船说“Butyourenotheretolookintoherdisappearance”
“Whatakesyouthinkthat”
“Well；thefactthatNilssonluggedfourassiveboxesoverhere。 ThatcouldbeHenriksprivateinvestigationsovertheyears。IlookedinHarrietsoldroo；whereHenrikkeepsit；anditwasgone。”
CeciliaVangerwasnofool。
“YoullhavetotaketheatterithHenrik；notwithe；”Blokvistsaid。“ButitwontsurpriseyoutoknowthatHenrikhastalkedalotaboutthegirlsdisappearance；andIthoughtitwouldbeinterestingtoreadthroughwhathadbeencollected。”
Ceciliagavehianotherofherjoylesssiles。“Iwondersoetieswhoscrazier；yfatheroryuncle。IusthavelistenedtohionHarrietsdisappearanceathousandties。”
“Whatdoyouthinkhappenedtoher”
“Isthisaninterviewquestion”
“No；”hesaidwithaugh。“Ijustcurious。”
“WhatIcuriousaboutiswhetheryoureanutcasetoo。WhetheryouveswallowedHenriksconvictionorwhetherinfactyouretheonewhosegginghion。”
“YouthinkthatHenriksanutcase”
“Dontgetewrong。HesoneofthewarestandostthoughtfulpeopleIknow。Iveryfondofhi。Butonthisparticuic；hesobsessive。”
“ButHarrietreallydiddisappear。”
“Ijustsodansickofthewholestory。Itspoisonedourlivesfordecades；anditdoesntdoingso。”Shegotupabruptlyandputonherfurcoat。“Ihavetogo。Youseelikeapleasantsort。Martinthinkssotoo；buthisjudgeentisntalwaysreliable。Youreweletoeforcoffeeatyhousewheneveryoulike。Ialostalwayshoeintheevening。”
“Thankyou；”Blokvistsaid。“Youdidntanswerthequestionthatwasntaninterviewquestion。”
Shepausedatthedoorandrepliedwithoutlookingathi。
“Ihavenoidea。Ithinkitwasanaidentthathassuchasipleexpnationthatitwilstonishusifweeverfindout。”
Shetuedtosileathiforthefirsttiewithwarth。Thenshewasgone。
IfithadbeenanagreeablefirsteetingwithCeciliaVanger；thesaecouldnotbesaidofhisfirstencounterwithIsabel。HarrietsotherwasexactlyasHenrikVangerhadwaed：sheprovedtobeanelegantwoanwhoreindedhivaguelyofLaurenBacall。Shewasthin；dressedinabckPersianbcoatwithatchingcap；andshewasleaningonabckcanewhenBlokvistranintoheroneoingonhiswaytoSusannes。Shelookedlikeanageingvapirestillstrikinglybeautifulbutasvenoousasasnake。IsabelVangerwasapparentlyonherwayhoeaftertakingawalk。Shecalledtohifrothecrossroad。
“Hellothere；youngan。ehere。”
Theandingtonewashardtoistake。Blokvistlookedaroundandconcludedthathewastheonesuoned。Hedidasinstructed。
“IaIsabelVanger；”thewoansaid。
“Hello。MynaeisMikaelBlokvist。”Hestuckouthishand；whichsheignored。
“Areyouthatpersonwhosbeensnoopingaroundinourfailyaffairs”
“Well；ifyoueanaIthepersonthatHenrikVangerhasputundercontracttohelphiwithhisabouttheVangerfaily；thenyes。”
“Thatsnoneofyourbusiness。”
“WhichThefactthatHenrikVangerofferedeacontractorthefactthatIaepted”
“YouknowperfectlywellwhatIean。Idontcareforpeoplepokingaroundinylife。”
“Iwontpokearoundinyourlife。TherestyoullhavetodiscusswithHenrik。”
IsabelraisedhercaneandpressedthehandleagainstMikaelschest。Shedidnotuseuchforce；buthetookastepbackinsurprise。
“Justyoukeepawayfroe；”shesaid；andtuedonherheendwalkedunsteadilytowardsherhouse。Blokvistwentonstandingwherehewas；lookinglikeaanwhohasjustetarealliveharacter。WhenhelookeduphesawVangerinthewindowofhisoffice。Inhishandhewasholdingacup；whichheraisedinanironicsalute。
