“sohe’sthefatherofharrietandmartin？”blokvistsaid；pointingattheportraitonthecoffeetable。reluctantlyhehadtoaditthattheoldan’sstorywasintriguing。
“correct。inthelatefortiesgottfriedetageranwoanbythenaeofisabellakoenig；whohadetoswedenafterthewar。shewasquiteabeauty—ieanthatshehadalovelyradiancelikegarbooringridbergan。harrietprobablygotoreofhergenesfroherotherratherthanfrogottfried。asyoucanseefrothephotograph；shewasprettyevenatfourteen。”
blokvistandvangerconteplatedthepicture。
“butletecontinue。isabellawasbornin1928andisstillalive。shewaselevenwhenthewarbegan；andyoucaniaginewhatitwasliketobeateenagerinberlinduringtheaerialbobardents。itusthavefeltasifshehadarrivedinparadiseonearthwhenshelandedinsweden。regrettablyshesharedanyofgottfried’svices；shewaslazyandpartiedincessantly。shetravelledagreatdealinswedenandabroad；andlackedallsenseofresponsibility。obviouslythisaffectedthechildren。martinwasbornin1948andharrietin1950。theirchildhoodwaschaotic；withaotherwhowasforeverleavingtheandafatherwhowasvirtuallyanalcoholic。
“in1958i’dhadenoughanddecidedtotrytobreaktheviciouscycle。atthetie；gottfriedandisabellawerelivinginhedestad—iinsistedthattheyoveouthere
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martinandharrietwereoreorlesslefttofendfortheselves。”
vangerglancedattheclock。
“mythirtyinutesarealostup；buti’closetotheendofthestory。willyougiveeareprieve？”
“goon；”blokvistsaid。
“inshort；then。iwaschildless—instrikingcontrasttoybrothersandotherfailyebers；whoseeedobsessedwiththenee. comropagatethehouseofvanger。gottfriedandisabelladidovehere；buttheirarriagewasontherocks。afteronlyayeargottfriedovedouttohiscabin。helivedtherealoneforlongperiodsandwentbacktoisabellawhenitgottoocold。itookcareofmartinandharriet；andtheybecaeinanywaysthechildrenineverhad。
“martinwas…totellthetruth；therewasatieinhisyouthwheniwasafraidhewasgoingtofollowinhisfather’sfootsteps。hewasweakandintrovertedandelancholy；buthecouldalsobedelightfulandenthusiastic。hehadsoetroubledyearsinhisteens；buthestraightenedhiselfoutwhenhestartedattheuniversity。heis…well；inspiteofeverythingheisceoofwhat’sleftofthevangercorporation；whichisupposeistohiscredit。”
“andharriet？”
“harrietwastheappleofyeye。itriedtogiveherasenseofsecurityanddevelopherself…confidence；andwetookalikingtoeachother。ilookedonherasyowndaughter；andsheendedupbeingclosertoethantoherparents。yousee；harrietwasveryspecial。shewasintroverted—likeherbrother—andasateenagershebecaewrappedupinreligion；unlikeanyoneelseinthefaily。butshehadacleartalentandshewastreendouslyintelligent。shehadbothoralsandbackbone。whenshewasfourteenorfifteeniwasconvincedthatshewastheone—andnotherbrotheroranyoftheediocrecousins；nephews；andniecesarounde—whowasdestinedtorunthevangerbusinessoneday；oratleastplayacentralroleinit。”
“sowhathappened？”
“noeetotherealreasoniwanttohireyou。iwantyoutofindoutwhointhefailyurderedharriet；andwhosincethenhasspentalostfortyyearstryingtodriveeinsane。”
chapter5
thursday；deceber26
forthefirsttiesincehebeganhisonologue；theoldanhadanagedtotakeblokvistbysurprise。hehadtoaskhitorepeatittobesurehehadheardcorrectly。nothinginthecuttingshadhintedataurder。
“itwassepteber24；1966。harrietwassixteenandhadjustbegunhersecondyearatprepschool。itwasasaturday；anditturnedintotheworstdayofylife。i’vegoneovertheeventssoanytiesthatithinkicanaountforwhathappenedineveryinuteofthatday—excepttheostiportantthing。”
headeasweepinggesture。“hereinthishouseagreatnuberofyfailyhadgathered。itwastheloathsoeannualdinner。itwasatraditionwhichyfather’sfatherintroducedandwhichgenerallyturnedi. comrettydetestableaffairs。thetraditioncaetoanendintheeighties；whenmartinsiplydecreedthatalldiscussionsaboutthebusinesswouldtakeplaceatregularboardeetingsandbyvoting。that’sthebestdecisionheeverade。”
