chapter27
saturday；july26–monday；july28
blokvistpickedupsalanderbyherfrontdooronlundagatanat10：00anddrovehertothenorracreatoriu。hestayedathersideduringthecereony。foralongtietheyweretheonlyournersalongwiththepastor；butwhenthefuneralbeganaranskyslippedin。henoddedcurtlytoblokvistandstoodbehindsalander；gentlyputtingahandonhershoulder。shenoddedwithoutlookingathi；asifsheknehowasstandingthere。thensheignoredtheboth。
salanderhadtoldhinothingaboutherother；butthepastorhadapparentlyspokentosoeoneatthenursinghoewhereshedied；andblokvistunderstoodthatthecauseofdeathwasacerebralhaeorrhage。salanderdidnotsayawordduringthecereony。thepastorlosthertrainofthoughttwicewhensheturneddirectlytoher。salanderlookedherstraightintheeyewithoutexpression。whenitwasoversheturnedonherheelandleftwithoutsayingthankyouorgoodbye。blokvistandaranskytookadeepbreathandlookedateachother。
“she’sfeelingreallybad；”aranskysaid。
“iknowthat；”blokvistsaid。“itwasgoodofyoutoe。”
“i’notsosureaboutthat。”
aranskyfixedblokvistwithhisgaze。
“ifyoutwoaredrivingbacknorth；keepaneyeonher。”
heproisedtodothat。theysaidgoodbye；andtothepastor；atthechurchdoor。salanderwasalreadyinthecar；waiting。
shehadtogobackwithhitohedestadtogetherotorcycleandtheequipentshehadborrowedfromiltonsecurity。notuntiltheyhadpasseduppsaladidshebreakhersilenceandaskhowthetriptoaustraliahadgone。blokvisthadlandedatarlandalatethenightbeforeandhadsleptonlyafewhours。duringthedrivehetoldherharrietvanger’sstory。salandersatinsilenceforhalfanhourbeforesheopenedherouth。
“bitch；”shesaid。
“who？”
“harrietfuckingvanger。ifshehaddonesoethingin1966；martinvangercouldn’thavekeptkillingandrapingforthirty…sevenyears。”
“harrietknewaboutherfatherurderingwoen；butshehadnoideathatmartinhadanythingtodowithit。shefledfroabrotherwhorapedherandthenthreatenedtorevealthatshehaddrownedherfatherifshedidn’tdowhathesaid。”
“bullshit。”
afterthattheysatinsilenceallthewaytohedestad。blokvistwaslateforhisappointentanddroppedherattheturnofftohedebyisland；heaskedifshewouldpleasebetherewhenhecaeback。
“areyouthinkingofstayingovernight？”shesaid。
“ithinkso。”
“doyouwantetobehere？”
heclibedoutofthecarandwentaroundandputhisarsaroundher。shepushedhiaway；alostviolently。blokvisttookastepback。
“lisbeth；you’reyfriend。”
“doyouwantetostayheresoyou’llhavesoebodytofucktonight？”
blokvistgaveheralonglook。thenheturnedandgotintothecarandstartedtheengine。hewounddownthewindow。herhostilitywaspalpable。
“iwanttobeyourfriend；”hesaid。“ifyouwantotherwise；thenyoudon’tneedtobeherewhenigethoe。”
henrikvangerwassittingup；dressed；whendirchfrodelethiintothehospitalroo。
“they’rethinkingoflettingeoutformartin’sfuneraltoorrow。”
“howuchhasdirchtoldyou？”
henriklookeddownatthefloor。
“hetoldeaboutwhatmartinandgottfriedgotupto。thisisfar；farworsethanicouldhaveiagined。”
“iknohathappenedtoharriet。”
“telle：howdidshedie？”
“shedidn’tdie。she’sstillalive。andifyoulike；shereallywantstoseeyou。”
bothenstaredathiasiftheirworldhadjustbeenturnedupsidedown。
“ittookawhiletoconvincehertoe；butshe’salive；she’sdoingfine；andshe’shereinhedestad。shearrivedthisorningandcanbehereinanhour。ifyouwanttoseeher；thatis。”
blokvisthadtotellthestoryfrobeginningtoend。acoupleoftieshenrikinterruptedwithaquestionoraskedhitorepeatsoething。frodesaidnotaword。
whenthestorywasdone；henriksatinsilence。blokvisthadbeenafraidthatitwouldbetoouchfortheoldan；buthenrikshowednosignofeotion；exceptthathisvoiceighthavebeenabitthickerwhenhebrokehissilence
“poor；poorharriet。ifonlyshehadetoe。”
blokvistglancedattheclock。itwasfiveinutestofour。
“doyouwanttoseeher？she’sstillafraidthatyouwon’twanttoafteryoufoundoutwhatshedid。”
“whatabouttheflowers？”henriksaid。
