shethoughtofmartinvangerandharrietfuckingvangeranddirchfuckingfrodeandthewholedanedvangerclansittinginhedestadreigningovertheirlittleepireandplottingagainsteachother。theyhadneededherhelp。norallytheywouldn’tevenhavesaidhellotoherinthestreet；letaloneentrustherwiththeirrepellentsecrets。
fuckingriff…raff。
shetookadeepbreathandthoughtaboutherother；whoshehadconsignedtoashesthatveryorning。shewouldneverbeabletoendthings。herother’sdeatheantthatthewoundwouldneverheal；sinceshewouldnevernowgetananswertothequestionsshehadwantedtoask。
shethoughtaboutaranskystandingbehindheratthecreatoriu。sheshouldhavesaidsoethingtohi。atleastgivenhisoesignthatsheknewhewasthere。butifshedidthat；hewouldhavetakenitasapretextfortryingtostructureherlife。ifshegavehiherlittlefingerhe’dtakeherwholear。andhewouldneverunderstand。
shethoughtaboutthelawyer；bjuran；whowasstillherguardianandwho；atleastforthetiebeing；hadbeenneutralisedandwasdoingashewastold。
shefeltaniplacablehatredandclenchedherteeth。
andshethoughtaboutmikaelblokvistandwonderedwhathewouldsaywhenhefoundoutthatshewasawardofthecourtandthatherentirelifewasafuckingrats’nest。
itcaetoherthatshereallywasnotangrywithhi。hewasjustthepersononwhoshehadventedherangerwhenwhatshehadwantedostofallwastourdersoebody；severalpeople。beingangrywithhiwaspointless。
shefeltstrangelyabivalenttowardshi。
hestuckhisnoseinotherpeople’sbusinessandpokedaroundinherlifeand…but…shehadalsoenjoyedworkingwithhi。eventhatwasanoddfeeling—toworkwithsoebody。shewasn’tusedtothat；butithadbeenunexpectedlypainless。hedidnotesswithher。hedidnottrytotellherhowtoliveherlife。
shewastheonewhohadseducedhi；notviceversa。
andbesides；ithadbeensatisfying。
sowhydidshefeelasifshewantedtokickhiintheface？
shesighedandunhappilyraisedhereyestoseeaninter…continentalroarpastonthee4。
blokvistwasstillinthegardenat8：00whenhewasrousedbytherattleoftheotorcyclecrossingthebridgeandsawsalanderridingtowardsthecottage。sheputherbikeonitsstandandtookoffherhelet。shecaeuptothegardentableandfeltthecoffeepot；whichwaseptyandcold。blokviststoodup；gazingatherinsurprise。shetookthecoffeepotandwentintothekitchen。whenshecaebackoutshehadtakenoffherleathersandsatdowninjeansandat…shirtwiththesloganicanbearegularbitch。justtryme。
“ithoughtyou’dbeinstockholbynow；”hesaid。
“iturnedroundinuppsala。”
“quitearide。”
“i’sore。”
“whydidyouturnaround？”
noanswer。hewaitedheroutwhiletheydrankcoffee。afterteninutesshesaid；reluctantly；“ilikeyourpany。”
thosewerewordsthathadneverbeforepassedherlips。
“itwas…interestingtoworkwithyouonthiscase。”
“ienjoyedworkingwithyoutoo；”hesaid。
“h。”
“thefactis；i’veneverworkedwithsuchabrilliantresearcher。ok；iknowyou’reahackerandhangoutinsuspectcirclesinwhichyoucansetupanillegalwiretapinlondonintwenty…fourhours；butyougetresults。”
shelookedathiforthefirsttiesinceshehadsatatthetable。heknewsoanyofhersecrets。
“that’sjusthowitis。iknowputers。i’veneverhadaproblewithreadingatextandabsorbingwhatitsaid。”
“yourphotographiceory；”hesaidsoftly。
“iaditit。ijusthavenoideahowitworks。it’snotonlyputersandtelephoneworks；buttheotorinybikeandtvsetsandvacuucleanersandcheicalprocessesandforulaeinastrophysics。i’anutcase；iaditit：afreak。”
blokvistfrowned。hesatquietlyforalongtie。
asperger’ssyndroe；hethought。orsoethinglikethat。atalentforseeingpatternsandunderstandingabstractreasoningwhereotherpeopleperceiveonlywhitenoise。
