at16：03hetookhiscoffeecupouttothegarden。hehadafolderwithhi；whichhestudied。headethreebrieftelephonecallsduringthehourhespentoutinthegarden。thethreecallscorrespondedexactlytocallsshehadnotanswered。
at17：21blokvistleftthecottage。hewasbacklessthanfifteeninuteslater。
at18：20hewenttothegateandlookedinthedirectionofthebridge。
at21：03hewentout。hehadnoteback。
salanderfast…forwardedthroughthepicturesfrotheotherpc；whichphotographedthegateandtheroadoutsidethefrontdoor。shecouldseewhohadgonepastduringtheday。
at19：12nilssoncaehoe。
at19：42thesaabthatbelongedto？sterg？rdendrovetowardshedestad。
at20：02thesaabwasonitswayback。
at21：00martinvanger’scarwentby。threeinuteslaterblokvistleftthehouse。
at21：50；martinvangerappearedinthecaera’sviewfinder。hestoodatthegateforoverainute；lookingatthehouse；thenpeeringthroughthekitchenwindow。hewentuptotheporchandtriedthedoor；takingoutakey。heusthavediscoveredthattheyhadputinanewlock。hestoodstillforaoentbeforeheturnedonhisheelandleftthehouse。
salanderfeltanice…coldfearinhergut。
martinvangeronceagainleftblokvistalone。hewasstillinhisunfortablepositionwithhishandsbehindhisbackandhisneckfastenedbyathinchaintoaneyeletinthefloor。hefiddledwiththehandcuffs；butheknewthathewouldnotbeabletogettheoff。thecuffsweresotightthathishandswerenub。
hehadnochance。heshuthiseyes。
hedidnotknowhowuchtiehadpassedwhenheheardmartin’sfootstepsagain。heappearedinblokvist’sfieldofvision。helookedworried。
“unfortable？”hesaid。
“very；”saidblokvist。
“you’veonlygotyourselftoblae。youshouldhavegonebacktostockhol。”
“whydoyoukill；martin？”
“it’sachoicethatiade。icoulddiscusstheoralandintellectualaspectsofwhatido；wecouldtalkallnight；butitwouldn’tchangeanything。trytolookatitthisway：ahuanbeingisashelladeofskinkeepingthecells；blood；andcheicalponentsinplace。veryfewendupinthehistorys。mostpeoplesuubanddisappearwithoutatrace。”
“youkillwoen。”
“thoseofuswhourderforpleasure—i’nottheonlyonewiththishobby—weliveapletelife。”
“butwhyharriet？yourownsister？”
inasecondmartingrabbedhibythehair。
“whathappenedtoher；youlittlebastard？telle。”
“whatdoyouean？”blokvistgasped。hetriedtoturnhisheadtolessenthepaininhisscalp。thechaintightenedroundhisneck。
“youandsalander。whathaveyoueupwith？”
“letgo；forheaven’ssake。we’retalking。”
martinvangerletgoofhishairandsatcross…leggedinfrontofblokvist。hetookaknifefrohisjacketandopenedit。hesetthepointagainsttheskinjustbelowblokvist’seye。blokvistforcedhiselftoeetmartin’sgaze。
“whatthehellhappenedtoher；bastard？”
“idon’tunderstand。ithoughtyoukilledher。”
martinvangerstaredatblokvistforalongoent。thenherelaxed。hegotupandwanderedaroundtheroo；thinking。hethrewtheknifeonthefloorandlaughedbeforehecaebacktofaceblokvist。
“harriet；harriet；alwaysharriet。wetried…totalktoher。gottfriedtriedtoteachher。wethoughtthatshewasoneofusandthatshewouldaeptherduty；butshewasjustanordinary…cunt。ihadherundercontrol；orsoithought；butshewasplanningtotellhenrik；andirealisedthaticouldn’ttrusther。soonerorlatershewasgoingtotellsoeoneaboute。”
“youkilledher。”
“iwantedtokillher。ithoughtaboutit；butiarrivedtoolate。icouldn’tgetovertotheisland。”
blokvist’sbrainwaswithdifficultytryingtoabsorbthisration；butitfeltasifaessagehadpoppedupwiththewordsrmationoverload。martinvangerdidnotknohathadhappenedtohissister。
allofasuddenmartinpulledhisobiletelephoneoutofhispocket；glancedatthedisplay；andputitonthechairnexttothepistol。
