throughthewindowinthegablethedeskhadaviewofthebridgeandthechurch。therewasasofaandcoffeetablewherethehousekeeperhadsetoutatheros；rolls；andpastries。
vangergesturedtowardsthetray；butblokvistpretendednottosee；insteadheadeatouroftheroo；firststudyingtheshelfandthenthewalloffraedflowers。thedeskwasorderly；onlyafewpapersinoneheap。atitsedgewasasilver…fraedphotographofadark…hairedgirl；beautifulbutwithaischievouslook；ayoungwoanonherwaytobeingdangerous；hethought。itwasapparentlyaconfirationportraitthathadfadedovertheyearsithadbeenthere。
“doyoureeberher；mikael？”vangersaid。
“reeber？”
“yes；youether。andactuallyyouhavebeeninthisroobefore。”
blokvistturnedandshookhishead。
“no；howcouldyoureeber？iknewyourfather。ihiredkurtfirstasaninstallerandachinistseveraltiesinthefiftiesandsixties。hewasatalentedan。itrie. comersuadehitokeepstudyingandbeeanengineer。youwereherethewholesuerof1963；whenweputnewachineryinthepaperillinhedestad。itwashardtofindaplaceforyourfailytolive；sowesolveditbylettingyouliveinthewoodenhouseacrosstheroad。youcanseeitfrothewindow。”
vangerpickedupthephotograph。
“thisisharrietvanger；granddaughterofybrotherrichard。shetookcareofyouanytiesthatsuer。youweretwo；goingonthree。maybeyouwerealreadythreethen—idon’trecall。shewasthirteen。”
“iasorry；butidon’thavetheleastrecollectionofwhatyou’retellinge。”blokvistcouldnotevenbesurethatvangerwastellingthetruth。
“iunderstand。butireeberyou。youusedtorunaroundeverywhereonthefarwithharrietintow。icouldhearyourshriekswheneveryoufell。ireeberigaveyouatoyonce；ayellow；sheet…etaltractorthatihadplayedwithyselfasaboy。youwerecrazyaboutit。ithinkthatwasthecolour。”
blokvistfeltachillinside。theyellowtractorhedidreeber。whenhewasolderithadstoodonashelfinhisbedroo。
“doyoureeberthattoy？”
“ido。andyouwillbeausedtoknowthatthetractorisstillaliveandwell；atthetoymuseuinstockhol。theyputoutacallforoldoriginaltoystenyearsago。”
“really？”vangerchuckledwithdelight。“leteshowyou…”
theoldanwentovertotheshelfandpulledaphotographalbufrooneofthelowershelves。blokvistnoticedthathehaddifficultybendingoverandhadtobracehiselfontheshelfwhenhestraightenedup。helaidthealbuonthecoffeetable。heknehathewaslookingfor：ablack…and…whitesnapshotinwhichthephotographer’sshadowshowedinthebottoleftcorner。intheforegroundwasafair…hairedboyinshorts；staringatthecaerawithaslightlyanxiousexpression。
“thisisyou。yourparentsaresittingonthegardenbenchinthebackground。harrietispartlyhiddenbyyourother；andtheboytotheleftofyourfatherisharriet’sbrother；martin；whorunsthevangerpanytoday。”
blokvist’sotherwasobviouslypregnant—hissisterwasontheway。helookedatthephotographwithixedfeelingsasvangerpouredcoffeeandpushedovertheplateofrolls。
“yourfatherisdead；iknow。isyourotherstillalive？”
“shediedthreeyearsago；”blokvistsaid。
“shewasanicewoan。ireeberherverywell。”
“buti’sureyoudidn’tasketoeheretotalkaboutoldtiesyouhadwithyparents。”
“you’reright。i’vebeenworkingonwhatiwantedtosaytoyouforseveraldays；butnowthatyou’reactuallyhereidon’tquiteknoheretobegin。isupposeyoudidsoeresearch；soyouknowthationcewieldedsoeinfluenceinswedishindustryandthejobarket。todayi’anoldanwhowillprobablydiefairlysoon；anddeathperhapsisanexcellentstartingpointforourconversation。”
blokvisttookaswallowofblackcoffee—plainlyboiledinapanintruenorrlandstyle—andwonderedwherethiswasgoingtolead。
