ShethoughtofMartinVangerandHarrietFuckingVangerandDirchFuckingFrodeandthewholedanedVangercnsittinginHedestadreigningovertheirlittleepireandplottingagainsteachother。Theyhadneededherhelp。Norallytheywouldntevenhavesaidhellotoherinthestreet；letaloneentrustherwiththeirrepellentsecrets。
Fuckingriffraff。
Shetookadeepbreathandthoughtaboutherother；whoshehadconsignedtoashesthatveryoing。Shewouldneverbeabletoendthings。Herothersdeatheantthatthewoundwouldneverheal；sinceshewouldneveowgetananswertothequestionsshehadwantedtoask。
ShethoughtaboutAranskystandingbehindheratthecreatoriu。Sheshouldhavesaidsoethingtohi。Atleastgivenhisoesignthatsheknewhewasthere。Butifshedidthat；hewouldhavetakenitasapretextfortryingtostructureherlife。Ifshegavehiherlittlefingerhedtakeherwholear。Andhewouldneverunderstand。
Shethoughtaboutthewyer；Bjuran；whowasstillherguardianandwho；atleastforthetiebeing；hadbeenneutralisedandwasdoingashewastold。
Shefeltanipcablehatredandclenchedherteeth。
AndshethoughtaboutMikaelBlokvistandwonderedwhathewouldsaywhenhefoundoutthatshewasawardofthecourtandthatherentirelifewasafuckingratsnest。
Itcaetoherthatshereallywasnotangrywithhi。Hewasjustthepersononwhoshehadventedherangerwhenwhatshehadwantedostofallwastourdersoebody；severalpeople。Beingangrywithhiwaspointless。
Shefeltstrangelyabivalenttowardshi。
Hestuckhisnoseinotherpeoplesbusinessandpokedaroundinherlifeandbutshehadalsoenjoyedworkingwithhi。Eventhatwasanoddfeelingtoworkwithsoebody。Shewasntusedtothat；butithadbeenunexpectedlypainless。Hedidnotesswithher。Hedidnottrytotellherhowtoliveherlife。
Shewastheonewhohadseducedhi；notviceversa。
Andbesides；ithadbeensatisfying。
Sowhydidshefeesifshewantedtokickhiintheface
ShesighedandunhappilyraisedhereyestoseeanintercontinentalroarpastontheE4。
Blokvistwasstillinthegardenat8：00whenhewasrousedbytherattleoftheotorcyclecrossingthebridgeandsawSanderridingtowardsthecottage。Sheputherbikeonitsstandandtookoffherhelet。Shecaeuptothegardentableandfeltthecoffeepot；whichwaseptyandcold。Blokviststoodup；gazingatherinsurprise。Shetookthecoffeepotandwentintothekitchen。WhenshecaebackoutshehadtakenoffherleathersandsatdowninjeansandaTshirtwiththesloganICANBEAREGULARBITCH。JUSTTRYME。
“IthoughtyoudbeinStockholbynow；”hesaid。
“ItuedroundinUppsa。”
“Quitearide。”
“Isore。”
“Whydidyoutuaround”
Noanswer。Hewaitedheroutwhiletheydrankcoffee。Afterteninutesshesaid；reluctantly；“Ilikeyourpany。”
Thosewerewordsthathadneverbeforepassedherlips。
“Itwasinterestingtoworkwithyouonthiscase。”
“Ienjoyedworkingwithyoutoo；”hesaid。
“H。”
“Thefactis；Iveneverworkedwithsuchabrilliantresearcher。OK；IknowyoureahackerandhangoutinsuspectcirclesinwhichyoucansetupanillegalwiretapinLondonintwentyfourhours；butyougetresults。”
Shelookedathiforthefirsttiesinceshehadsatatthetable。Heknewsoanyofhersecrets。
“Thatsjusthowitis。Iknowputers。Iveneverhadaproblewithreadingatextandabsorbingwhatitsaid。”
“Yourphotographiceory；”hesaidsoftly。
“Iaditit。Ijusthavenoideahowitworks。Itsnotonlyputersandtelephoneworks；buttheotorinybikeandTVsetsandvacuucleanersandcheicalprocessesandforueinastrophysics。Ianutcase；Iaditit：afreak。”
Blokvistfrowned。Hesatquietlyforalongtie。
Aspergerssyndroe；hethought。Orsoethinglikethat。Atalentforseeingpattesandunderstandingabstractreasoningwhereotherpeopleperceiveonlywhitenoise。