“it’stieto. comallthis。ihavetodisposeofyouranorexicbitchtonighttoo。”
hetookoutanarrowleatherstrapfroacupboardandslippeditaroundblokvist’sneck；likeanoose。heloosenedthechainthatheldhishackledtothefloor；hauledhitohisfeet；andshovedhitowardsthewall。heslippedtheleatherstrapthroughaloopaboveblokvist’sheadandthentighteneditsothathewasforcedtostandontiptoes。
“isthattootight？canyoubreathe？”helooseneditanotchandlockedtheotherendofthestrapinplace；furtherdownthewall。“idon’twantyoutosuffocateallatonce。”
thenoosewascuttingsohardintoblokvist’sthroatthathewasincapableofutteringaword。martinlookedathiattentively。
abruptlyheunzippedblokvist’strousersandtuggedthedown；alongwithhisboxershorts。ashepulledtheoff；blokvistlosthisfootholdanddangledforasecondfrothenoosebeforehistoesagainadecontactwiththefloor。martinwentovertoacupboardandtookoutapairofscissors。hecutoffblokvist’st…shirtandtossedthebitsonthefloor。thenhetookupapositionsoedistanceawayfromikaelandregardedhisvicti。
“i’veneverhadaboyinhere；”martinsaidinaseriousvoice。“i’venevertouchedanotheran；asaatteroffact…exceptforyfather。thatwasyduty。”
blokvist’stepleswerepounding。hecouldnotputhisweightonhisfeetwithoutbeingstrangled。hetriedtousehisfingerstogetagripontheconcretewallbehindhi；buttherewasnothingtoholdonto。
“it’stie；”martinvangersaid。
heputhishandonthestrapandpulleddown。blokvistinstantlyfeltthenoosecuttingintohisneck。
“i’vealwayswonderedhowaantastes。”
heincreasedthepressureonthenooseandleanedforwardtokissblokvistonthelipsatthesaetiethatacoldvoicecutthroughtheroo。
“hey；youfuckingcreep；inthisshitholei’vegotaonopolyonthatone。”
blokvistheardsalander’svoicethrougharedfog。heanagedtofocushiseyesenoughtoseeherstandinginthedoorway。shewaslookingatmartinvangerwithoutexpression。
“no…run；”hecroaked。
hecouldnotseethelookonmartin’sface；buthecouldalostphysicallyfeeltheshockwhenheturnedaround。forasecond；tiestoodstill。thenmartinreachedforthepistolhehadleftonthechair。
salandertookthreeswiftstridesforwardandswungagolfclubshehadhiddenatherside。theironflewinawidearcandhitmartinonthecollarbonenearhisshoulder。theblowhadaterribleforce；andblokvistheardsoethingsnap。martinhowled。
“doyoulikepain；creep？”salandersaid。
hervoicewasasroughassandpaper。aslongasblokvistlived；hewouldneverfetherfaceasshewentontheattack。herteethwerebaredlikeabeastofprey。hereyeswereglittering；blackascoal。sheovedwiththelightningspeedofatarantulaandseeedtotallyfocusedonherpreyassheswungtheclubagain；strikingmartinintheribs。
hestubledoverthechairandfell。thepistoltubledtotheflooratsalander’sfeet。shekickeditaway。
thenshestruckforthethirdtie；justasmartinvangerwastryingtogettohisfeet。shehithiwithaloudsackonthehip。ahorriblecryissuedfromartin’sthroat。thefourthblowstruckhifrobehind；betweentheshoulderblades。
“lis…uuth…”blokvistgasped。
hewasabou. comassout；andthepaininhistepleswasalostunbearable。
sheturnedtohiandsawthathisfacewasthecolourofatoato；hiseyeswereopenwide；andhistonguewaspoppingoutofhisouth。
shelookedaboutherandsawtheknifeonthefloor。thenshesparedaglanceatmartinvanger；whowastryingtocrawlawayfroher；onearhanging。hewouldnotbeakinganytroubleforthenextfewseconds。sheletgoofthegolfclubandpickeduptheknife。ithadasharppointbutadulledge。shestoodonhertoesandfranticallysawedattheleatherstraptogetitoff。ittookseveralsecondsbeforeblokvistsanktothefloor。butthenoosewaspulledtighterroundhisneck。
