船说“Iheardtheverdictontheradio。 ShefroTV4calledandwantedaent。”
“Whatdyousay”
“Soethingtotheeffectthatweweregoingtoreadthejudgeentcarefullybeforeweakeanystateents。SoIsaidnothing。Andyopinionstillholds：itsthewrongstrategy。Weeofflookingweakwiththeedia。TheywillrunsoethingonTVthisevening。”
Blokvistlookedglu。
“Howareyoudoing”
BlokvistshruggedandploppeddowninhisfavouritearchaiexttothewindowinErikasoffice。Thedecorwasspartan；withadeskandfunctionalcasesandcheapofficefuiture。AllofitwasfroIKEAapartfrothetwofortableandextravagantarchairsandasallendtableaconcessiontoyupbringing；shelikedtosay。Shewouldsitreadinginoneofthearchairswithherfeettuckedundeeathherwhenshewantedtogetawayfrothedesk。BlokvistlookeddownonGtgatan；wherepeoplewerehurryingbyinthedark。Christasshoppingwasinfullswing。
“Isupposeitllpass；”hesaid。“ButrightnowitfeelsasifIvegotyselfaveryrawdeal。”
“Yes；Icaniagine。Itsthesaeforallofus。JanneDahnwenthoeearlytoday。”
“Iassuehewasntovertheoonabouttheverdict。”
“Hesnottheostpositivepersonanyway。”
Mikaelshookhishead。ForthepastnineonthsDahnhadbeenanagingeditor。HehadstartedtherejustastheWennerstraffairgotgoing；andhefoundhiselfonaneditorialstaffincrisisode。BlokvisttriedtoreeberwhattheirreasoninghadbeenwhenheandBergerdecidedtohirehi。Hewaspetent；ofcourse；andhadworkedattheTTnewsbureau；theeveningpapers；andEkoontheradio。Butheapparentlydidnotlikesailingagainstthewind。DuringthepastyearBlokvisthadoftenregrettedthattheyhadhiredDahn；whohadanenervatinghabitoflookingateverythinginasnegativealightaspossible。
“HaveyouheardfroChrister”Blokvistaskedwithouttakinghiseyesoffthestreet。
ChristerMalwastheartdirectoranddesignerofMillenniu。HewasalsopartowneroftheagaziogetherwithBergerandBlokvist；buthewasonatripabroadwithhisboyfriend。
“Hecalledtosayhello。”
“Hellhavetobetheonewhotakesoveraspublisher。”
“Layoff；Micke。Aspublisheryouhavetocountonbeingpunchedinthenoseeverysooften。Itspartofthejobdescription。”
“Yourerightaboutthat。ButIwastheonewhowrotethearticlethatwaspublishedinaagazineofwhichIalsohappentobethepublisher。Thatakeseverythinglookdifferentallofasudden。Thenitsaatterofbadjudgeent。”
Bergerfeltthatthedisquietshehadbeencarryingwithheralldaywasabouttoexplode。Intheweeksbeforethetrialstarted；Blokvisthadbeenwalkingaroundunderabckcloud。Butshehadneverseenhiasglooyanddejectedasheseeedtobenowinthehourofhisdefeat。Shewalkedtohissideofthedeskandsatonhisp；straddlinghi；andputherarsroundhisneck。
“Mikael；listentoe。Webothknowexactlyhowithappened。Iasuchtobeasyouare。Wesiplyhavetorideoutthestor。”
“Thereisntanystortorideout。Asfarastheediaareconceed；theverdicteansthatIvebeenshotinthebackofthehead。IcantstayonasthepublisherofMillenniu。Thevitalthingistoaintaintheagazinescredibility；tothebleeding。YouknowthataswelsIdo。”
“IfyouthinkIintendtoletyoutaketherapallbyyourself；thenyouhaventleaedadanthingabouteintheyearsweveworkedtogether。”
“Iknowhowyouoperate；Ricky。Youre100percentloyaltoyourcolleagues。Ifyouhadtochoose；youdkeepfightingagainstWennerstrswyersuntilyourcredibilitywasgooo。Wehavetobesarterthanthat。”
“AndyouthinkitssarttojupshipandakeitlookasifIsackedyou”
“IfMillenniuisgoingtosurvive；itdependsonyounow。Christerisgreat；buthesjustaniceguywhoknowsaboutiagesandyoutanddoesnthaveaclueaboutstreetfightingwithbillionaires。Itsjustnothisthing。Igoingtohavetodisappearforawhile；aspublisher；reporter；andboardeber。WennerstrknowsthatIknohathedid；andIabsolutelysurethataslongasIanywherenearMillenniuhesgoingtotrytoruinus。 ”
