blokvistspentmondaywashingdishesandcleaningtheapartent；thenwalkingdowntotheofficeandclearingouthisdesk。hehadnointentionofbreakingtieswiththeagazine；buthehadeventuallyconvincedbergerthathehadtobeseparatedfrotheagazineforatie。hewouldworkfrohoe。

  theofficewasclosedforthechristasholidaysandallhiscolleaguesweregone。hewasweedingthroughtraysofpapersandpackingsincartonstotakeawaywhenthetelephonerang。

  “i’lookingformikaelblokvist；”saidahopefulbutunfailiarvoiceontheline。

  “speaking。”

  “fiveeforbotheringyoulikethisunannounced；sotospeak。mynaeisdirchfrode。”blokvistnotedthenaeandthetie。“i’alawyer；andirepresentaclientwhowouldveryuchliketohaveatalkwithyou。”

  “that’sfine；pleaseaskyourclienttocalle。”

  “ieanthathewantstoeetwithyouinperson。”

  “ok；akeanappointentandsendhiuptotheoffice。butyou’dbetterhurry；i’clearingoutydeskrightnow。”

  “myclientwouldlikeyoutovisithiinhedestad—it’sonlythreehoursbytrain。”

  blokvistpushedafilingtrayaside。theediahavetheabilitytoattractthecraziestpeopletocallinperfectlyabsurdtips。everynewsroointheworldgetsupdatesfroufologists；graphologists；scientologists；paranoiacs；everysortofconspiracytheorist。

  blokvisthadoncelistenedtoalecturebythewriterkarlalvarnilssonattheabfhallontheanniversaryoftheurderofprieministerolofpale。thelecturewasserious；andintheaudiencewerelennartbodstr？andotherfriendsofpale’s。butasurprisingnuberofaateurinvestigatorshadturnedup。oneofthewasawoaninherfortieswhoduringtheqandahadtakentheprofferedicrophoneandthenloweredhervoicetoabarelyaudiblewhisper。thisaloneheraldedaninterestingdevelopent；andnobodywassurprisedwhenthewoanbeganbyclaiing；“iknohourderedolofpale。”frothestageitwassuggestedsoewhatironicallythatifthewoanhadthisrationthenitwouldbehelpfulifsheshareditwiththepaleinvestigationatonce。shehurriedtoreply：“ican’t；”shesaidsosoftlyitwasalostipossibletohear。“it’stoodangerous！”

  blokvistwonderedwhetherthisfrodewasanotheroneofthetruth…sayerswhocouldrevealthesecretentalhospitalwheres？po；thesecuritypolice；ranexperientsonthoughtcontrol。

  “idon’takehousecalls；”hesaid。

  “ihopeicanconvinceyoutoakeanexception。myclientisovereighty；andforhiitwouldbetooexhaustingtoedowntostockhol。ifyouinsist；wecouldcertainlyarrangesoething；buttotellyouthetruth；itwouldbepreferableifyouwouldbesokind…”

  “whoisyourclient？”

  “apersonwhosenaeisuspectyouhaveheardinyourwork。henrikvanger。”

  blokvistleanedbackinsurprise。henrikvanger—ofcoursehehadheardofhi。anindustrialistandforerheadofthevangerpanies；oncerenownedinthefieldsofsawills；ines；steel；etals；textiles。vangerhadbeenoneofthereallybigfishinhisday；withareputationforbeinganhonourable；old…fashionedpatriarchwhowouldnotbendinastrongwind。acornerstoneofswedishindustry；oneofthetwenty…pointstagsoftheoldschool；alongwithmattscarlgrenofmodoandhanswerthénattheoldelectrolux。thebackboneofindustryinthewelfarestate；etcetera。

  butthevangerpanies；stillfaily…owned；hadbeenrackedinthepasttwenty…fiveyearsbyreanisations；stock…arketcrises；interestcrises；petitionfroasia；decliningexports；andothernuisanceswhichtakentogetherhadconsignedthenaevangertothebackwater。thepanywasruntodaybymartinvanger；whosenaeblokvistassociatedwithashort；plupanwiththickhairwhooasionallyflickeredpastonthetvscreen。hedidnotknowuchabouthi。henrikvangerhadbeenoutofthepictureforatleasttwentyyears。

  “whydoeshenrikvangerwanttoeete？”

  “i’vebeenherrvanger’slawyerforanyyears；buthewillhavetotellyouhiselfwhathewants。ontheotherhand；icansaythatherrvangerwouldliketodiscussapossiblejobwithyou。”

  “job？idon’thavetheslightestintentionofgoingtoworkforthevangerpany。isitapresssecretaryyouneed？”

  “notexactly。idon’tknowho. comutitotherthantosaythatherrvangerisexceedinglyanxioustoeetyouandconsultwithyouonaprivateatter。”

