船说。 Therewasasofaandcoffeetablewherethehousekeeperhadsetoutatheros；rolls；andpastries。
Vangergesturedtowardsthetray；butBlokvistpretendednottosee；insteadheadeatouroftheroo；firststudyingtheshelfandthenthewalloffraedflowers。Thedeskwasorderly；onlyafewpapersinoneheap。Atitsedgewasasilverfraedphotographofadarkhairedgirl；beautifulbutwithaischievouslook；ayoungwoanonherwaytobeingdangerous；hethought。Itwasapparentlyaconfirationportraitthathadfadedovertheyearsithadbeenthere。
“Doyoureeberher；Mikael”Vangersaid。
“Reeber”
“Yes；youether。Andactuallyyouhavebeeninthisroobefore。”
Blokvisttuedandshookhishead。
“No；howcouldyoureeberIknewyourfather。IhiredKurtfirstasaninstallerandachinistseveraltiesinthefiftiesandsixties。Hewasatalentedan。Itrieersuadehitokeepstudyingandbeeanengineer。Youwereherethewholesuerof1963；whenweputnewachineryinthepaperillinHedestad。Itwashardtofindapceforyourfailytolive；sowesolveditbylettingyouliveinthewoodenhouseacrosstheroad。Youcanseeitfrothewindow。”
Vangerpickedupthephotograph。
“ThisisHarrietVanger；granddaughterofybrotherRichard。Shetookcareofyouanytiesthatsuer。Youweretwo；goingonthree。MaybeyouwerealreadythreethenIdontrecall。Shewasthirteen。”
“Iasorry；butIdonthavetheleastrecollectionofwhatyouretellinge。”BlokvistcouldnotevenbesurethatVangerwastellingthetruth。
“Iunderstand。ButIreeberyou。YouusedtorunaroundeverywhereonthefarwithHarrietintow。Icouldhearyourshriekswheneveryoufell。IreeberIgaveyouatoyonce；ayellow；sheetetaltractorthatIhadpyedwithyselfasaboy。Youwerecrazyaboutit。Ithinkthatwasthecolour。”
Blokvistfeltachillinside。Theyellowtractorhedidreeber。Whenhewasolderithadstoodonashelfinhisbedroo。
“Doyoureeberthattoy”
“Ido。Andyouwillbeausedtoknowthatthetractorisstilliveandwell；attheToyMuseuinStockhol。Theyputoutacallforoldoriginaltoystenyearsago。”
“Really”Vangerchuckledwithdelight。“Leteshowyou”
Theoldanwentovertotheshelfandpulledaphotographalbufrooneofthelowershelves。Blokvistnoticedthathehaddifficultybendingoverandhadtobracehiselfontheshelfwhenhestraightenedup。Heidthealbuonthecoffeetable。Heknehathewaslookingfor：abckandwhitesnapshotinwhichthephotographersshadowshowedinthebottoleftcoer。Intheforegroundwasafairhairedboyinshorts；staringatthecaerawithaslightlyanxiousexpression。
“Thisisyou。Yourparentsaresittingonthegardenbenchinthebackground。Harrietispartlyhiddenbyyourother；andtheboytotheleftofyourfatherisHarrietsbrother；Martin；whorunstheVangerpanytoday。”
Blokvistsotherwasobviouslypregnanthissisterwasontheway。HelookedatthephotographwithixedfeelingsasVangerpouredcoffeeandpushedoverthepteofrolls。
“Yourfatherisdead；Iknow。Isyourotherstillive”
“Shediedthreeyearsago；”Blokvistsaid。
“Shewasanicewoan。Ireeberherverywell。”
“ButIsureyoudidntasketoeheretotalkaboutoldtiesyouhadwithyparents。”
“Youreright。IvebeenworkingonwhatIwantedtosaytoyouforseveraldays；butnowthatyoureactuallyhereIdontquiteknoheretobegin。Isupposeyoudidsoeresearch；soyouknowthatIoncewieldedsoeinfluenceinSwedishindustryandthejobarket。TodayIanoldanwhowillprobablydiefairlysoon；anddeathperhapsisanexcellentstartingpointforourconversation。”
BlokvisttookaswallowofbckcoffeepinlyboiledinapanintrueNorrndstyleandwonderedwherethiswasgoingtolead。
