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。