Sanderwasstaringdownatthetable。
“Mostpeoplewouldgiveaneyetoothtohavesuchagift。”
“Idontwanttotalkaboutit。”
“Welldropit。Areyougdyoucaeback”
“Idontknow。Maybeitwasaistake。”
“Lisbeth；canyoudefihewordfriendshipfore”
“Itswhenyoulikesoebody。”
“Sure；butwhatisitthatakesyoulikesoebody”
Sheshrugged。
“Friendshipydefinitionisbuiltontwothings；”hesaid。“Respectandtrust。Botheleentshavetobethere。Andithastobeutual。Youcanhaverespectforsoeone；butifyoudonthavetrust；thefriendshillcruble。”
Shewasstillsilent。
“Iunderstandthatyoudontwanttodiscussyourselfwithe；butsoedayyouregoingtohavetodecidewhetheryoutrusteoot。Iwantustobefriends；butIcantdoitallbyyself。”
“Ilikehavingsexwithyou。”
“Sexhasnothingtodowithfriendship。Sure；friendscanhavesex；butifIhadtochoosebetweensexandfriendshhenitestoyou；theresnodoubtwhichIwouldpick。”
“Idontgetit。Doyouwanttohavesexwitheoot”
“Youshouldnthavesexwithpeopleyoureworkingwith；”heuttered。“Itjustleadstotrouble。”
“DidIisssoethinghere；orisntittruethatyouandErikaBergerfuckeverytieyougetthechanceAndshesarried。”
“ErikaandIhaveahistorythatstartedlongbeforewestartedworkingtogether。Thefactthatshesarriedisnoneofyourbusiness。”
“Oh；Isee；allofasuddenyouretheonewhodoesntwanttotalkaboutyourself。AndthereIwas；leaingthatfriendshipisaatteroftrust。”
“WhatIeanisthatIdontdiscussafriendbehindherback。Idbebreakinghertrust。IwouldntdiscussyouwithErikabehindyourbackeither。”
Sanderthoughtaboutthat。Thishadbeeanawkwardconversation。Shedidnotlikeawkwardconversations。
“Idolikehavingsexwithyou；”shesaid。
“IlikeittoobutIstilloldenoughtobeyourfather。”
“Idontgiveashitaboutyourage。”
“No；youcantignoreouragedifference。Itsnosortofbasisforastingretionship。”
“Whosaidanythingaboutsting”Sandersaid。“Wejustfinishedupacaseinwhichenwithfuckedupsexualitypyedaproinentrole。IfIhadtodecide；enlikethatwouldbeexterinated；everystoneofthe。”
“Well；atleastyoudontproise。”
“No；”shesaid；givinghihercrookednonsile。“Butatleastyourenotlikethe。”Shegotup。“NowIgoingintotakeashower；andthenIthinkIllgetintoyourbednaked。Ifyouthinkyouretooold；youllhavetogoandsleeponthecapbed。”
WhateverhangupsSanderhad；odestycertainlywasnotoneofthe。Heanagedtoloseeveryarguentwithher。Afterawhilehewashedupthecoffeethingsandwentintothebedroo。
Theygotupat10：00；tookashowertogether；andatebreakfastoutinthegarden。At11：00DirchFrodecalledandsaidthatthefuneralwouldtakepceat2：00intheafteoon；andheaskediftheywerepnningtoattend。
“Ishouldntthinkso；”saidMikael。
Frodeaskedifhecouldeoveraround6：00foratalk。Mikaelsaidthatwouldbefine。
HespentafewhourssortingthepapersintothepackingcratesandcarryingtheovertoHenriksoffice。FinallyhewasleftwithonlyhisownnotesandthetwobindersabouttheHansErikWennerstraffairthathehadenedinsixonths。Hesighedandstuffedtheintohisbag。
Froderangtosayhewasrunningteanddidnotreachthecottageuntil8：00。HewasstillinhisfuneralsuitandlookedharriedwhenhesatdownonthekitchenbenchandgratefullyaeptedthecupofcoffeethatSanderofferedhi。ShesatatthesidetablewithherputerwhileBlokvistaskedhowHarrietsreappearancehadbeenreceivedbythefailyasawhole。
“YouightsaythatithasovershadowedMartinsdeise。Nowtheediahavefoundoutabouthertoo。”
“Andhowareyouexpiningthesituation”
“HarriettalkedwithareporterfrotheCourier。Herstoryisthatsheranawayfrohoebecauseshedidn船说