“arowingboat？”
“no。thatdaytherewerepreciselythirteenboatsonhedebyisland。mostofthepleasureboatswerealreadyinstorageonland。downinthesall…boatharbourbythesuercabinsthereweretwopetterssonboatsinthewater。thereweresevenekarowingboats；ofwhichfivewerepulleduponshore。belowtheparsonageonerowingboatwasonshoreandoneinthewater。by？sterg？rdentherewasarowingboatandaotorboat。alltheseboatswerecheckedandwereexactlywheretheyweresupposedtobe。ifshehadrowedacrossandrunaway；shewouldhavehadtoleavetheboatontheotherside。”
vangerheldupfourfingers。
“sothere’sonlyonereasonablepossibilityleft；naelythatharrietdisappearedagainstherwill。soeonekilledherandgotridofthebody。”
lisbethsalanderspentchristasorningreadingmikaelblokvist’scontroversialaboutfinancialjournalis；theknightsteplar：acautionarytaleforfinancialreporters。thecoverhadatrendydesignbychristermalfeaturingaphotographofthestockholstockexchange。malhadworkedinphotoshop；andittookaoenttonoticethatthebuildingwasfloatinginair。itwasadraatioverwithwhichtosetthetoneforwhatwastoe。
salandercouldseethatblokvistwasafinewriter。thewassetoutinastraightforwardandengagingway；andevenpeoplewithnoinsightintothelabyrinthoffinancialjournaliscouldlearnsoethingfroreadingit。thetonewassharpandsarcastic；butaboveallitwaspersuasive。
thefirstchapterwasasortofdeclarationofwarinwhichblokvistdidnotincewords。inthelasttwentyyears；swedishfinancialjournalistshaddevelopedintoagroupofinpetentlackeyswhowerepuffedupwithself…iportanceandwhohadnorecordofthinkingcritically。hedrewthisconclusionbecausetieaftertie；withouttheleastobjection；soanyfinancialreportersseeedcontenttoregurgitatethestateentsissuedbyceosandstock…arketspeculators—evenwhenthisrationwasplainlyisleadingorwrong。thesereporterswerethuseithersonaiveandgulliblethattheyoughttobepackedofftootherassignents；ortheywerepeoplewhoquiteconsciouslybetrayedtheirjournalisticfunction。blokvistclaiedthathehadoftenbeenashaedtobecalledafinancialreporter；sincethenhewouldriskbeinglupedtogetherwithpeoplewhohedidnotrateasreportersatall。
heparedtheeffortsoffinancialjournalistswiththewaycriereportersorforeigncorrespondentsworked。hepaintedapictureoftheoutcrythatwouldresultifalegalcorrespondentbeganuncriticallyreproducingtheprosecutor’scaseasgospelinaurdertrial；withoutconsultingthedefencearguentsorinterviewingthevicti’sfailybeforeforinganopinionofwhatwaslikelyorunlikely。aordingtoblokvistthesaeruleshadtoapplytofinancialjournalists。
therestoftheconsistedofachainofevidencetosupporthiscase。onelongchapterexainedthereportingofafaousdot…insixdailypapers；aswellasinthefinancialjournal；dagensindustri；and“a…ekonoi；”thebusinessreportonswedishtv。hefirstquotedandsuarisedwhatthereportershadsaidandwritten。thenheadeaparisonwiththeactualsituation。indescribingthedevelopentofthepanyhelistedtieaftertiethesiplequestionsthataseriousreporterwouldhaveaskedbutwhichthewholecorpsoffinancialreportershadneglectedtoask。itwasaneatove。
anotherchapterdealtwiththeipoofteliastock—itwasthe’sostjocularandironicsection；inwhichsoefinancialwriterswerecastigatedbynae；includingonewilliab；towhoblokvistseeedtobeparticularlyhostile。achapterneartheendoftheparedthelevelofpetenceofswedishandforeignfinancialreporters。hedescribedhowseriousreportersatlondon’sfinancialties；theeconoist；andsoegeranfinancialnewspapershadreportedsiilarsubjectsintheirowncountries。theparisonwasnotfavourabletotheswedishjournalists。thefinalchaptercontainedasketchwithsuggestionsastohowthisdeplorablesituationcouldbereedied。theconclusionoftheechoedtheintroduction：
ifaparliaentaryreporterhandledhisassignentbyuncriticallytakingupalanceinsupportofeverydecisionthatwaspushedthrough；noatterhowpreposterous；orifapoliticalreporterweretoshowasiilarlackofjudgeent—thatreporterwouldbefiredorattheleastreassignedtoadepartentwhereheorshecouldnotdosouchdaage。intheworldoffinancialreporting；however；thenoraljournalisticandatetoundertakecriticalinvestigationsandobjectivelyreportfindingstothereadersappearsnottoapply。insteadtheostsuessfulrogueisapplauded。inthiswaythefutureofswedenisalsobeingcreated；andallreainingtrustinjournalistsasacorpsofprofessionalsisbeingproised。
salanderhadnodifficultyunderstandingtheagitateddebatethathadfollowedinthetradepublicationthejournalist；certainfinancialnewspapers；andonthefrontpagesandinthebusinesssectionsofthedailypapers。eventhoughonlyafewreporterswereentionedbynaeinthe；salanderguessedthatthefieldwassallenoughthateveryonewouldknowexactlywhichindividualswerebeingreferredtowhenvariousnewspaperswerequoted。blokvisthadadehiselfsoebittereneies；whichwasalsoreflectedinthealiciousentstothecourtinthewennerstr？affair。
