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。

    theoldanscrutinisedherfrotoptotoe。thenharrietwentoverandkissedhi。blokvistnoddedtofrodeandclosedthedoor。

    salanderwasnotinthecottagewhenblokvistreturnedtohedebyisland。thevideoequipentandherotorcycleweregone；aswellasthebagwithherextraclothesandherspongebag。thecottagefeltepty。itsuddenlyseeedalienandunreal。helookedatthestacksofpaperintheoffice；whichhewouldhavetopackupinboxesandcarrybacktohenrik’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；stopsearchingforghosts。”

    “wow！”

    “shedidn’tevenglanceatthewoansittingbesidethebedtalkingtohenrik。sheusthavethoughtitwasoneofthestaff。iwillneverfettheoentwhenharrietstoodupandsaid；‘hello；maa。’”

    “whathappened？”

    “wehadtocalladoctortocheckisabella’svitalsigns。rightnowshe’srefusingtobelievethatit’sharriet。youareausedofdragginginanipostor。”

    frodewasonhiswaytovisitceciliaandalexandertogivethethenewsthatharriethadrisenfrothedead。hehurriedaway；leavingblokvisttohissolitaryusings。

    salanderstoppedandfilledhertankatapetrolstationnorthofuppsala。shehadbeenridingdoggedly；staringstraightahead。shepaidquicklyandgotbackonherbike。shestarteditupandrodetotheexit；whereshestopped；undecided。

    shewasstillinaterribleood。shewasfuriouswhenshelefthedeby；butherragehadslowlydissolvedduringtheride。shecouldnotakeupherindwhyshewassoangrywithblokvist；orevenifhewastheoneshewasangrywith。

    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’topenedinsixonths。hesighedandstuffedtheintohisbag。

    froderangtosayhewasrunninglateanddidnotreachthecottageuntil8：00。hewasstillinhisfuneralsuitandlookedharriedwhenhesatdownonthekitchenbenchandgratefullyaeptedthecupofcoffeethatsalanderofferedhi。shesatatthesidetablewithherputerwhileblokvistaskedhowharriet’sreappearancehadbeenreceivedbythefailyasawhole。

    “youightsaythatithasovershadowedmartin’sdeise。nowtheediahavefoundoutabouthertoo。”

    “andhowareyouexplainingthesituation？”

    “harriettalkedwithareporterfrothecourier。herstoryisthatsheranawayfrohoebecauseshedidn?