“iheardtheverdictontheradio。shefrotv4calledandwantedaent。”
“what’dyousay？”
“soethingtotheeffectthatweweregoingtoreadthejudgeentcarefullybeforeweakeanystateents。soisaidnothing。andyopinionstillholds：it’sthewrongstrategy。weeofflookingweakwiththeedia。theywillrunsoethingontvthisevening。”
blokvistlookedglu。
“howareyoudoing？”
blokvistshruggedandploppeddowninhisfavouritearchairnexttothewindowinerika’soffice。thedecorwasspartan；withadeskandfunctionalcasesandcheapofficefurniture。allofitwasfroikeaapartfrothetwofortableandextravagantarchairsandasallendtable—aconcessiontoyupbringing；shelikedtosay。shewouldsitreadinginoneofthearchairswithherfeettuckedunderneathherwhenshewantedtogetawayfrothedesk。blokvistlookeddownong？tgatan；wherepeoplewerehurryingbyinthedark。christasshoppingwasinfullswing。
“isupposeit’llpass；”hesaid。“butrightnowitfeelsasifi’vegotyselfaveryrawdeal。”
“yes；icaniagine。it’sthesaeforallofus。jannedahlanwenthoeearlytoday。”
“iassuehewasn’tovertheoonabouttheverdict。”
“he’snottheostpositivepersonanyway。”
mikaelshookhishead。forthepastnineonthsdahlanhadbeenanagingeditor。hehadstartedtherejustasthewennerstr？affairgotgoing；andhefoundhiselfonaneditorialstaffincrisisode。blokvisttriedtoreeberwhattheirreasoninghadbeenwhenheandbergerdecidedtohirehi。hewaspetent；ofcourse；andhadworkedatthettnewsbureau；theeveningpapers；andekoontheradio。butheapparentlydidnotlikesailingagainstthewind。duringthepastyearblokvisthadoftenregrettedthattheyhadhireddahlan；whohadanenervatinghabitoflookingateverythinginasnegativealightaspossible。
“haveyouheardfrochrister？”blokvistaskedwithouttakinghiseyesoffthestreet。
christermalwastheartdirectoranddesignerofmillenniu。hewasalsopartowneroftheagaziogetherwithbergerandblokvist；buthewasonatripabroadwithhisboyfriend。
“hecalledtosayhello。”
“he’llhavetobetheonewhotakesoveraspublisher。”
“layoff；micke。aspublisheryouhavetocountonbeingpunchedinthenoseeverysooften。it’spartofthejobdescription。”
“you’rerightaboutthat。butiwastheonewhowrotethearticlethatwaspublishedinaagazineofwhichialsohappentobethepublisher。thatakeseverythinglookdifferentallofasudden。thenit’saatterofbadjudgeent。”
bergerfeltthatthedisquietshehadbeencarryingwithheralldaywasabouttoexplode。intheweeksbeforethetrialstarted；blokvisthadbeenwalkingaroundunderablackcloud。butshehadneverseenhiasglooyanddejectedasheseeedtobenowinthehourofhisdefeat。shewalkedtohissideofthedeskandsatonhislap；straddlinghi；andputherarsroundhisneck。
“mikael；listentoe。webothknowexactlyhowithappened。i’asuchtoblaeasyouare。wesiplyhavetorideoutthestor。”
“thereisn’tanystortorideout。asfarastheediaareconcerned；theverdicteansthati’vebeenshotinthebackofthehead。ican’tstayonasthepublisherofmillenniu。thevitalthingistoaintaintheagazine’scredibility；to. comthebleeding。youknowthataswellasido。”
“ifyouthinkiintendtoletyoutaketherapallbyyourself；thenyouhaven’tlearnedadanthingabouteintheyearswe’veworkedtogether。”
“iknowhowyouoperate；ricky。you’re100percentloyaltoyourcolleagues。ifyouhadtochoose；you’dkeepfightingagainstwennerstr？’slawyersuntilyourcredibilitywasgooo。wehavetobesarterthanthat。”
“andyouthinkit’ssarttojupshipandakeitlookasifisackedyou？”
“ifmillenniuisgoingtosurvive；itdependsonyounow。christerisgreat；buthe’sjustaniceguywhoknowsaboutiagesandlayoutanddoesn’thaveaclueaboutstreetfightingwithbillionaires。it’sjustnothisthing。i’goingtohavetodisappearforawhile；aspublisher；reporter；andboardeber。wennerstr？knowsthatiknohathedid；andi’absolutelysurethataslongasi’anywherenearmillenniuhe’sgoingtotrytoruinus。”
