salanderlookedagainatmartinvanger。hewasonhisfeetbutdoubledover。shetriedtodigherfingersunderthenoose。atfirstshedidnotdarecutit；butfinallysheslippedthepointoftheknifeunderneath；scoringblokvist’sneckasshetriedtoexpandthenoose。atlastitloosenedandblokvisttookseveralshaky；wheezingbreaths。
foraoentblokvisthadasensationofhisbodyandsouluniting。hehadperfectvisionandcouldakeouteveryspeckofdustintheroo。hehadperfecthearingandregisteredeverybreath；everyrustleofclothing；asiftheywereenteringhisearsthroughaheadset；andhewasawareoftheodourofsalander’ssweatandthesellofleatherfroherjacket。thentheillusionburstasbloodbeganstreaingtohishead。
salanderturnedherheadjustasmartinvangerdisappearedoutthedoor。shegotup；grabbedthepistol；checkedtheagazineandflickedoffthesafety。shelookedaroundandfocusedonthekeystothehandcuffs；whichlayinplainsightonthetable。
“i’goingtotakehi；”shesaid；runningforthedoor。shegrabbedthekeysasshepasse
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dthetableandtossedthebackhandedtothefloornexttoblokvist。
hetriedtoshouttohertowait；butheanagedonlyaraspingsoundandbythenshehadvanished。
salanderhadnotfottenthatmartinvangerhadariflesoewhere；andshe. comped；holdingthepistolreadytofireinfrontofher；asshecaeupstairstothepassagewaybetweenthegarageandthekitchen。shelistened；butshecouldhearnosoundtellingherwhereherpreywas。sheovedstealthilytowardsthekitchen；andshewasalosttherewhensheheardacarstartingupinthecourtyard。
frothedriveshesawapairoftaillightspassinghenrikvanger’shouseandturningdowntothebridge；andsheranasfastasherlegscouldcarryher。shestuffedthepistolinherjacketpocketanddidnotbotherwiththeheletasshestartedherotorcycle。secondslatershewascrossingthebridge。
hehadaybeaniy…secondstartwhenshecaeintotheroundaboutattheentrancetothee4。shecouldnotseehiscar。shebrakedandturnedofftheotortolisten。
theskywasfilledwithheavyclouds。onthehorizonshesawahintofthedawn。thensheheardthesoundofanengineandcaughtaglipseoftaillightsonthee4；goingsouth。salanderkickedtheotorcycle；putitintogear；andracedundertheviaduct。shewasdoing40ilesperhourasshetookthecurveoftheentrancerap。shesawnotrafficandaeleratedtofullspeedandflewforward。whentheroadbegantocurvealongaridge；shewasdoing90ph；whichwasaboutthefastesthersouped…uplightweightbikecouldanagegoingdownhill。aftertwoinutesshesawthelightsabout650yardsahead。
analyseconsequences。whatdoidonow？
shedeceleratedtoaorereasonableseventy…fiveandkeptpacewithhi。shelostsightofhiforseveralsecondswhentheytookseveralbends。thentheycaeontoalongstraight；shewasonlytwohundredyardsbehindhi。
heusthaveseentheheadlightfroherotorcycle；andhespedupwhentheytookalongcurve。sheaeleratedagainbutlostgroundonthebends。
shesawtheheadlightsofatruckapproaching。martinvangerdidtoo。heincreasedhisspeedagainanddrovestraightintotheoninglane。salandersawthetruckswerveandflashitslights；butthecollisionwasunavoidable。martinvangerdrovestraightintothetruckandthesoundofthecrashwasterrible。
salanderbraked。shesawthetrailerstarttojackknifeacrossherlane。atthespeedshewasgoing；ittooktwosecondsforhertocoverthedistanceuptotheaidentsite。sheaeleratedandsteeredontothehardshoulder；avoidingthehurtlingbackofthetruckbytwoyardsassheflewpast。outofthecornerofhereyeshesawflaesingfrothefrontofthetruck。
sherodeon；brakingandthinking；foranother150yardsbeforeshe. compedandturnedaround。shesawthedriverofthetruckcliboutofhiscabonthepassengerside。thensheaeleratedagain。at？kerby；aboutailesouth；sheturnedleftandtooktheoldroadbacknorth；paralleltothee4。shewentupahillpastthesceneofthecrash。twocarshad. comped。bigflaeswereboilingoutofthewreckageofmartin’scar；whichwaswedgedunderneaththetruck。aanwassprayingtheflaeswithasallfireextinguisher。
shewassoonrollingacrossthebridgeatalowspeed。sheparkedoutsidethecottageandwalkedbacktomartinvanger’shouse。
mikaelwasstillfublingwiththehandcuffs。hishandsweresonubthathecouldnotgetagriponthekey。salanderunlockedthecuffsforhiandheldhitightasthebloodbegantocirculateinhishandsagain。
“martin？”hesaidinahoarsevoice。
