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