“sowhynotpublisheverythingweknow？sinkorswi？”
“becausewecan’tproveadanthing；andrightnowihavenocredibilityatall。let’saeptthatwennerstr？wonthisround。”
“ok；i’llfireyou。whatareyougoingtodo？”
“ineedabreak；tobehonest。i’burnedrightout。i’goingtotakesoetieforyselfforawhile；soeofitinprison。thenwe’llsee。”
bergerputherarsaroundhiandpulledhisheaddowntoherbreasts。shehuggedhihard。
“wantsoepanytonight？”shesaid。
blokvistnodded。
“good。i’vealreadytoldgregeri’atyourplacetonight。”
thestreetlightsreflectingoffthecornersofthewindowswereallthatlittheroo。whenbergerfellasleepsoetieafter2：00intheorning；blokvistlayawakestudyingherprofileinthediness。thecoversweredownaroundherwaist；andhewatchedherbreastsslowlyrisingandfalling。hewasrelaxed；andtheanxiousknotinhisstoachhadeased。shehadthateffectonhi。shealwayshadhad。andheknewthathehadthesaeeffectonher。
twentyyears；hethought。that’showlongithadbeen。asfarashewasconcerned；theycouldgoonsleepingtogetherforanothertwodecades。atleast。theyhadneverseriouslytriedtohidetheirrelationship；evenwhenitledtoawkwardnessintheirdealingswithotherpeople。
theyhadetatapartywhentheywerebothintheirsecondyearatjournalisschool。beforetheysaidgoodnighttheyhadexchangedtelephonenubers。theybothknewthattheywouldendupinbedtogether；andinlessthanaweektheyrealisedthisconvictionwithouttellingtheirrespectivepartners。
blokvistwassurethatitwasnottheold…fashionedkindoflovethatleadstoasharedhoe；asharedortgage；christastrees；andchildren。duringtheeighties；whentheywerenotboundbyotherrelationships；theyhadtalkedofovingintogether。hehadwantedto；buterikaalwaysbackedoutatthelastinute。itwouldn’twork；shesaid；theywouldriskwhattheyhadiftheyfellinlovetoo。blokvisthadoftenwonderedwhetheritwerepossibletobeorepossessedbydesireforanyotherwoan。thefactwasthattheyfunctionedwelltogether；andtheyhadaconnectionasaddictiveasheroin。
soetiestheyweretogethersooftenthatitfeltasthoughtheyreallywereacouple；soetiesweeksandonthswouldgobybeforetheysaweachother。butevenasalcoholicsaredrawntothestateliquorstoreafterastintonthewagon；theyalwayscaebacktoeachother。
inevitablyitdidnotworkinthelongrun。thatkindofrelationshipwasalostboundtocausepain。theyhadbothleftbrokenproisesandunhappyloversbehind—hisownarriagehadcollapsed
3
becausehecouldnotstayawayfroerikaberger。hehadneverliedabouthisfeelingsforhertohiswife；monica；butshehadthoughtitwouldendwhentheyarriedandtheirdaughterwasborn。andbergerhadalostsiultaneouslyarriedgregerbeckan。blokvisttoohadthoughtitwouldend；andforthefirstyearsofhisarriageheandbergerhadonlyseeneachotherprofessionally。thentheystartedmillenniuandwithinafeeeksalltheirgoodintentionshaddissolved；andonelateeveningtheyhadfurioussexonherdesk。thatledtoatroublesoeperiodinwhichblokvistwantedveryuchtolivewithhisfailyandseehisdaughtergrowup；butatthesaetiehewashelplesslydrawntoberger。justassalanderhadguessed；itwashiscontinualinfidelitythatdrovehiswifetoleave。
strangelyenough；beckanseeedtoaepttheirrelationship。bergerhadalwaysbeenopenaboutherfeelingsformikael；andshetoldherhusbandassoonastheystartedhavingsexagain。maybeittookthesoulofanartisttohandlesuchasituation；soeonesowrappedupinhisowncreativity；orpossiblyjustwrappedupinhiself；thathedidnotrebelwhenhiswifesleptwithanotheran。sheevendividedupherholidaysoshecouldspendtwoweekswithherloverinhissuercabinatsandhan。blokvistdidnotthinkveryhighlyofbeckan；andhehadneverunderstoodberger’sloveforhi。buthewasgladthatheaeptedthatshecouldlovetwoenatthesaetie。