“Ihavepaininyhipandlongwalksareathingofthepast。Onedayyoulldiscoverforyourselfhowstrengthseepsaway；butIneitherorbidnorsenile。Inotobsessedbydeath；butIatanagewhenIhavetoaeptthatytieisaboutup。 Youwanttoclosetheaountsandtakecareofunfinishedbusiness。DoyouunderstandwhatIean”
Blokvistnodded。Vangerspokeinasteadyvoice；andBlokvisthadalreadydecidedthattheoldanwasneithersenilenorirrational。“IostlycuriousaboutwhyIhere；”hesaidagain。
“BecauseIwanttoaskforyourheiththisclosingofaounts。”
“WhyeWhatakesyouthinkIdbeabletohelpyou”
“BecauseasIwasthinkingabouthiringsoeone；youaecroppedupinthenews。Iknehoyouwere；ofcourse。Andaybeitsbecauseyousatonykneewhenyouwerealittlefellow。Dontisunderstande。”Hewavedthethoughtaway。“Idontlooktoyoutohelpeforsentientalreasons。ItwasjustthatIhadtheipulsetocontactyouspecifically。”
Mikaelgaveafriendlyugh。“Well；Idontreeberbeingperchedonyourknee。ButhowcouldyouaketheconnectionThatwasintheearlysixties。”
“Youisunderstoode。YourfailyovedtoStockholwhenyourfathergotthejobastheworkshopforeanatZarindersMechanical。Iwastheonewhogothithejob。Iknewhewasagoodworker。IusedtoseehiovertheyearswhenIhadbusinesswithZarinders。Wewerentclosefriends；butwewouldchatforawhile。ThesttieIsawhiwastheyearbeforehedied；andhetoldethenthatyouhadgotintojoualisschool。Hewasextreelyproud。Thenyoubecaefaouswiththestoryofthebankrobbergang。Ivefollowedyourcareerandreadanyofyourarticlesovertheyears。Asaatteroffact；IreadMillenniuquiteoften。”
“OK；Iwithyou；butwhatisitexactlythatyouwantetodo”
Vangerlookeddownathishands；thensippedhiscoffee；asifheneededapausebeforehecouldatstbegintobroachwhathewanted。
“BeforeIgetstarted；Mikael；Idliketoakeanagreeentwithyou。Iwantyoutodotwothingsfore。Oneisapretextandtheotherisyrealobjective。”
“Whatforofagreeent”
“Igoingtotellyouastoryintwoparts。ThefirstisabouttheVangerfaily。Thatsthepretext。Itsalong；darkstory；andIlltrytosticktotheunvaishedtruth。Thesecondpartofthestorydealswithyactualobjective。Youllprobablythinksoeofthestoryiscrazy。WhatIwantisforyoutoheareoutaboutwhatIwantyoutodoandalsowhatIaofferingbeforeyouakeupyourindwhethertotakeonthejoboot。”
Blokvistsighed。ObviouslyVangerwasnotgoingtolethigointietocatchtheafteoontrain。HewassurethatifhecalledFrodetoaskforalifttothestation；thecarwouldsoehowrefusetostartinthecold。
Theoldanusthavethoughtlongandhardhowhewasgoingtohookhi。Blokvisthadthefeelingthateverystthingthathadhappenedsincehearrivedwasstaged：theintroductorysurprisethatasachildhehadethishost；thepictureofhisparentsinthealbu；andtheephasisonthefactthathisfatherandVangerhadbeenfriends；alongwiththeftterythattheoldanknehoMikaelBlokvistwasandthathehadbeenfollowinghiscareerforyearsfroadistance。Nodoubtithadacoreoftruth；butitwasalsoprettyeleentarypsychology。VangerwasapractisedaniputorhowelsehadhebeeoneofSwedensleadingindustrialists
BlokvistdecidedthatVangerwantedhitodosoethingthathewasnotgoingtohavetheslightestdesiretodo。Hehadonlytowrestfrohiwhatthiswasandthensaynothankyou。Andjustpossiblybeintietocatchtheafteoontrain。
“Fivee；HerrVanger；”hesaid；“Ivebeenherealreadyfortwentyinutes。Illgiveyouexactlythirtyinutesoretotellewhatyouwant。ThenIcallingataxiandgoinghoe。”
Foraoenttheaskofthegoodnaturedpatriarchslipped；andBlokvistcoulddetecttheruthlesscaptainofindustryfrohisdaysofpowerconfrontedbyasetback。Hisouthcurledinagrisile。
“Iunderstand。”