“iaskedherthatontheplaneinghoe。therewasonepersoninthefaily；apartfroanita；whosheloved；andthatwasyou。she；ofcourse；wastheonewhosenttheflowers。shesaidthatshehopedyouwouldunderstandthatshewasaliveandthatshewasdoingfine；withouthavingtoakeanappearance。butsinceheronlychannelofrationwasanita；whoovedabroadassoonasshefinishedherstudiesandnevervisitedhedestad；harriet’sawarenessaboutwhatwentonherewasliited。sheneverknewhowterriblyyousufferedorthatyouthoughtitwasherurderertauntingyou。”
“iassueitwasanitawhopostedtheflowers。”
“sheworkedforanairlineandflewallovertheworld。shepostedthefrowherevershehappenedtobe。”
“buthowdidyouknowanitawastheonewhohelpedher？”
“shewastheoneinharriet’swindow。”
“butshecouldhavebeenixedupin…shecouldhavebeentheurdererinstead。howdidyoufindoutthatharrietwasalive？”
blokvistgavehenrikalonglook。thenhesiledforthefirsttiesincehehadreturnedtohedestad。
“anitawasinvolvedinharriet’sdisappearance；butshecouldn’thavekilledher。”
“howcouldyoubesureofthat？”
“becausethisisn’tsoedanedlocked…rooysterynovel。ifanitahadurderedharriet；youwouldhavefoundthebodyyearsago。sotheonlylogicalthingwasthatshehelpedharrietescapeandhide。doyouwanttoseeher？”
“ofcourseiwanttoseeher。”
blokvistfoundharrietbytheliftinthelobby。atfirsthedidnotrecogniseher。sincetheyhadpartedatarlandaairportthenightbeforeshehaddyedherhairbrownagain。shewasdressedinblacktrousers；awhiteblouse；andanelegantgreyjacket。shelookedradiant；andblokvistbentdowntogiveheranencouraginghug。
henrikgotupfrohischairwhenmikaelopenedthedoor。shetookadeepbreath。
“hi；henrik；”shesaid。
theoldanscrutinisedherfr. comtotoe。thenharrietwentoverandkissedhi。blokvistnoddedtofrodeandclosedthedoor。
salanderwasnotinthecottagewhenblokvistreturnedtohedebyisland。thevideoequipentandherotorcycleweregone；aswellasthebagwithherextraclothesandherspongebag。thecottagefeltepty。itsuddenlyseeedalienandunreal。helookedatthestacksofpaperintheoffice；whichhewouldhav. comackupinboxesandcarrybacktohenrik’shouse。buthecouldnotfacestartingtheprocess。hedrovetokonsuandboughtbread；ilk；cheese；andsoethingforsupper。whenhereturnedheputonwaterforcoffee；satinthegarden；andreadtheeveningpaperswithoutthinkingofanythingelse。
at5：30ataxidroveacrossthebridge。afterthreeinutesitwentbackthewayitcae。blokvistcaughtaglipseofisabellavangerinthebackseat。
around7：00hehaddozedoffinthegardenchairwhenfrodewokehiup。
“how’sitgoingwithhenrikandharriet？”hesaid。
“thisunhappycloudhasitssilverlining；”frodesaidwitharestrainedsile。“isabella；wouldyoubelieve；caerushingintohenrik’shospitalroo。she’dobviouslyseenthatyou’debackandwaspletelybesideherself。shescreaedathithattherehadtobeanendtothisoutrageousfussaboutherharriet；addingthatyouweretheonewhodrovehersontohisdeathwithyoursnooping。”
“well；she’sright；inaway。”
“sheandedhenriktodisissyouforthwithandrunyouoffthepropertyforgood。andwouldhe；onceandforall；. comsearchingforghosts。”
“wow！”
“shedidn’tevenglanceatthewoansittingbesidethebedtalkingtohenrik。sheusthavethoughtitwasoneofthestaff。iwillneverfettheoentwhenharrietstoodupandsaid；‘hello；maa。’”
“whathappened？”
“wehadtocalladoctortocheckisabella’svitalsigns。rightnowshe’srefusingtobelievethatit’sharriet。youareausedofdragginginanipostor。”
frodewasonhiswaytovisitceciliaandalexandertogivethethenewsthatharriethadrisenfrothedead。hehurriedaway；leavingblokvisttohissolitaryusings。
salander. compedandfilledhertankatapetrolstationnorthofuppsala。shehadbeenridingdoggedly；staringstraightahead。shepaidquicklyandgotbackonherbike。shestarteditupandrodetotheexit；whereshe. comped；undecided。
shewasstillinaterribleood。shewasfuriouswhenshelefthedeby；butherragehadslowlydissolvedduringtheride。shecouldnotakeupherindwhyshewassoangrywithblokvist；orevenifhewastheoneshewasangrywith。