TheonlytravellingthatBlokvistdidduringthatfirstonthwasadrivetoabayonLakeSiljan。HeborrowedFrodesMercedesanddrovethroughasnowyndscapetospendtheafteoonwithDetectiveSuperintendentMorell。 BlokvisthadtriedtoforanipressionofMorellbasedonthewayhecaeacrossinthepolicereport。Whathefoundwasawiryoldanwhoovedsoftlyandspokeevenoreslowly。
Blokvistbroughtwithhianotewithtenquestions；ainlyideasthathadcroppedhilehewasreadingthepolicereport。Morelnsweredeachquestionputtohiinaschoosterlyway。FinallyBlokvistputawayhisnotesandexpinedthatthequestionsweresiplyanexcuseforaeeting。Whathereallywantedwastohaveachatwithhiandaskonecrucialquestion：wasthereanysinglethingintheinvestigationthathadnotbeenincludedinthewrittenreportAnyhunches；even；thattheinspectorightbewillingtosharewithhi
BecauseMorell；likeVanger；hadspentthirtysixyearsponderingtheystery；BlokvisthadexpectedacertainresistancehewasthenewanwhohadeinandstartedtrapingaroundinthethicketwhereMorellhadgoneastray。Buttherewasnotahintofhostility。Morellethodicallyfilledhispipeandlititbeforehereplied。
“Wellyes；obviouslyIhadyownideas。ButtheyresovagueandfleetingthatIcanhardlyputtheintowords。”
“Whatdoyouthinkhappened”
“IthinkHarrietwasurdered。HenrikandIagreeonthat。Itstheonlyreasonableexpnation。Butweneverdiscoveredwhattheotiveighthavebeen。Ithinkshewasurderedforaveryspecificreasonitwasntsoeactofadnessorarapeoranythinglikethat。Ifwehadknowntheotive；wedhaveknownwhokilledher。”Morellpedtothinkforaoent。“Theurderayhavebeenittedspontaneously。BythatIeanthatsoeoneseizedanopportunitywhenitpresenteditselfintheingandgoinginthewakeoftheaident。Theurdererhidthebodyandthenatsoetertiereoveditwhileweweresearchingforher。”
“Weretalkingaboutsoeonewhohasnervesofice。”
“TheresonedetailHarrietwenttoHenriksroowantingtospeaktohi。Inhindsight；itseestoeastrangewaytobehavesheknewhehadhishandsfullwithalltheretiveswhowerehangingaround。IthinkHarrietaliverepresentedagravethreattosoeone；thatshewasgoingtotellHenriksoething；andthattheurdererknewshewasabouttowell；spillthebeans。”
“AndHenrikwasbusywithseveralfailyebers”
“Therewerefourpeopleintheroo；besidesHenrik。HisbrotherGreger；acousinnaedMagnusSjgren；andtwoofHaraldschildren；BirgerandCecilia。Butthatdoesnttellusanything。LetssupposethatHarriethaddiscoveredthatsoeonehadebezzledoneyfrothepanyhypothetically；ofcourse。Sheayhaveknownaboutitforonths；andatsoepointsheayevenhavediscusseditwiththepersoninquestion。Sheayhavetriedtobckailhi；orsheayhavefeltsorryforhiandfeltuneasyaboutexposinghi。Sheayhavedecidedallofasuddenandtoldtheurdererso；andheindesperationkilledher。”
“Youvesaidheandhi。”
“Thesaysthatostkillersareen。ButitsalsotruethatintheVangerfailyareseveralwoenwhoarerealfirebrands。”
“IveetIsabel。”
“Shesoneofthe。Butthereareothers。CeciliaVangercanbeextreelycaustic。HaveyouetSaraSjgren”
Blokvistshookhishead。
“ShesthedaughterofSofiaVanger；oneofHenrikscousins。Inhercaseweretalkingaboutatrulyunpleasantandinconsideratedy。ButshewaslivinginMal；andasfarasIcouldascertain；shehadnootiveforkillingthegirl。”
“Soshesoffthelist。”
“Theprobleisthatnoatterhoetwistedandtuedthings；wenevercaeithaotive。Thatstheiportantthing。”