sheclosedtheandlookedatthephotographontheback。blokvist’sdarkblondshockofhairfellabitcarelesslyacrosshisforehead；asifcaughtinagustofwind。orasifchristermalhadposedhi。hewaslookingintothecaerawithanironicsileandanexpressionperhapsaiingtobecharingandboyish。averygood…lookingan。onhiswaytodothreeonthsintheslaer。
“hello；kalleblokvist；”shesaidtoherself。“you’reprettypleasedwithyourself；aren’tyou？”
atlunchtiesalanderbootedupheriandopenedeudoratowriteaneail。shetyped：“haveyougottie？”shesigneditwaspandsentittotheaddresstobeonthesafeside；sherantheessagethroughherpgpencryptionprograe。
thensheputonblackjeans；heavywinterboots；awarpoloshirt；adarkpeajacketandatchingknittedgloves；cap；andscarf。shetooktheringsoutofhereyebrowsandnostril；putonapalepinklipstick；andexainedherselfinthebathrooirror。shelookedlikeanyotherwoanoutforaweekendstroll；andsheregardedheroutfitasappropriatecaouflageforanexpeditionbehindeneylines。shetookthetunnelbanafrozinkensdato？steralstandwalkeddowntowardsstrandv？gen。shesaunteredalongthecentralreservereadingthenubersonthebuildings。shehadalostgottodjurg？rdsbridgewhenshe. compedandlookedatthedoorshehadbeensearchingfor。shecrossedthestreetandwaitedafewfeetfrothestreetdoor。
shenoticedthatostpeoplewhowereoutwalkinginthecoldweatheronthedayafterchristaswerewalkingalongthequay；onlyafeereonthepaveentside。
shehadtowaitforalosthalfanhourbeforeanoldwoanwithacaneapproachedfrothedirectionofdjurg？rden。thewoan. compedandstudiedsalanderwithsuspicion。salandergaveherafriendlysileinreturn。theladywiththecanereturnedhergreetingandlookedasthoughsheweretryingtoreeberwhenshehadlastseentheyoungwoan。salanderturnedherbackandtookafewstepsawayfrothedoor；asthoughshewereipatientlywaitingforsoeone；pacingbackandforth。whensheturned；theladyhadreachedthedoorandwasslowlyputtinginanuberonthecodelock。salanderhadnodifficultyseeingthatthebinationwas1260。
shewaitedfiveinutesorebeforeshewenttothedoor。shepunchedinthecodeandthelockclicked。shepeeredintothestairwell。therewasasecuritycaerawhichsheglancedatandignored；itwasaodelthatmiltonsecuritycarriedandwasactivatedonlyifanalarforabreak…inoranattackwassoundedontheproperty。fartherin；totheleftofanantiqueliftcage；therewasadoorwithanothercodelock；shetried1260anditworkedfortheentrancetothecellarlevelandrubbishroo。sloppy；verysloppy。shespentthreeinutesinvestigatingthecellarlevel；whereshelocatedanunlockedlaundryrooandarecyclingroo。thensheusedasetofpicklocksthatshehad“borrowed”fromilton’slocksithtoopenalockeddoortowhatseeedtobeaeetingrooforthecondoiniuassociation。atthebackofthecellarwasahobbyroo。finallyshefoundwhatshewaslookingfor：thebuilding’ssallelectricalroo。sheexainedtheeters；fuseboxes；andjunctionboxesandthentookoutacanondigitalcaerathesizeofacigarettepacket。shetookthreepictures。
onthewayoutshecasthereyedownthelistofresidentsbytheliftandreadthenaefortheapartentonth. comfloor。wennerstr？。
thensheleftthebuildingandwalkedrapidlytothenationalmuseu；whereshewentintothecafeteriatohavesoecoffeeandwarup。afterabouthalfanhoursheadeherwaybacktos？derandwentuptoherapartent。
therewasananswerfrowhenshedecodeditinpgpitread：20。
chapter6
thursday；deceber26
thetieliitsetbyblokvisthadbeenexceededbyagoodargin。itwas4：30；andtherewasnohopeofcatchingtheafternoontrain；buthestillhadachanceofakingtheeveningtrainat9：30。hestoodbythewindowrubbinghisneckashestaredoutattheilluinatedfacadeofthechurchontheothersideofthebridge。vangerhadshownhiascrapwitharticlesfroboththelocalnewspaperandthenationaledia。therehadbeenquiteabitofediainterestforawhile—girlfronotedindustrialist’sfailydisappears。butwhennobodywasfoundandtherewasnobreakthroughintheinvestigation；interestgraduallywaned。despitethefactthataproinentfailywasinvolved；thirty…sixyearslaterthecaseofharrietvangerwasallbutfotten。theprevailingtheoryinarticlesfrothelatesixtiesseeedtobethatshedrownedandwassweptouttosea—atragedy；butsoethingthatcouldhappentoanyfaily。
blokvisthadbeenfascinatedbytheoldan’saount；butwhenvangerexcusedhiselftogotothebathroo；hisscepticisreturned。theoldanhadstillnotgottotheend；andblokvisthadfinallyproisedtolistentothewholestory。
“whatdoyouthinkhappenedtoher？”hesaidwhenvangercaebackintotheroo。
“norallythereweresoetwenty…fivepeoplelivinghereyear…round；butbecauseofthefailygatheringtherewereorethansixtyonhedebyislandthatday。ofthese；betweentwentyandtwenty…fivecanberuledout；prettyuchso。ibelievethatofthosereaining；soeone—andinalllikelihooditwassoeonefrothefaily—killedharrietandhidthebody。”
“ihaveadozenobjectionstothat。”
“let’shearthe。”
“well；thefirstoneisthatevenifsoeonehidherbody；itshouldhavebeenfoundifthesearchwasasthoroughastheoneyoudescribed。”