“ihavepaininyhipandlongwalksareathingofthepast。onedayyou’lldiscoverforyourselfhowstrengthseepsaway；buti’neitherorbidnorsenile。i’notobsessedbydeath；buti’atanagewhenihavetoaeptthatytieisaboutup。youwanttoclosetheaountsandtakecareofunfinishedbusiness。doyouunderstandwhatiean？”
blokvistnodded。vangerspokeinasteadyvoice；andblokvisthadalreadydecidedthattheoldanwasneithersenilenorirrational。“i’ostlycuriousaboutwhyi’here；”hesaidagain。
“becauseiwanttoaskforyourhelpwiththisclosingofaounts。”
“whye？whatakesyouthinki’dbeabletohelpyou？”
“becauseasiwasthinkingabouthiringsoeone；yournaecroppedupinthenews。iknehoyouwere；ofcourse。andaybeit’sbecauseyousatonykneewhenyouwerealittlefellow。don’tisunderstande。”hewavedthethoughtaway。“idon’tlooktoyoutohelpeforsentientalreasons。itwasjustthatihadtheipulsetocontactyouspecifically。”
mikaelgaveafriendlylaugh。“well；idon’treeberbeingperchedonyourknee。buthowcouldyouaketheconnection？thatwasintheearlysixties。”
“youisunderstoode。yourfailyovedtostockholwhenyourfathergotthejobastheworkshopforeanatzarinder’smechanical。iwastheonewhogothithejob。iknewhewasagoodworker。iusedtoseehiovertheyearswhenihadbusinesswithzarinder’s。weweren’tclosefriends；butwewouldchatforawhile。thelasttieisawhiwastheyearbeforehedied；andhetoldethenthatyouhadgotintojournalisschool。hewasextreelyproud。thenyoubecaefaouswiththestoryofthebankrobbergang。i’vefollowedyourcareerandreadanyofyourarticlesovertheyears。asaatteroffact；ireadmillenniuquiteoften。”
“ok；i’withyou；butwhatisitexactlythatyouwantetodo？”
vangerlookeddownathishands；thensippedhiscoffee；asifheneededapausebeforehecouldatlastbegintobroachwhathewanted。
“beforeigetstarted；mikael；i’dliketoakeanagreeentwithyou。iwantyoutodotwothingsfore。oneisapretextandtheotherisyrealobjective。”
“whatforofagreeent？”
“i’goingtotellyouastoryintwoparts。thefirstisaboutthevangerfaily。that’sthepretext。it’salong；darkstory；andi’lltrytosticktotheunvarnishedtruth。thesecondpartofthestorydealswithyactualobjective。you’llprobablythinksoeofthestoryis…crazy。whatiwantisforyoutoheareout—aboutwhatiwantyoutodoandalsowhatiaoffering—beforeyouakeupyourindwhethertotakeonthejobornot。”
blokvistsighed。obviouslyvangerwasnotgoingtolethigointietocatchtheafternoontrain。hewassurethatifhecalledfrodetoaskforalifttothestation；thecarwouldsoehowrefusetostartinthecold。
theoldanusthavethoughtlongandhardhowhewasgoingtohookhi。blokvisthadthefeelingthateverylastthingthathadhappenedsincehearrivedwasstaged：theintroductorysurprisethatasachildhehadethishost；thepictureofhisparentsinthealbu；andtheephasisonthefactthathisfatherandvangerhadbeenfriends；alongwiththeflatterythattheoldanknehomikaelblokvistwasandthathehadbeenfollowinghiscareerforyearsfroadistance…。nodoubtithadacoreoftruth；butitwasalsoprettyeleentarypsychology。vangerwasapractisedanipulator—howelsehadhebeeoneofsweden’sleadingindustrialists？
blokvistdecidedthatvangerwantedhitodosoethingthathewasnotgoingtohavetheslightestdesiretodo。hehadonlytowrestfrohiwhatthiswasandthensaynothankyou。andjustpossiblybeintietocatchtheafternoontrain。
“fivee；herrvanger；”hesaid；“i’vebeenherealreadyfortwentyinutes。i’llgiveyouexactlythirtyinutesoretotellewhatyouwant。theni’callingataxiandgoinghoe。”
foraoenttheaskofthegood…naturedpatriarchslipped；andblokvistcoulddetecttheruthlesscaptainofindustryfrohisdaysofpowerconfrontedbyasetback。hisouthcurledinagrisile。
“iunderstand。”
