“Youdonthavetobeataroundthebushwithe。Tellewhatyouwantetodo；sothatIcandecidewhetherIwanttodoitoot。”
“SoifIcantconvinceyouinhalfanhourthenIwouldntbeabletodoitinaontheitherthatswhatyouthink。”
“Soethingalongthatline。”
“Butystoryislongandplicated。”
“Shortenandsiplifyit。Thatswhatwedoinjoualis。Twentynineinutes。”
Vangerheldupahand。“Enough。Igetyourpoint。Butitsnevergoodpsychologytoexaggerate。Ineedsoebodywhocandoresearchandthinkcritically；butwhoalsohasintegrity。Ithinkyouhaveit；andthatsnotfttery。Agoodjoualistoughossessthesequalities；andIreadyourTheKnightsTeprwithgreatinterest。ItstruethatIpickedyoubecauseIknewyourfatherandbecauseIknohoyouare。IfIunderstoodtheattercorrectly；youleftyouragazineasaresultoftheWennerstraffair。Whicheansthatyouhavenojobattheoent；andprobablyyoureinatightfinancialspot。”
“Soyouightbeabletoexploitypredicaent；isthatit”
“Perhaps。ButMikaelifIaycallyouMikaelIwontlietoyou。Itoooldforthat。IfyoudontlikewhatIsay；youcantelletojupintheke。ThenIllhavetofindsoeoneelsetoworkwithe。”
“OK；tellewhatthisjobinvolves。”
“HowuchdoyouknowabouttheVangerfaily”
“Well；onlywhatIanagedtoreadonthesinceFrodecalledeonMonday。InyourdaytheVangerCorporationwasoneoftheostiportantindustrialfirsinSweden；todayitssoewhatdiinished。MartinVangerrunsit。Iknowquiteabitore；butwhatareyougettingat”
“Martinishesagoodanbutbasicallyhesafairweathersailor。Hesunsuitedtobetheanagingdirectorofapanyincrisis。Hewantstoodeiseandspecialisewhichisgoodthinkingbuthecantpushthroughhisideasandhisfinancianageentisweaktoo。TwentyfiveyearsagotheVangerconcewasaseriouspetitortotheWallenbergGroup。WehadfortythousandeployeesinSweden。TodayanyofthesejobsareinKoreaorBrazil。WearedowntoabouttenthousandeployeesandinayearortwoifMartindoesntgetsoewindintohissailswellhavefivethousand；priarilyinsalnufacturingindustries；andtheVangerpanieswillbeconsignedtothescrapheapofhistory。”
Blokvistnodded。Hehadetoroughlythisconclusiononthebasisofthepieceshehaddownloaded。
“TheVangerpaniesarestilongthefewfailyheldfirsinthecountry。Thirtyfailyebersareinorityshareholders。Thishasalwaysbeenthestrengthofthecorporation；butalsoourgreatestweakness。”Vangerpausedandthensaidinatoneofountingurgency；“Mikael；youcanaskquestionster；butIwantyoutotakeeatywordwhenIsaythatIdetestostoftheebersofyfaily。Theyarefortheostpartthieves；isers；bullies；andinpetents。Iranthepanyforthirtyfiveyearsalostallthetieintheidstofrelentlessbickering。Theywereyworsteneies；farworsethanpetingpaniesorthegoveent。
“IsaidthatIwantedtoissionyoutodotwothings。First；IwantyoutowriteahistoryorbiographyoftheVangerfaily。Forsiplicityssake；wecancallityautobiography。Iwillputyjoualsandarchivesatyourdisposal。Youwillhaveaesstoyinnerostthoughtsandyoucanpublishallthedirtyoudigup。IthinkthisstorywilkeShakespearestragediesreadlikelightfailyentertainent。”
“Why”
“WhydoIwanublishascandaloushistoryoftheVangerfailyOrwhydoIaskyoutowriteit”
“Both；Isuppose。”
“Totellyouthetruth；Idontcarewhethertheiseverpublished。ButIdothinkthatthestoryshouldbewritten；ifonlyinasinglecopythatyoudeliverdirectlytotheRoyalLibrary。IwantthisstorytobethereforposteritywhenIdie。Myotiveisthesiplestiaginable：revenge。”
“Whatdoyouwanttorevenge”
“Iproudthatynaeisabywordforaanwhokeepshiswordandreebershisproises。Iveneverpyedpoliticalgaes。Iveneverhadproblesnegotiatingwithtradeunions。EvenPrieMinisterErnderhadrespectforeinhisday。Foreitwasaatterofethics；Iwasresponsibleforthelivelihoodsofthousandsofpeople；andIcaredaboutyeployees。Oddlyenough；Martinhasthesaeattitude；eventhoughhesaverydifferentperson。Hetoohastriedtodotherightthing。SadlyMartinandIarerareexceptionsinourfaily。ThereareanyreasonswhytheVangerCorporationisontheropestoday；butoneofthekeyonesistheshortterisandgreedofyretives。Ifyouaepttheassignent；Illexpinhowyfailywentabouttorpedoingthefir。”
“Iwontlietoyoueither；”Blokvistsaid。“Researchingandwritingalikethiswouldtakeonths。Idonthavetheotivationortheenergytodoit。”
