船说
提供
heGirlwiththeDragonTattoo
LarssonStieg
PROLOGUE
AFridayinNoveber
Ithappenedeveryyear；wasalostaritual。 Andthiswashiseightysecondbirthday。When；asusual；theflowerwasdelivered；hetookoffthewrappingpaperandthenpickedupthetelephoocallDetectiveSuperintendentMorellwho；whenheretired；hadovedtoLakeSiljaninDaa。Theywerenotonlythesaeage；theyhadbeenboonthesaedaywhichwassoethingofanironyunderthecircustances。Theoldpoliceanwassittingwithhiscoffee；waiting；expectingthecall。
“Itarrived。”
“Whatisitthisyear”
“Idontknohatkinditis。Illhavetogetsoeootellewhatitis。Itswhite。”
“Noletter；Isuppose。”
“Justtheflower。Thefraeisthesaekindasstyear。Oneofthosedoityourselfones。”
“Postark”
“Stockhol。”
“Handwriting”
“Saeasalways；allincapitals。Upright；neatlettering。”
Withthat；thesubjectwasexhausted；andnotanotherwordwasexchangedforalostainute。Theretiredpoliceanleanedbackinhiskitchenchairanddrewonhispipe。Heknewhewasnolongerexpectedtoeithapithyentoranysharpquestionwhichwouldshedanewlightonthecase。Thosedayshadlongsincepassed；andtheexchangebetweenthetwoenseeedlikearituattachingtoaysterywhichnooneelseinthewholeworldhadtheleastinterestinunravelling。
TheLatinnaewasLeptosperurubite。Itwasapntaboutfourincheshighwithsall；heatherlikefoliageandawhiteflowerwithfivepetalsaboutoneinchacross。
ThepntwasnativetotheAustralianbushandupnds；whereitwastobefoundaongtussocksofgrass。ThereitwascalledDesertSnow。SoeoneatthebotanicalgardensinUppsawouldterconfirthatitwasapntseldocultivatedinSweden。ThebotanistwroteinherreportthatitwasretedtotheteatreeandthatitwassoetiesconfusedwithitsoreoncousinLeptosperuscopariu；whichgrewinabundanceinNewZeand。Whatdistinguishedthe；shepointedout；wasthatrubitehadasallnuberoficroscopicpinkdotsatthetipsofthepetals；givingtheflowerafaintpinkishtinge。
Rubitewasaltogetheranunpretentiousflower。Ithadnoknownedicinalproperties；anditcouldnotinducehallucinatoryexperiences。Itwasneitheredible；norhadauseintheanufactureofpntdyes。Ontheotherhand；theaboriginalpeopleofAustraliaregardedassacredtheregionandthefloraaroundAyersRock。
Thebotanistsaidthatsheherselfhadneverseenonebefore；butafterconsultinghercolleaguesshewastoreportthatatteptshadbeenadetointroducethepntatanurseryinGteb；andthatitight；ofcourse；becultivatedbyaateurbotanists。ItwasdifficulttogrowinSwedenbecauseitthrivedinadrycliateandhadtoreainindoorshalfoftheyear。Itwouldnotthriveincalcareoussoindithadtobewateredfrobelow。Itneededpapering。
Thefactofitsbeingsorareafloweroughttohaveadeiteasiertotracethesourceofthisparticurspecien；butinpracticeitwasanipossibletask。Therewasnoregistrytolookitupin；nolicencestoexplore。Anywherefroahandfultoafewhundredenthusiastscouldhavehadaesstoseedsorpnts。AndthosecouldhavechangedhandsbetweenfriendsorbeenboughtbyailorderfroanywhereinEurope；anywhereintheAntipodes。
ButitwasonlyoneintheseriesofystifyingflowersthateachyeararrivedbypostonthefirstdayofNoveber。Theywerealwaysbeautifundfortheostpartrareflowers；alwayspressed；ountedonwatercolourpaperinasiplefraeeasuringsixinchesbyeleveninches。
Thestrangestoryoftheflowershadneverbeenreportedinthepress；onlyaveryfewpeopleknewofit。ThirtyyearsagotheregurarrivaloftheflowerwastheobjectofuchscrutinyattheNationalForensicLaboratory；aongfingerprintexperts；graphologists；criinalinvestigators；andoneortworetivesandfriendsoftherecipient。Nowtheactorsinthedraawerebutthree：theelderlybirthdayboy；theretiredpolicedetective；andthepersonwhohadpostedtheflower。Thefirsttwoatleasthadreachedsuchanagethatthegroupofinterestedpartieswouldsoonbefurtherdiinished。
Thepoliceanwasahardenedveteran。Hewouldneverfethisfirstcase；inwhichhehadhadtotakeintocustodyaviolentandappallinglydrunkworkeratanelectricalsubstationbeforehecausedothershar。Duringhiscareerhehadbroughtinpoachers；wifebeaters；conen；carthieves；anddrunkdrivers。Hehaddealtwithburgrs；drugdealers；rapists；andonederangedbober。Hehadbeeninvolvedinnineurderoransughtercases。Infiveofthesetheurdererhadcalledthepolicehiselfand；fullofreorse；confessedtohavingkilledhiswifeorbrotherorsoeotherretive。Twoothersweresolvedwithinafewdays。AnotherrequiredtheassistanceoftheNationalCriinalPoliceandtooktwoyears。
Theninthcasewassolvedtothepolicessatisfaction；whichistosaythattheyknehotheurdererwas；butbecausetheevidencewassoinsubstantialthepublicprosecutordecidednoroceedwiththecase。Tothedetectivesuperintendentsdisay；thestatuteofliitationseventuallyputanendtotheatter。Butallinallhecouldlookbackonanipressivecareer。
Hewasanythingbutpleased。
Forthedetective；the“CaseofthePressedFlowers”hadbeennaggingathiforyearshisst；unsolved；andfrustratingcase。Thesituationwasdoublyabsurdbecauseafterspendingliterallythousandsofhoursbrooding；ondutyandoff；hecouldnotsaybeyonddoubtthatacriehadindeedbeenitted。
Thetwoenknewthatwhoeverhadountedtheflowerswouldhavewogloves；thattherewouldbenofingerprintsonthefraeorthegss。Thefraecouldhavebeenboughtincaerashopsorstationerystorestheworldover。Therewas；quitesiply；noleadtofollow。MostoftentheparcelwaspostedinStockhol；butthreetiesfroLondon；twicefroParis；twicefroCopenhagen；oncefroMadrid；oncefroBonn；andoncefroPensaco；Florida。Thedetectivesuperintendenthadhadtolookitupinanats。
Afterputtingdownthetelephoheeightytwoyearoldbirthdayboysatforalongtielookingattheprettybuteaninglessflowerwhosenaehedidnotyetknow。Thenhelookedupatthewalbovehisdesk。Therehungfortythreepressedflowersintheirfraes。Fourrowsoften；andoneatthebottowithfour。Inthrowonewasissingfrotheninthslot。DesertSnoouldbenuberfortyfour。
Withoutwainghebegantoweep。Hesurprisedhiselfwiththissuddenburstofeotionafteralostfortyyears。
PART1
Incentive
DECEMBER20–JANUARY3
EighteenpercentofthewoeninSwedenhaveatoiebeenthreatenedbyaan。
CHAPTER1