  “youcouldn’tgetoreequivocal；couldyou？”

  “ibegyourpardonforthat。butisthereanypossibilityofconvincingyo. comayavisittohedestad？naturallywewillpayallyourexpensesandareasonablefee。”

  “yourcallesatratheraninconvenienttie。ihavequitealottotakecareofand…isupposeyou’veseentheheadlinesabouteinthepastfewdays。”

  “thewennerstr？affair？”frodechuckled。“yes；thatdidhaveacertainauseentvalue。buttotellyouthetruth；itwasthepublicitysurroundingthetrialthatcausedherrvangertotakenoticeofyou。hewantstoofferyouafreelanceassignent。i’onlyaessenger。whattheatterconcernsissoethingonlyhecanexplain。”

  “thisisoneoftheoddercallsi’vehadinalongtie。letethinkaboutit。howcanireachyou？”

  blokvistsatlookingatthedisorderonhisdesk。hecouldnotiaginewhatsortofjobvangerwouldwanttoofferhi；butthelawyerhadsueededinarousinghiscuriosity。

  hegoogledthevangerpany。itightbeinthebackwatersbutitseeedtobeintheediaalostdaily。hesavedadozenpanyanalysesandthensearchedforfrode；andhenrikandmartinvanger。

  martinvangerappeareddiligentinhiscapacityasceoofthevangercorporation。frodekeptalowprofile；hewasontheboardofthehedestadcountryclubandactiveintherotaryclub。henrikvangerappeared；withoneexception；onlyinarticlesgivingthebackgroundofthepany。thehedestadcourierhadpublishedatributetotheforeragnateonhiseightiethbirthdaytwoyearsago；anditincludedashortsketch。heputtogetherafolderoffiftypagesorso。thenfinallyheeptiedhisdesk；sealedthecartons；and；havingnoideawhetherhewouldeback；wenthoe。

  salanderspentchristaseveatthe？ppelvikennursinghoeinupplands…v？sby。shehadbroughtpresents：abottleofeaudetoilettebydiorandanenglishfruitcakefro？hlénsdepartentstore。shedrankcoffeeasshewatchedtheforty…six…year…oldwoanwhowithclusyfingerswastryingtountietheknotontheribbon。salanderhadtendernessinhereyes；butthatthisstrangewoanwasherotherneverceasedtoaazeher。shecouldrecognisenottheslightestreseblanceinlooksornature。

  herothergaveupthestruggleandlookedhelplesslyatthepackage。itwasnotoneofherbetterdays。salanderpushedacrossthescissorsthathadbeeninplainsightonthetableandherothersuddenlyseeedtowakeup。

  “youustthinki’stupid。”

  “no；mu。you’renotstupid。butlifeisunfair。”

  “haveyouseenyoursister？”

  “notinalongtie。”

  “sheneveres。”

  “iknow；mu。shedoesn’tseeeeither。”

  “areyouworking？”

  “yes。i’doingfine。”

  “wheredoyoulive？idon’tevenknohereyoulive。”

  “iliveinyouroldapartentonlundagatan。i’velivedthereforseveralyears。ihadtotakeoverthepayents。”

  “inthesuertieaybeicaneandseeyou。”

  “ofcourse。inthesuertie。”

  herotheratlastgotthechristasprese. comenandsniffedatthearoa；enchanted。“thankyou；cailla；”shesaid。

  “lisbeth。i’lisbeth。”

  herotherlookedebarrassed。salandersaidthattheyshouldgotothetvroo。

  blokvistspentthehourofthedisneyspecialonchristasevewithhisdaughterpernillaatthehoeofhisex…wife；monica；andhernewhusbandinsollentuna。afterdiscussionswithherothertheyhadagreedtogivepernillaanipod；anmp3playerhardlybiggerthanaatchboxwhichcouldstoreherhugecdcollection。

  fatheranddaughterspentthetietogetherinherrooupstairs。pernilla’sparentsweredivorcedwhenshewasfive；andshehadhadanewfathersinceshewasseven。pernillacaetoseehiaboutonceaonthandhadweek…longholidayswithhiinsandhan。whentheyspenttietogethertheyusuallygotalongwell；butblokvisthadlethisdaughterdecidehowoftenshewantedtoseehi；theoresoafterherotherrearried。therehadbeenacoupleofyearsinherearlyteenswhencontactalost. comped；anditwasonlyinthepasttwoyearsthatsheseeedtowanttoseehioreoften。

  shehadfollowedthetrialinthefirbeliefthatthingswerejustasherfathersaid：hewasinnocent；buthecouldnotproveit。

  shetoldhiaboutasort…ofboyfriendwhowasinanotherclass；andshesurprisedhibysayingthatshehadjoinedachurch。blokvistrefrainedfroent。

