船说；widowofHenriksbrotherGreger；andherson；Alexander。
“Gerdaissickly。Shesuffersfrorheuatis。AlexanderownsasallshareoftheVangerCorporation；butherunsanuberofhisownbusinesses；includingrestaurants。HeusuallyspendsafewonthseachyearinBarbados；wherehehasinvestedaconsiderablesuinthetouristtrade。”
BetweenGerdasandHenrikshouseswasaplotofndwithtwosaller；eptybuildings。Theywereusedasguesthousesforfailyebers。OntheothersideofHenrikshousestoodaprivatedwellingwhereanotherretiredeployeelivedwithhiswife；butitwaseptyinthewinterwhenthecouplerepairedtoSpain。
Theyretuedtothecrossroads；andwiththatthetourwasover。Duskwasbeginningtofall。Blokvisttooktheinitiative。
“Henrik；IlldowhatIvebeenhiredtodo。Illwriteyourautobiography；andIllhuouryoubyreadingalltheateriaboutHarrietascarefullyandcriticallyasIcan。IjustwantyoutorealisethatInotaprivatedetective。”
“Iexpectnothing。”
“Fine。”
“Ianightowl；”Vangersaid。“SoIatyourdisposanytieafterlunch。Ilrrangeforyoutohaveanofficeuphere；andyoucanakeuseofitwheneveryoulike。”
“No；thankyou。Ihaveanofficeintheguesthouse；andthatswhereIlldoywork。”
“Asyouwish。”
“IfIneedtotalktoyou；welldoitinyouroffice；butInotgoingtostartthrowingquestionsatyoutonight。”
“Iunderstand。”Theoldanseeediprobablytiid。
“Itsgoingtotakeacoupleofweekstoreadthroughthepapers。Wellworkontwofronts。WelleetforafewhourseachdaysothatIcaninterviewyouandgatheraterialforyourbiography。WhenIstarthavingquestionsaboutHarrietwhichIneedtodiscusswithyou；Illletyouknow。”
“Thatsoundssensible。”
“Igoingtorequireafreehandtodoywork；andIwonthaveanysetworkhours。”
“Youdecideforyourselfhowtheworkshouldbedone。”
“IsupposeyoureawarethatIhavetospendacoupleofonthsinprison。Idontknowexactlywhen；butInotgoingtoappeal。Itllprobablybesoetiethisyear。”
Vangerfrowned。“Thatsunfortunate。Wellhavetosolvethatproblewhenitesup。Youcanalwaysrequestapostponeent。”
“IfitsperittedandIhaveenoughaterial；Iightbeabletoworkonyourinprison。Oneorething：IstillpartownerofMillenniuandasofnowitsaagazineincrisis。IfsoethinghappensthatrequiresypresenceinStockhol；IwouldhavetodrhatIdoingandgothere。”
“Ididnttakeyouonasaserf。IwantyoutodoathoroughjobontheassignentIvegivenyou；but；ofcourse；youcansetyourownscheduleanddotheworkasyouseefit。Ifyouneedtotakesoetieoff；feelfreetodoit；butifIfindoutthatyourenotdoingthework；Illconsiderthatabreachofcontract。”
Vangerlookedovertowardsthebridge。Hewasagauntan；andBlokvistthoughtthathelookedatthatoentlikeaencholyscarecrow。
“AsfarasMillenniuisconceed；weoughttohaveadiscussionaboutwhatkindofcrisisitsinandwhetherIcanhelpinsoeway。”
“ThebestassistanceyoucanofferistogiveeWennerstrsheadonaptterrighthereandnow。”
“Ohno；Inotthinkingofdoingthat。”TheoldangaveBlokvistahardlook。“TheonlyreasonyoutookthisjobwasbecauseIproisedtoexposeWennerstr。IfIgiveyoutherationnow；youcouldworkonthejobwheneveryoufeltlikeit。Illgiveyoutherationayearfronow。”
“Henrik；fiveeforsayingthis；butIcantbesurethatayearfronowyoullbealive。”
Vangersighedandcastathoughtfulgazeoverthefishingharbour。
“Fairenough。IlltalktoFrodeandseeifwecanworksoethingout。ButasfarasMillenniuisconceed；Iightbeabletohelpinanotherway。AsIunderstandit；theadvertisershavebeguullout。”
“Theadvertisersaretheiediateproble；butthecrisisgoesdeeperthanthat。Itsaatteroftrust。 Itdoesntatterhowanyadvertiserswehaveifnoonewantstobuytheagazine。”
“Irealisethat。Istillontheboardofdirectorsofquiteargecorporation；albeitinapassiverole。Wehavceadvertiseentssoewhere。Letsdiscusstheatteratsoestage。Wouldyouliketohavedinner”
“No。Iwanttogetsettled；buysoegroceries；andtakealookaround。ToorrowIllgotoHedestadandshopforwinterclothes。”
“Goodidea。”
“IdlikethefilesaboutHarriettobeovedovertoypce。”
“Theyneedtobehandled”
“WithgreatcareIunderstand。”
Blokvistretuedtotheguesthouse。Histeethwerechatteringbythetiehegotindoors。Thetheroeteroutsidethewindowsaid5°F；andhecouldntreebereverfeelingsocoldasafterthatwalk；whichhadstedbarelytwentyinutes。
Hespentanhoursettlinghiselfintowhatwastobehishoefortheingyear。Heputhisclothesinthewardrobeinthebedroo；histoiletrieswentinthebathroocabi。Hissecondsuitcasewasactuallyatrunkonwheels。Froithetooks；CDsandaCDpyer；notes；aSanyotaperecorder；aMicrotekscanner；aportableinkjetprinter；aMinoltadigitalcaera；andanuberofotheritesheregardedasessentialkitforayearinexile。
HearrangedthesandtheCDsontheshelfintheofficealongsidetwobinderscontainingresearchaterialonHansErikWennerstr。Theaterialwasuseless；buthecouldnotletitgo。Soehowhehadtotuthosetwofoldersintobuildingblocksforhiscontinuingcareer。