friday；deceber20
thetrialwasirretrievablyover；everythingthatcouldbesaidhadbeensaid；buthehadneverdoubtedthathewouldlose。thewrittenverdictwashandeddownat10：00onfridayorning；andallthatreainedwasasuingupfrothereporterswaitinginthecorridoroutsidethedistrictcourt。
“carl”mikaelblokvistsawthethroughthedoorwayandslowedhisstep。hehadnowishtodiscusstheverdict；butquestionswereunavoidable；andhe—ofallpeople—knewthattheyhadtobeaskedandanswered。thisishowitistobeacriinal；hethought。ontheothersideoftheicrophone。hestraightenedupandtriedtosile。thereportersgavehifriendly；alostebarrassedgreetings。
“let’ssee…aftonbladet；expressen；ttwireservice；tv4；and…whereareyoufro？…ahyes；dagensnyheter。iustbeacelebrity；”blokvistsaid。
“giveusasoundbite；kalleblokvist。”itwasareporterfrooneoftheeveningpapers。
blokvist；hearingthenicknae；forcedhiselfasalwaysnottorollhiseyes。once；whenhewastwenty…threeandhadjuststartedhisfirstsuerjobasajournalist；blokvisthadchanceduponagangwhichhadpulledofffivebankrobberiesoverthepasttwoyears。therewasnodoubtthatitwasthesaegangineveryinstance。theirtradearkwastoholduptwobanksatatiewithilitaryprecision。theyworeasksfrodisneyworld；soinevitablypolicelogicdubbedthethedonaldduckgang。thenewspapersrenaedthethebeargang；whichsoundedoresinister；oreappropriatetothefactthatontwooasionstheyhadrecklesslyfiredwarningshotsandthreatenedcuriouspassersby。
theirsixthoutingwasatabankin？sterg？tlandattheheightoftheholidayseason。areporterfrothelocalradiostationhappenedtobeinthebankatthetie。assoonastherobbersweregonehewenttoapublictelephoneanddictatedhisstoryforlivebroadcast。
blokvistwasspendingseveraldayswithagirlfriendatherparents’suercabinnearkatrinehol。exactlywhyheadetheconnectionhecouldnotexplain；eventothepolice；butashewaslisteningtothenewsreporthereeberedagroupoffoureninasuercabinafewhundredfeetdowntheroad。hehadseentheplayingbadintonoutintheyard：fourblond；athletictypesinshortswiththeirshirtsoff。theywereobviouslybodybuilders；andtherehadbeensoethingaboutthethathadadehilooktwice—aybeitwasbecausethegaewasbeingplayedinblazingsunshinewithwhatherecognisedasintenselyfocusedenergy。
therehadbeennogoodreasontosuspecttheofbeingthebankrobbers；butneverthelesshehadgooahilloverlookingtheircabin。itseeedepty。itwasaboutfortyinutesbeforeavolvodroveupandparkedintheyard。theyoungengotout；inahurry；andwereeachcarryingasportsbag；sotheyighthavebeendoingnothingorethaningbackfroaswi。butoneofthereturnedtothecarandtookoutfrothebootsoethingwhichhehurriedlycoveredwithhisjacket。evenfroblokvist’srelativelydistantobservationposthecouldtellthatitwasagoodoldak4；theriflethathadbeenhisconstantpanionfortheyearofhisilitaryservice。
hecalledthepoliceandthatwasthestartofathree…daysiegeofthecabin；blanketcoveragebytheedia；withblokvistinafront…rowseatandcollectingagratifyinglylargefeefroaneveningpaper。thepolicesetuptheirheadquartersinacaravaninthegardenofthecabinwhereblokvistwasstaying。
thefallofthebearganggavehithestarbillingthatlaunchedhiasayoungjournalist。thedownsideofhiscelebritywasthattheothereveningnewspapercouldnotresistusingtheheadline“kalleblokvistsolvesthecase。”thetongue…in…cheekstorywaswrittenbyanolderfealecolunistandcontainedreferencestotheyoungdetectiveinastridlindgren’ssforchildren。toakeattersworse；thepaperhadrunthestorywithagrainyphotographofblokvistwithhisouthhalfopenevenasheraisedanindexfinge. comoint。
itadenodifferencethatblokvisthadneverinlifeusedthenaecarl。frothatoenton；tohisdisay；hewasnicknaedkalleblokvistbyhispeers—anepitheteployedwithtauntingprovocation；notunfriendlybutnotreallyfriendlyeither。inspiteofhisrespectforastridlindgren—whosesheloved—hedetestedthenicknae。ittookhiseveralyearsandfarweightierjournalisticsuessesbeforethenicknaebegantofade；buthestillcringedifeverthenaewasusedinhishearing。
rightnowheachievedaplacidsileandsaidtothereporterfrotheeveningpaper：“oheon；thinkofsoethingyourself。youusuallydo。”
histonewasnotunpleasant。theyallkneweachother；oreorless；andblokvist’sostviciouscriticshadnotethatorning。oneofthejournaliststherehadatoieworkedwithhi。andatapartysoeyearsagohehadnearlysueededinpickinguponeofthereporters—thewoanfrosheontv4。
“youtookarealhitintheretoday；”saidtheonefrodagensnyheter；clearlyayoungpart…tier。“howdoesitfeel？”
despitetheseriousnessofthesituation；neitherblokvistnortheolderjournalistscouldhelpsiling。heexchangedglanceswithtv4。howdoesitfeel？thehalf…wittedsportsreportershoveshisicrophoneinthefaceofthebreathlessathleteonthefinishingline。
“icanonlyregretthatthecourtdidnotetoadifferentconclusion；”hesaidabitstuffily。
“threeonthsingaoland150；000kronordaages。that’sprettysevere；”saidshefrotv4。