  hewasinvitedtostayfordinnerbuthewasexpectedwithhissisterandherfailyoutintheyuppiesuburbofst？ket。

  thatorninghehadalsohadaninvitationtocelebratechristasevewiththebeckansinsaltsj？baden。hesaidno；butthankyou；certainthattherewasaliittobeckan’sindulgenceandquitesurethathehadnoabitiontofindoutwhatthatliitightbe。

  insteadhewasknockingonthedoorwhereannikablokvist；nowannikagiannini；livedwithheritalian…bornhusbandandtheirtwochildren。withaplatoonofherhusband’srelatives；theywereabouttocarvethechristasha。duringdinnerheansweredquestionsaboutthetrialandreceiveduchwell…eaningandquiteuselessadvice。

  theonlyonewhohadnothingtosayabouttheverdictwashissister；althoughshewastheonlylawyerintheroo。shehadworkedasclerkofadistrictcourtandasanassistantprosecutorforseveralyearsbeforesheandthreecolleaguesopenedalawfiroftheirownwithofficesonkungsholen。shespecialisedinfailylaw；andwithoutblokvisthavingtakenstockofitshappening；hislittlesisterbegantoappearinnewspapersasrepresentingbatteredorthreatenedwoen；andonpaneldiscussionsontvasafeinistandwoen’srightsadvocate。

  ashewashelpingherpreparethecoffee；sheputahandonhisshoulderandaskedhihoashedoing。hetoldherhefeltaslowashehadinlife。

  “getyourselfareallawyernexttie；”shesaid。

  “itprobablywouldn’thavehelpedinthiscase。butwe’lltalkitallthewaythrough；sis；soeothertiewhenallthedustissettled。”

  shegavehiahugandkissedhionthecheekbeforetheycarriedoutthechristascakeandthecoffee。thenblokvistexcusedhiselfandaskedtousethetelephoneinthekitchen。hecalledthelawyerinhedestadandcouldheartheretoothebuzzofvoicesinthebackground。

  “merrychristas；”frodesaid。“dareihopeyouhaveadeupyourind？”

  “ireallydon’thaveanyiediateplansandiacurioustoknowore。i’lleupthedayafterchristasifthatsuitsyou。”

  “excellent；excellent。iaincrediblypleased。youwillfivee；i’vegotchildrenandgrandchildrenvisitingandcanhardlyhearyselfthink。canicallyoutoorrowtoagreeonatie？wherecanireachyou？”

  blokvistregrettedhisdecisionbeforeevenheleftforhoe；butbythenitwastooawkwardtocallandcancel。soontheorningofdeceber26hewasonthetrainheadingnorth。hehadadriver’slicense；buthehadneverfelttheneedtoownacar。

  frodewasright；itwasnotalongjourney。afteruppsalacaethestringofsallindustrialtownsalongthenorrlandcoast。hedestadwasoneofthesallerones；alittleorethananhournorthofg？vle。

  onchristasnighttherehadbeenabigsnowstor；buttheskieshadnowclearedandtheairwasice…coldwhenblokvistalightedathedestad。herealisedatoncethathewasn’twearingenoughclothesforwinterinnorrland。frodeknehathelookedlikeandkindlycollectedhifrotheplatforandledhistraighttothewarthofhismercedes。inthecentreofhedestad；snowclearingwasinfullswing；andfrodewovehiscarefulwaythroughthenarrowstreets。highbanksofsnowpresentedapicturesquecontrasttostockhol。thetownseeedalostlikeanotherpla；yethewasonlyalittleorethanthreehoursfrosergelstindowntownstockhol。hestoleaglanceatthelawyer：anangularfacewithsparse；bristlywhitehairandthickglassesperchedonanipressivenose。

  “firsttieinhedestad？”frodesaid。

  blokvistnodded。

  “it’sanoldindustrialtownwithaharbour。populationofonly24；000。butpeoplelikelivinghere。herrvangerlivesinhedeby—atthesouthernedgeofthetown。”

  “doyouliveheretoo？”

  “idonow。iwasborninsk？nedownsouth；butistartedworkingforvangerrightafterigraduatedin1962。i’acorporatelawyer；andovertheyearsherrvangerandibecaefriends。todayi’officiallyretired；andherrvangerisyonlyclient。he’sretiredtoo；ofcourse；anddoesn’tneedyservicesveryoften。”

  “onlytoscrapeupjournalistswithruinedreputations。”

  “don’tsellyourselfshort。you’renotthefirstooloseaatchagainsthans…erikwennerstr？。”

  blokvistturnedtofrode；unsurehowtoreadthatreply。

  “doesthisinvitationhaveanythingtodowithwennerstr？？”hesaid。

  “no；”saidfrode。“butherrvangerisnotreotelyinwennerstr？’scircleoffriends；andhefollowedthetrialwithinterest。hewantstoeetyoutodiscussawhollydifferentatter。”