“SowhynotpublisheverythingweknowSinkorswi”
“Becausewecantproveadanthing；andrightnowIhavenocredibilityatall。LetsaeptthatWennerstrwonthisround。”
“OK；Illfireyou。Whatareyougoingtodo”
“Ineedabreak；tobehonest。Ibuedrightout。Igoingtotakesoetieforyselfforawhile；soeofitinprison。Thenwellsee。”
Bergerputherarsaroundhiandpulledhisheaddowntoherbreasts。Shehuggedhihard。
“Wantsoepanytonight”shesaid。
Blokvistnodded。
“Good。IvealreadytoldGregerIatyourpcetonight。”
Thestreetlightsreflectingoffthecoersofthewindowswereallthatlittheroo。WhenBergerfelsleepsoetieafter2：00intheoing；Blokvistyawakestudyingherprofileinthediness。Thecoversweredownaroundherwaist；andhewatchedherbreastsslowlyrisingandfalling。Hewasrexed；andtheanxiousknotinhisstoachhadeased。Shehadthateffectonhi。Shealwayshadhad。Andheknewthathehadthesaeeffectonher。
Twentyyears；hethought。Thatshowlongithadbeen。Asfarashewasconceed；theycouldgoonsleepingtogetherforanothertwodecades。Atleast。Theyhadneverseriouslytriedtohidetheirretionship；evenwhenitledtoawkwardnessintheirdealingswithotherpeople。
Theyhadetatapartywhentheywerebothintheirsecondyearatjoualisschool。Beforetheysaidgoodnighttheyhadexchangedtelephonenubers。Theybothknewthattheywouldendupinbedtogether；andinlessthanaweektheyrealisedthisconvictionwithouttellingtheirrespectivepartners。
Blokvistwassurethatitwasnottheoldfashionedkindoflovethatleadstoasharedhoe；asharedortgage；Christastrees；andchildren。Duringtheeighties；whentheywerenotboundbyotherretionships；theyhadtalkedofovingintogether。Hehadwantedto；butErikaalwaysbackedoutatthestinute。Itwouldntwork；shesaid；theywouldriskwhattheyhadiftheyfellinlovetoo。Blokvisthadoftenwonderedwhetheritwerepossibletobeorepossessedbydesireforanyotherwoan。Thefactwasthattheyfunctionedwelltogether；andtheyhadaconnectionasaddictiveasheroin。
Soetiestheyweretogethersooftenthatitfeltasthoughtheyreallywereacouple；soetiesweeksandonthswouldgobybeforetheysaweachother。Butevenasalcoholicsaredrawntothestateliquorstoreafterastintonthewagon；theyalwayscaebacktoeachother。
Inevitablyitdidnotworkinthelongrun。Thatkindofretionshasalostboundtocausepain。Theyhadbothleftbrokenproisesandunhappyloversbehindhisownarriagehadcolpsed
becausehecouldnotstayawayfroErikaBerger。Hehadneverliedabouthisfeelingsforhertohiswife；Monica；butshehadthoughtitwouldendwhentheyarriedandtheirdaughterwasbo。AndBergerhadalostsiultaneouslyarriedGregerBeckan。Blokvisttoohadthoughtitwouldend；andforthefirstyearsofhisarriageheandBergerhadonlyseeneachotherprofessionally。ThentheystartedMillenniuandwithinafeeeksalltheirgoodintentionshaddissolved；andoneteeveningtheyhadfurioussexonherdesk。ThatledtoatroublesoeperiodinwhichBlokvistwantedveryuchtolivewithhisfailyandseehisdaughtergrowup；butatthesaetiehewashelplesslydrawntoBerger。JustasSanderhadguessed；itwashiscontinualinfidelitythatdrovehiswifetoleave。
Strangelyenough；Beckanseeedtoaepttheirretionship。BergerhadalwaysbeenopenaboutherfeelingsforMikael；andshetoldherhusbandassoonastheystartedhavingsexagain。Maybeittookthesoulofanartisttohandlesuchasituation；soeonesowrappedupinhisowncreativity；orpossiblyjustwrappedupinhiself；thathedidnotrebelwhenhiswifesleptwithanotheran。SheevendividedupherholidaysoshecouldspendtwoweekswithherloverinhissuercabinatSandhan。BlokvistdidnotthinkveryhighlyofBeckan；andhehadneverunderstoodBergersloveforhi。Buthewasgdthatheaeptedthatshecouldlovetwoenatthesaetie。