”

“idid。”