  “whichyoudon’twanttotelleabout。”

  “whichitisn’typlacetotellyouabout。wehavearrangeditsothatyoucanspendthenightatherrvanger’shouse。ifyouwouldrathernotdothat；wecanyouaroointhegrandhotelintown。”

  “iightbetakingtheeveningtrainbacktostockhol。”

  theroadintohedebywasstillunploughed；andfrodeanoeuvredthecardownfrozentyreruts。theoldtowncentreconsistedofhousesalongthegulfofbothnia；andaroundthelarger；oreodernhoes。thetownbeganontheainlandandspilledacrossabridgetoahillyisland。ontheainlandsideofthebridgestoodasall；whitestonechurch；andacrossthestreetglowedanold…fashionedneonsignthatreadsusanne’sbridgecaféandbakery。frodedroveaboutahundredyardsfartherandturnedleftontoanewlyshovelledcourtyardinfrontofastonebuilding。thefarhousewastoosalltobecalledaanor；butitwasconsiderablylargerthantherestofthehousesinthesettleent。thiswastheaster’sdoain。

  “thisisthevangerfar；”frodesaid。“onceitwasfulloflifeandhubbub；buttodayonlyhenrikandahousekeeperlivethere。thereareplentyofguestroos。”

  theygotout。frodepointednorth。

  “traditionallythepersonwholeadsthevangerconcernliveshere；butmartinvangerwantedsoethingoreodern；sohebuilthishouseonthepointthere。”

  blokvistlookedaroundandwonderedwhatinsaneipulsehehadsatisfiedbyaeptingfrode’sinvitation。hedecidedthatifhuanlypossiblehewouldreturntostockholthatevening。astonestairwayledtotheentry；butbeforetheyreacheditthedoorwasopened。heiediatelyrecognisedhenrikvangerfrothephotographpostedontheinter。

  inthepicturestherehewasyounger；buthelookedsurprisinglyvigorousforeighty…two：awirybodywitharugged；weather…beatenfaceandthickgreyhairbedstraightback。heworeneatlypresseddarktrousers；awhiteshirt；andawell…wornbrowncasualjacket。hehadanarrowoustacheandthinsteel…riedglasses。

  “i’henrikvanger；”hesaid。“thankyouforagreeingtovisite。”

  “hello。itwasasurprisinginvitation。”

  “einsidewhereit’swar。i’vearrangedaguestrooforyou。wouldyouliketofreshenup？we’llbehavingdinneralittlelater。andthisisannanygren；wholooksaftere。”

  blokvistshookhandswithashort；stoutwoaninhersixties。shetookhiscoatandhungitinahallcupboard。sheofferedhiapairofslippersbecauseofthedraught。

  mikaelthankedherandthenturnedtohenrikvanger。“i’notsurethatishallbestayingfordinner。itdependsonwhatthisgaeisallabout。”

  vangerexchangedaglancewithfrode。therewasanunderstandingbetweenthetwoenthatblokvistcouldnotinterpret。

  “ithinki’lltakethisopportunitytoleaveyoutwoalone；”saidfrode。“ihavetogohoeanddisciplihegrandkidsbeforetheytearthehousedown。”

  heturnedtomikael。

  “iliveontheright；justacrossthebridge。youcanwalkthereinfiveinutes；thethirdhousetowardsthewaterdownfrothebakery。ifyouneede；justtelephone。”

  blokvistreachedintohisjacketpocketandturnedonataperecorder。hehadnoideawhatvangerwanted；butafterthepasttwelveonthsofhavocwithwennerstr？heneededapreciserecordofallstrangeourrencesanywherenearhi；andanunlooked…forinvitationtohedestadcaeintothatcategory。

  vangerpattedfrodeontheshoulderinfarewellandclosedthefrontdoorbeforeturninghisattentiontoblokvist。

  “i’llgetrighttothepointinthatcase。thisisnogae。iaskyoutolistentowhatihavetosayandthenakeupyourind。you’reajournalist；andiwanttogiveyouafreelanceassignent。annahasservedcoffeeupstairsinyoffice。”

  theofficewasarectangleoforethan1；300squarefeet。onewallwasdoinatedbyafloor…to…ceilingshelfthirtyfeetlongcontainingarearkableassortentofliterature：biographies；history；businessandindustry；anda4binders。theswerearrangedinnoapparentorder。itlookedlikeashelfthatwasused。theoppositewallwasdoinatedbyadeskofdarkoak。onthewallbehindthedeskwasalargecollectionofpressedflowersinneateticulousrows。

  throughthewindowinthegablethedeskhadaviewofth