“yousaidthatharrietwasurdered…”
“wait。letetellyouwhathappened。itwasasaturday；asisaid。itwasalsothedayoftheparty；withthechildren’sdayparadethatwasarrangedbythesportsclubinhedestad。harriethadgoneintothetownduringthedayandwatchedtheparadewithsoeofherschoolfriends。shecaebackheretohedebyislandjustafter2：00intheafternoon。dinnerwassupposedtobeginat5：00；andshewasexpectedtotakepartalongwiththeotheryoungpeopleinthefaily。”
vangergotupandwentovertothewindow。heotionedblokvisttojoinhi；andpointed。
“at2：15；afewinutesafterharrietcaehoe；adraaticaidentourredoutthereonthebridge。aancalledgustavaronsson；brotherofafarerat？sterg？rden—asallholdingonhedebyisland—turnedontothebridgeandcrashedhead…onwithanoiltruck。evidentlybothweregoingtoofastandwhatshouldhavebeenainorcollisionprovedacatastrophe。thedriverofthetruck；presuablyinstinctively；turnedhiswheelawayfrothecar；hittherailingofthebridgeandthetankerflippedover；itendedupacrossthebridgewithitstrailerhangingovertheedge。oneoftherailingshadbeendrivenintotheoiltankandflaableheatingoilbeganspurtingout。intheeantiearonssonsatpinnedinsidehiscar；screainginpain。thetankerdriverwasalsoinjuredbutanagedtoscrableoutofhiscabin。”
theoldanwentbacktohischair。
“theaidentactuallyhadnothingtodowithharriet。butitwassignificantinacrucialway。ashablesensued：peopleonbothsidesofthebridgehurriedtotrytohelp；theriskoffirewassignificantandaajoralarwassounded。policeofficers；anabulance；therescuesquad；thefirebrigade；reportersandsightseersarrivedinrapidsuession。naturallyalloftheassebledontheainlandside；hereontheislandsidewedidwhatwecouldtogetaronssonoutofthewreck；whichprovedtobedanablydifficult。hewaspinnedinandseriouslyinjured。
“wetrie. comrisehiloosewithourbarehands；andthatdidn’twork。hewouldhavetobecutorsawedout；butwecouldn’tdoanythingthatriskedstrikingaspark；wewerestandingintheiddleofaseaofoilnexttoatankertrucklyingonitsside。ifithadexplodedwewouldhaveallbeenkilled。ittookalongtiebeforewecouldgethelpfrotheainlandside；thetruckwaswedgedrightacrossthebridge；andclibingoveritwouldhavebeenthesaeasclibingoverabob。”
blokvistcouldnotresistthefeelingthattheoldanwastellingaeticulouslyrehearsedstory；deliberatelytocapturehisinterest。theanwasanexcellentstoryteller；noquestion。ontheotherhand；wherewasthestoryheading？
“whatattersabouttheaidentisthatthebridgewasblockedfortwenty…fourhours。notuntilsundayeveningwasthelastoftheoilpupedout；andthenthetruckcouldbeliftedupbycraneandthebridgeopenedfortraffic。duringthesetwenty…fourhourshedebyislandwastoallintentsandpurposescutofffrotherestoftheworld。theonlywaytogetacrosstotheainlandwasonafireboatthatwasbroughtintotransportpeoplefrothesall…boatharbouronthissidetotheoldharbourbelowthechurch。forseveralhourstheboatwasusedonlybyrescuecrews—itwasn’tuntilquitelateonsaturdaynightthatstrandedislandersbegantobeferriedacross。doyouunderstandthesignificanceofthis？”
“iassuethatsoethinghappenedtoharriethereontheisland；”blokvistsaid；“andthatthelistofsuspectsconsistsofthefinitenuberofpeopletrappedhere。asortoflocked…rooysteryinislandforat？”
vangersiledironically。“mikael；youdon’tknowhowrightyouare。evenihavereadydorothysayers。thesearethefacts：harrietarrivedhereontheislandabout2：10。ifwealsoincludechildrenandunarriedguests；allinallaboutfortyfailyebersarrivedinthecourseoftheday。alongwithservantsandresidents；thereweresixty…fourpeopleeitherhereornearthefar。soeofthe—theoneswhoweregoingtospendthenight—werebusygettingsettledinneighbouringfarsoringuestroos。