“dead。hedroveslapintothefrontofatruckacoupleofilessouthonthee4。”
blokviststaredather。shehadonlybeengoneafewinutes。
“wehaveto…callthepolice；”hewhispered。hebegancoughinghard。
“why？”salandersaid。
forteninutesblokvistwasincapableofstandingup。hewasstillonthefloor；naked；leaningagainstthewall。heassagedhisneckandliftedthewaterbottlewithclusyfingers。salanderwaitedpatientlyuntilhissenseoftouchstartedtoreturn。shespentthetiethinking。
“putyourtrouserson。”
sheusedblokvist’scut…upt…shirttowipefingerprintsfrothehandcuffs；theknife；andthegolfclub。shepickedupherpetbottle。
“whatareyoudoing？”
“getdressedandhurryup。it’sgettinglightoutside。”
blokviststoodonshakylegsandanage. comullonhisboxersandjeans。heslippedonhistrainers。salanderstuffedhissocksintoherjacketpocketandthen. compedhi。
“whatexactlydidyoutouchdownhere？”
blokvistlookedaround。hetriedtoreeber。atlasthesaidthathehadtouchednothingexceptthedoorandthekeys。salanderfoundthekeysinmartinvanger’sjacket；whichhehadhungoverthechair。shewipedthedoorhandleandtheswitchandturnedoffthelight。shehelpedblokvistupthebaseentstairsandtoldhitowaitinthepassagewaywhilesheputthegolfclubbackinitsproperplace。whenshecaebackshewascarryingadarkt…shirtthatbelongedtomartinvanger。
“putthison。idon’twantanyooseeyouscaperingaboutwithabarechesttonight。”
blokvistrealisedthathewasinastateofshock。salanderhadtakencharge；andpassivelyheobeyedherinstructions。sheledhioutofmartin’shouse。sheheldontohithewholetie。assoonastheysteppedinsidethecottage；she. compedhi。
“ifanyoneseesusandaskswhatweweredoingoutsidetonight；youandiwentouttothepointforanighttiewalk；andwehadsexoutthere。”
“lisbeth；ican’t…”
“getintheshower。now。”
shehelpedhioffwithhisclothesandpropelledhitothebathroo。thensheputonwaterforcoffeeandadehalfadozenthicksandwichesonryebreadwithcheeseandliversausageanddillpickles。shesatdownatthekitchentableandwasthinkinghardwhenhecaelipingbackintotheroo。shestudiedthebruisesandscrapesonhisbody。thenoosehadbeensotightthathehadadarkredarkaroundhisneck；andtheknifehadadeabloodygashinhisskinontheleftside。
“getintobed；”shesaid。
sheiprovisedbandagesandcoveredthewoundwithaakeshiftpress。thenshepouredthecoffeeandhandedhiasandwich。
“i’reallynothungry；”hesaid。
“idon’tgiveadanifyou’rehungry。justeat；”salanderanded；takingabigbiteofherowncheesesandwich。
blokvistclosedhiseyesforaoent；thenhesatupandtookabite。histhroathurtsouchthathecouldscarcelyswallow。
salandertookoffherleatherjacketandfrothebathroobroughtajaroftigerbalfroherspongebag。
“letthecoffeecoolforawhile。liefacedown。”
shespentfiveinutesassaginghisbackandrubbinghiwiththelinient。thensheturnedhioverandgavehithesaetreatentonthefront。
“you’regoingtohavesoeseriousbruisesforawhile。”
“lisbeth；wehavetocallthepolice。”
“no；”sherepliedwithsuchveheencethatblokvi. comenedhiseyesinsurprise。“ifyoucallthepolice；i’leaving。idon’twanttohaveanythingtodowiththe。martinvangerisdead。hediedinacaraident。hewasaloneinthecar。therearewitnesses。letthepoliceorsoeoneelsediscoverthatfuckingtorturechaber。youandiarejustasignorantaboutitsexistenceaseveryoneelseinthisvillage。”
“why？”
sheignoredhiandstartedassaginghisachingthighs。
“lisbeth；wecan’tjust…”
“ifyougoonnagging；i’lldragyoubacktomartin’sgrottoandchainyouupagain。”
asshesaidthis；blokvistfellasleep；assuddenlyasifhehadfainted。
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saturday；july12–monday；july14
blokvistwokewithastartat5：00intheorning；scrabblingathisnecktogetridofthenoose。salandercaeinandtookholdofhishands；keepinghistill。heopenedhiseyesandlookedatherblearily。
“ididn’tknowthatyouplayedgolf；”hesaid；closinghiseyesagain。shesatwithhiforacoupleofinutesuntilshewassurehewasasleep。whileheslept；salanderhadgonebacktomartinvanger’sbaseenttoexaineandphotographthecriescene。inadditiontothetortureinstruents；shehadfoundacollectionofviolentpornographicagazinesandalargenuberofpolaroidphotographspastedintoalbus。
therewasnodiary。ontheotherhand；shedidfindtwoa4binderswithpassportphotographsandhandwrittennotesaboutthewoen。sheputthebindersinanylonbagalongwithmarti