“i’llsurvive。”
“areyougoingtoapologisetowennerstr？？shakehishand？”
“ithinknot。”
“soyoustillwouldsaythathe’sacrook？”dagensnyheter。
thecourthadjustruledthatblokvisthadlibelledanddefaedthefinancierhans…erikwennerstr？。thetrialwasoverandhehadnoplanstoappeal。sowhatwouldhappenifherepeatedhisclaionthecourthousesteps？blokvistdecidedthathedidnotwanttofindout。
“ithoughtihadgoodreaso. comublishtherationthatwasinypossession。thecourthasruledotherwise；andiustaeptthatthejudicialprocesshastakenitscourse。thoseofusontheeditorialstaffwillhavetodiscussthejudgeentbeforewedecidewhatwe’regoingtodo。ihavenooretoadd。”
“buthowdidyouetofetthatjournalistsactuallyhavetobackuptheirassertions？”shefrotv4。herexpressionwasneutral；butblokvistthoughthesawahintofdisappointedrepudiationinhereyes。
thereportersonsite；apartfrotheboyfrodagensnyheter；wereallveteransinthebusiness。forthetheanswertothatquestionwasbeyondtheconceivable。“ihavenothingtoadd；”herepeated；butwhentheothershadaeptedthistv4stoodhiagainstthedoorstothecourthouseandaskedherquestionsinfrontofthecaera。shewaskinderthanhedeserved；andtherewereenoughclearanswerstosatisfyallthereportersstillstandingbehindher。thestorywouldbeintheheadlinesbuthereindedhiselfthattheywerenotdealingwiththeediaeventoftheyearhere。thereportershadwhattheyneededandheadedbacktotheirrespectivenewsroos。
heconsideredwalking；butitwasablusterydeceberdayandhewasalreadycoldaftertheinterview。ashewalkeddownthecourtroosteps；hesawwilliabgettingoutofhiscar。heusthavebeensittingthereduringtheinterview。theireyeset；andthenbsiled。
“itwasworthingdownherejusttoseeyouwiththatpaperinyourhand。”
blokvistsaidnothing。bandblokvisthadknowneachotherforfifteenyears。theyhadworkedtogetherascubreportersforthefinancialsectionofaorningpaper。maybeitwasaquestionofcheistry；butthefoundationhadbeenlaidthereforalifelongenity。inblokvist’seyes；bhadbeenathird…ratereporterandatroublesoepersonwhoannoyedeveryonearoundhiwithcrassjokesandadedisparagingrearksabouttheoreexperienced；olderreporters。heseeedtodisliketheolderfealereportersinparticular。theyhadtheirfirstquarrel；thenothers；andanontheantagonisturnedpersonal。
overtheyears；theyhadrunintoeachotherregularly；butitwasnotuntilthelateniiesthattheybecaeseriouseneies。blokvisthadpublishedaaboutfinancialjournalisandquotedextensivelyanuberofidioticarticleswrittenbyb。bcaeacrossasapopousasswhogotanyofhisfactsupsidedownandwrotehoagestodot…paniesthatwereonthebrinkofgoingunder。whenthereaftertheyetbychanceinabarins？dertheyhadallbutetoblows。bleftjournalis；andnowheworkedinpr—foraconsiderablyhighersalary—atafirthat；toakethingsworse；waspartofindustrialisthans…erikwennerstr？’ssphereofinfluence。
theylookedateachotherforalongoentbeforeblokvistturnedonhisheelandwalkedaway。itwastypicalofbtodrivetothecourthousesiplytositthereandlaughathi。
thenuber40busbrakedtoa. cominfrontofb’scarandblokvisthoppedontoakehisescape。hegotoffatfridhesplan；undecidedwhattodo。hewasstillholdingthejudgeentdocuentinhishand。finallyhewalkedovertokaféanna；nexttothegarageentranceleadingunderneaththepolicestation。
halfainuteafterhehadorderedacaffelatteandasandwich；thelunchtienewscaeontheradio。thestoryfollowedthatofasuicidebobinginjerusaleandthenewsthatthegovernenthadappointedaissiontoinvestigatetheallegedforationofanewcartelwithintheconstructionindustry。
journalistmikaelblokvistoftheagazinemillenniuwassentencedthisorningto90daysingaolforaggravatedlibelofindustrialisthans…erikwennerstr？。inanarticleearlierthisyearthatdrewattentiontotheso…calledminosaffair；blokvistclaiedthatwennerstr？hadusedstatefundsintendedforindustrialinvestentinpolandforarsdeals。blokvistwasalsosentence. comay150；000sekindaages。inastateent；wennerstr？’slawyerbertilcanerarkersaidthathisclientwassatisfiedwiththejudgeent。itwasanexceptionallyoutrageouscaseoflibel；hesaid。
thejudgeentwastwenty…sixpageslong。itsetoutthereasonsforfindingblokvistguiltyonfifteencountsofaggravatedlibelofthebusinessanhans…erikwennerstr？。soeachcountcosthitenthousandkronorandsixdaysingaol。andthentherewerethecourtcostsandhisownlawyer’sfee。hecouldnotbringhiselftothinkaboutalltheexpenses；buthecalculatedtoothatitighthavebeenworse；thecourthadacquittedhionsevenothercounts。
ashereadthejudgeent；hefeltagrowingheavinessanddisfortinhisstoach。thissurprisedhi。asthetrialbeganheknewthatitwouldtakeairacleforhitoescapeconviction；andhehadbeereconciledtotheoute。hesatthroughthetwodaysofthetrialsurprisinglycal；andforelevenoredayshewaited；withoutfeelinganythinginparticular；forthecourttofinishdeliberatingandtoeupwiththedocuenthenowheldinhishand。itwasonly
