“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。”

  “youputavastaountofworkintothiscase。wasthereanyleadyoureebernothavingfollowedup？”

  morellchuckled。“no。i’vedevotedanendlessaountoftietothiscase；andican’tthinkofanythingthatididn’tfollowuptothebitter；fruitlessend。evenafteriwasprootedandovedawayfrohedestad。”

  “movedaway？”

  “yes；i’notfrohedestadoriginally。iservedtherefro1963until1968。afterthatiwasprootedtosuperintendentandovedtotheg？vlepolicedepartentfortherestofycareer。butevening？vleiwentondiggingintothecase。”

  “idon’tsupposethathenrikwouldeverletup。”

  “that’strue；butthat’snotthereason。thepuzzleaboutharrietstillfascinatesetothisday。iean…it’slikethis：everypoliceofficerhashisownunsolvedystery。ireeberfroydaysinhedestadhowoldercolleagueswouldtalkinthecanteenaboutthecaseofrebecka。therewasoneofficerinparticular；aannaedtorstensson—he’sbeendeadforyears—whoyearafteryearkeptreturningtothatcase。inhisfreetieandwhenhewasonholiday。whenevertherewasaperiodofcalaongthelocalhooliganshewouldtakeoutthosefoldersandstudythe。”

  “wasthatalsoacaseaboutaissinggirl？”

  morelllookedsurprised。thenhesiledwhenherealisedthatblokvistwaslookingforsoesortofconnection。

  “no；that’snotwhyientionedit。i’talkingaboutthesoulofapolicean。therebeckacasewassoethingthathappenedbeforeharrietvangerwasevenborn；andthestatuteofliitationshaslongsincerunout。soetieinthefortiesawoanwasassaultedinhedestad；raped；andurdered。that’snotaltogetherunon。everyofficer；atsoepointinhiscareer；hastoinvestigatethatkindofcrie；butwhati’talkingaboutarethosecasesthatstaywithyouandgetunderyourskinduringtheinvestigation。thisgirlwaskilledintheostbrutalway。thekillertiedherupandstuckherheadintothesoulderingebersofafireplace。onecanonlyguesshowlongittookforthepoorgirltodie；orwhattorentsheusthaveendured。”

  “christalighty。”

  “exactly。itwassosadistic。poortorstenssonwasthefirstdetectiveonthesceneaftershewasfound。andtheurderreainedunsolved；eventhoughexpertswerecalledinfrostockhol。hecouldneverletgoofthatcase。”

  “icanunderstandthat。”

  “myrebeckacasewasharriet。inthisinstancewedon’tevenknowhowshedied。wecan’tevenprovethataurderwasitted。butihaveneverbeenabletoletitgo。”hepausedtothinkforaoent。“beingahoicidedetectivecanbetheloneliestjobintheworld。thefriendsofthevictiareupsetandindespair；butsoonerorlater—afterweeksoronths—theygobacktotheireverydaylives。fortheclosestfailyittakeslonger；butfortheostpart；tosoedegree；theytoogetovertheirgrievinganddespair。lifehastogoon；itdoesgoon。buttheunsolvedurderskeepgnawingawayandintheendthere’sonlyonepersonleftwhothinksnightanddayaboutthevicti：it’stheofficerwho’sleftwiththeinvestigation。”

  threeotherpeopleinthevangerfailylivedonhedebyisland。alexandervanger；sonofgreger；bornin1946；livedinarenovatedwoodenhouse。vangertoldblokvistthatalexanderwaspresentlyinthewestindies；wherehegavehiselfovertohisfavouritepasties：sailingandwhilingawaythetie；notdoingascrapofwork。alexanderhadbeentwentyandhehadbeenthereonthatday。

  alexandersharedthehousewithhisother；gerda；eightyyearsoldandwidowofgregervanger。blokvisthadneverseenher；shewasostlybedridden。

  thethirdfailyeberwasharaldvanger。duringhisfirstonthblokvisthadnotanagedevenaglipseofhi。harald’shouse；theoneclosesttoblokvist’scabin；lookedglooyandoinouswithitsblackoutcurtainsdrawnacrossallthewindows。blokvistsoetiesthoughthesawarippleinthecurtainsashepassed；andoncewhenhewasabouttogotobedlate；henoticedaglieroflightingfroarooupstairs。therewasagapinthecurtains。fororethantwentyinuteshestoodinthedarkathisownkitchenwindowandwatchedthelightbeforehegotfedupand；shivering；wenttobed。intheorningthecurtainswerebackinplace。

  haraldseeedtobeaninvisiblebutever…presentspiritwhoaffectedlifeinthevillagebyhisabsence。inblokvist’siagination；haraldincreasinglytookontheforofanevilgolluwhospiedonhissurroundingsfrobehindthecurtainsanddevotedhiselftono…one…knew…whatattersinhisbarricadedcavern。

  haraldwasvisitedonceadaybythehoe…helpservicefrotheothersideofthebridge。shewouldbringbagsofgroceries；trudgingthroughthesnowdriftsuptohisdoor。nilssonshookhisheadwhenblokvistaskedaboutharald。hehadofferedtodotheshovelling；hesaid；butharalddidnotwantanyoosetfootonhisproperty。onlyonce；duringthefirstwinterafterharaldhadreturnedtohedebyisland；didnilssondrivethetractoruptheretoclearthesnowfrothecourtyard；justashedidforalltheotherdriveways。haraldhadeoutofhishouseatastartlingpace；yellingandgesticulatinguntilnilssonwentaway。