salanderwasstaringdownatthetable。
“mostpeoplewouldgiveaneyetoothtohavesuchagift。”
“idon’twanttotalkaboutit。”
“we’lldropit。areyougladyoucaeback？”
“idon’tknow。maybeitwasaistake。”
“lisbeth；canyoudefihewordfriendshipfore？”
“it’swhenyoulikesoebody。”
“sure；butwhatisitthatakesyoulikesoebody？”
sheshrugged。
“friendship—ydefinition—isbuiltontwothings；”hesaid。“respectandtrust。botheleentshavetobethere。andithastobeutual。youcanhaverespectforsoeone；butifyoudon’thavetrust；thefriendshipwillcruble。”
shewasstillsilent。
“iunderstandthatyoudon’twanttodiscussyourselfwithe；butsoedayyou’regoingtohavetodecidewhetheryoutrusteornot。iwantustobefriends；butican’tdoitallbyyself。”
“ilikehavingsexwithyou。”
“sexhasnothingtodowithfriendship。sure；friendscanhavesex；butifihadtochoosebetweensexandfriendshipwhenitestoyou；there’snodoubtwhichiwouldpick。”
“idon’tgetit。doyouwanttohavesexwitheornot？”
“youshouldn’thavesexwithpeopleyou’reworkingwith；”heuttered。“itjustleadstotrouble。”
“didiisssoethinghere；orisn’tittruethatyouanderikabergerfuckeverytieyougetthechance？andshe’sarried。”
“erikaandi…haveahistorythatstartedlongbeforewestartedworkingtogether。thefactthatshe’sarriedisnoneofyourbusiness。”
“oh；isee；allofasuddenyou’retheonewhodoesn’twanttotalkaboutyourself。andthereiwas；learningthatfriendshipisaatteroftrust。”
“whatieanisthatidon’tdiscussafriendbehindherback。i’dbebreakinghertrust。iwouldn’tdiscussyouwitherikabehindyourbackeither。”
salanderthoughtaboutthat。thishadbeeanawkwardconversation。shedidnotlikeawkwardconversations。
“idolikehavingsexwithyou；”shesaid。
“ilikeittoo…buti’stilloldenoughtobeyourfather。”
“idon’tgiveashitaboutyourage。”
“no；youcan’tignoreouragedifference。it’snosortofbasisforalastingrelationship。”
“whosaidanythingaboutlasting？”salandersaid。“wejustfinishedupacaseinwhichenwithfucked…upsexualityplayedaproinentrole。ifihadtodecide；enlikethatwouldbeexterinated；everylastoneofthe。”
“well；atleastyoudon’tproise。”
“no；”shesaid；givinghihercrookednon…sile。“butatleastyou’renotlikethe。”shegotup。“nowi’goingintotakeashower；andthenithinki’llgetintoyourbednaked。ifyouthinkyou’retooold；you’llhavetogoandsleeponthecapbed。”
whateverhang…upssalanderhad；odestycertainlywasnotoneofthe。heanagedtoloseeveryarguentwithher。afterawhilehewashedupthecoffeethingsandwentintothebedroo。
theygotupat10：00；tookashowertogether；andatebreakfastoutinthegarden。at11：00dirchfrodecalledandsaidthatthefuneralwouldtakeplaceat2：00intheafternoon；andheaskediftheywereplanningtoattend。
“ishouldn’tthinkso；”saidmikael。
frodeaskedifhecouldeoveraround6：00foratalk。mikaelsaidthatwouldbefine。
hespentafewhourssortingthepapersintothepackingcratesandcarryingtheovertohenrik’soffice。finallyhewasleftwithonlyhisownnotesandthetwobindersaboutthehans…erikwennerstr？affairthathehadn. comenedinsixonths。hesighedandstuffedtheintohisbag。
froderangtosayhewasrunninglateanddidnotreachthecottageuntil8：00。hewasstillinhisfuneralsuitandlookedharriedwhenhesatdownonthekitchenbenchandgratefullyaeptedthecupofcoffeethatsalanderofferedhi。shesatatthesidetablewithherputerwhileblokvistaskedhowharriet’sreappearancehadbeenreceivedbythefailyasawhole。
“youightsaythatithasovershadowedmartin’sdeise。nowtheediahavefoundoutabouthertoo。”
“andhowareyouexplainingthesituation？”
“harriettalkedwithareporterfrothecourier。herstoryisthatsheranawayfrohoebecauseshedidn?