“IbelieveIcantalkyouintoit。”
“Idoubtit。Butyousaidthereweretwothings。Theisthepretext。Whatistherealobjective”
Vangerstoodup；boriouslyagain；andtookthephotographofHarrietVangerfrothedesk。HesetitdowninfrontofBlokvist。
“WhileyouwritethebiographyIwantyoutoscrutinisethefailywiththeeyesofajoualist。Itwillsogiveyouanalibiforpokingaroundinthefailyhistory。WhatIwantisforyoutosolveaystery。Thatsyourreassignent。”
“Whatystery”
“HarrietwasthegranddaughterofybrotherRichard。Therewerefivebrothers。Richardwastheeldest；boin1907。Iwastheyoungest；boin1920。IdontunderstandhowGodcouldcreatethisflockofchildrenwho”ForseveralsecondsVangerlostthethread；iersedinhisthoughts。Thenhewentonwithnewdecisiveness。“LetetellyouaboutybrotherRichard。ThinkofthisasasallsaplefrothefailychronicleIwantyoutowrite。”
Hepouredorecoffeeforhiself。
“In1924；nowseventeen；RichardwasafanaticalnationalistandantiSeite。HejoinedtheSwedishNationalSocialistFreedoLeague；oneofthefirstNazigroupsinSweden。IsntitfascinatingthatNazisalwaysanagetoadoptthewordfreedo”
Vangerpulledoutanotheralbuandleafedthroughituntilhefoundthepagehewaslookingfor。“HeresRichardwiththeveterinarianBirgerFurugrd；soontobeetheleaderofthesocalledFurugrdoveent；thebigNazioveentoftheearlythirties。ButRicharddidnotstaywithhi。Hejoined；afewyearster；theSwedishFascistBattleanisation；theSFBO；andtherehegottoknowPerEngdahndotherswhowouldbethedisgraceofthenation。”
Hetuedthepageinthealbu：RichardVangerinunifor。
“HeenlistedagainstourfatherswishesandduringthethirtiesheadehiswaythroughostoftheNazigroupsinthecountry。Anysickconspiratoriassociationthatexisted；youcanbesurehisnaewasontheirroster。In1933theLindholoveentwasfored；thatis；theNationalSocialistWorkersParty。HoelldoyouknowthehistoryofSwedishNazis”
“Inohistorian；butIvereadafews。”
“In1939theSecondWorldWarbegan；andin1940theWinterWarinFinnd。ArgenuberoftheLindholoveentjoinedasFinndvolunteers。RichardwasoneoftheandbythenacaptainintheSwedishary。HewaskilledinFebruary1940justbeforethepeacetreatywiththeSovietUnionandtherebybecaeaartyrintheNazioveentandhadabattlegroupnaedafterhi。EvennowahandfulofidiotsgatherataceeteryinStockholontheanniversaryofhisdeathtohonourhi。”
“Iunderstand。”
“In1926；whenhewasnieen；hewasgoingoutwithawoancalledMargareta；thedaughterofateacherinFalun。Theyetinsoepoliticalcontextandhadaretionshhichresultedinason；Gottfried；whowasboin1927。Thecouplearriedwhentheboywasbo。Duringthefirsthalfofthethirties；ybrothersenthiswifeandchildheretoHedestadwhilehewasstationedwithhisregientinGvle。InhisfreetiehetravelledaroundanddidproselytisingforNazis。In1936hehadahugefightwithyfatherwhichresultedinyfathercuttinghioff。AfterthatRichardhadtoakehisownliving。HeovedwithhisfailytoStockhondlivedinretivepoverty。”
“Hehadnooneyofhisown”
“Theinheritancehehadinthefirwastiedup。Hecouldntselloutsidethefaily。Worsethantheirstraitenedcircustances；Richardwasabrutaldoestic。Hebeathiswifeandabusedhisson。Gottfriedgrewupcowedandbullied。HewasthirteenwhenRichardwaskilled。Isuspectitwasthehappiestdayofhislifeuptothatpoint。MyfathertookpityonthewidowandchildandbroughttheheretoHedestad；wherehefoundanapartentforMargaretaandsawtoitthatshehadadecentlife。
“IfRichardpersonifiedthefailysdark；fanaticalside；Gottfriedebodiedtheindolentone。WhenhereachedtheageofeighteenIdecidedtotakehiunderywinghewasydeadbrothersson；afteralndyouhavetoreeberthattheagedifferencebetweenGottfriedandewasnotsogreat。Iwasonlysevenyearsolder；butbythenIwasonthefirsboard；anditwasclearthatIwastheonewhowouldtakeoverfroyfather；whileGottfriedwasoreorlessregardedasanoutsider。”
Vangerthoughtforaoent。
“Myfatherdidntreallyknowhowtodealwithhisgrandson；soIwastheonewhogavehiajobinthepany。Thiswasafterthewar。Hedidtrytodoareasonablejob；buthewaszy。HewasacharerandgoodtieCharlie；hehadawaywithwoen；andtherewereperiodswhenhedranktoouch。Itisnteasytodescribeyfeelingsforhihewasntagood船说