  unfortunately；nilssonwasunabletoclearblokvist’syardbecausethegatewastoonarrowforthetractor。asnowshovelandanuallabourwerestilltheonlywaytodoit。

  intheiddleofjanuaryblokvistaskedhislawyertofindoutwhenhewasgoingtobeexpectedtoservehisthreeonthsinprison。hewasanxioustotakecareoftheatterasquicklyaspossible。gettingi. comrisonturnedouttobeeasierthanhehadexpected。afteraveryfeeeksofdiscussion；itwasdecreedthatblokvistpresenthiselfonmarch17attherull？kerprisonoutside？stersund；ainiu…securityprison。thelawyeradvisedhithatthesentencewouldverylikelybeshortened。

  “fine；”blokvistsaid；withoutuchenthusias。

  hesatatthekitchentableandpettedthecat；whonowarrivedeveryfewdaystospendthenightwithblokvist。frothenilssonshehadlearnedthatthecat’snaewastjorven。itdidnotbelongtoanyoneinparticular；itjustadetheroundsofallthehouses。

  blokvistethiseployeralosteveryafternoon。soetiestheywouldhaveabriefconversation；soetiestheywouldsittogetherforhours。

  theconversationoftenconsistedofblokvistputtingupatheorythatvangerwouldthenshootdown。blokvisttriedtoaintainacertaindistancefrohisassignent；buttherewereoentswhenhefoundhiselfhopelesslyfascinatedbytheenigaofthegirl’sdisappearance。

  blokvisthadassuredbergerthathewouldalsoforulateastrategyfortakingupthebattlewithwennerstr？；butafteraonthinhedestadhehadnoty. comenedthefileswhichhadbroughthitothedockinthedistrictcourt。onthecontrary；hehaddeliberatelypushedtheatterasidebecauseeverytiehethoughtaboutwennerstr？andhisownsituation；hewouldsinkintodepressionandlistlessness。hewonderedwhetherhewasgoingcrazyliketheoldan。hisprofessionalreputationhadiploded；andhiseansofrecoveringwastohidehiselfawayinatinytowninthedeepcountry；chasingghosts。

  vangercouldtellthatblokvistwasonsoedaysabitoffbalance。bytheendofjanuary；theoldanadeadecisionthatsurprisedevenhiself。hepickedupthetelephoneandcalledstockhol。theconversationlastedtwentyinutesanddealtlargelywithmikaelblokvist。

  ithadtakenalostthatwholeonthforberger’sfurytosubside。at9：30intheevening；ononeofthelastdaysinjanuary；shecalledhi。

  “areyoureallyintendingtostayupthere？”shebegan。thecallwassuchasurprisethatblokvistcouldnotatfirstreply。thenhesiledandwrappedtheblankettighteraroundhi。

  “hi；ricky。youshouldtryityourself。”

  “whywouldi？whatissocharingaboutlivinginthebackofbeyond？”

  “ijustbrushedyteethwithicewater。itakesyfillingshurt。”

  “youhaveonlyyourselftoblae。butit’scoldashelldownhereinstockholtoo。”

  “let’sheartheworst。”

  “we’velosttwo…thirdsofourregularadvertisers。no…onewantstoerightoutandsayit；but…”

  “iknow。makealistoftheonesthatjupship。soedaywe’lldoagoodstoryonthe。”

  “micke…i’verunthenubers；andifwedon’tropeinsoenewadvertisers；we’llbebustbytheautun。it’sassipleasthat。”

  “thingswillturnaround。”

  shelaughedwearilyontheotherendoftheline。

  “that’snotsoethingyoucansay；nestlingupthereinlaplanderhell。”

  “erika；i’…”

  “iknow。aan’sgottadowhataan’sgottado；andallthatcrap。youdon’thavetosayanything。i’sorryiwassuchabitchanddidn’tansweryouressages。canwestartagain？doidareeuptheretoseeyou？”

  “wheneveryoulike。”

  “doineedtobringalongariflewithwolf…shot？”

  “notatall。we’llhaveourownlapps；dogteasandallthegear。whenareyouing？”

  “fridayevening；ok？”

  apartfrothenarrowshovelledpathtothedoor；therewasaboutthreefeetofsnowcoveringtheproperty。blokvistgavetheshovelalong；criticallookandthenwentovertonilsson’shousetoaskwhetherbergercouldparkherbmwthere。thatwasnoproble；theyhadroointhedoublegarage；andtheyevenhadengineheaters。

  bergerdrovethroughtheafternoonandarrivedaround6：00。theystaredateachotherwarilyforseveralsecondsandthenhuggedeachotherforuchlonger。

  therewasnotuchtoseeinthedarknessexceptfortheilluinatedchurch；andbothkonsuandsusanne’sbridgecaféwereclosingup。sotheyhurriedhoe。blokvistcookeddinnerwhilebergerpokedaroundinhishouse；akingrearksabouttheissuesof