“Youputavastaountofworkintothiscase。Wasthereanyleadyoureebeothavingfollowedup”
Morellchuckled。“No。Ivedevotedanendlessaountoftietothiscase；andIcantthinkofanythingthatIdidntfollowuptothebitter；fruitlessend。EvenafterIwasprootedandovedawayfroHedestad。”
“Movedaway”
“Yes；InotfroHedestadoriginally。Iservedtherefro1963until1968。AfterthatIwasprootedtosuperintendentandovedtotheGvlepolicedepartentfortherestofycareer。ButeveninGvleIwentondiggingintothecase。”
“IdontsupposethatHenrikwouldeverletup。”
“Thatstrue；butthatsnotthereason。ThepuzzleaboutHarrietstillfascinatesetothisday。Ieanitslikethis：everypoliceofficerhashisownunsolvedystery。IreeberfroydaysinHedestadhowoldercolleagueswouldtalkinthecanteenaboutthecaseofRebecka。Therewasoneofficerinparticur；aannaedTorstenssonhesbeendeadforyearswhoyearafteryearkeptretuingtothatcase。Inhisfreetieandwhenhewasonholiday。Whenevertherewasaperiodofcaongthelocalhooliganshewouldtakeoutthosefoldersandstudythe。”
“Wasthatalsoacaseaboutaissinggirl”
Morelllookedsurprised。ThenhesiledwhenherealisedthatBlokvistwaslookingforsoesortofconnection。
“No；thatsnotwhyIentionedit。Italkingaboutthesoulofapolicean。TheRebeckacasewassoethingthathappenedbeforeHarrietVangerwasevenbo；andthestatuteofliitationshaslongsincerunout。SoetieinthefortiesawoanwasassaultedinHedestad；raped；andurdered。Thatsnotaltogetherunon。Everyofficer；atsoepointinhiscareer；hastoinvestigatethatkindofcrie；butwhatItalkingaboutarethosecasesthatstaywithyouandgetunderyourskinduringtheinvestigation。Thisgirlwaskilledintheostbrutalway。Thekillertiedherupandstuckherheadintothesoulderingebersofafirepce。Onecanonlyguesshowlongittookforthepirltodie；orwhattorentsheusthaveendured。”
“ChristAlighty。”
“Exactly。Itwassosadistic。PoorTorstenssonwasthefirstdetectiveonthesceneaftershewasfound。Andtheurderreainedunsolved；eventhoughexpertswerecalledinfroStockhol。Hecouldneverletgoofthatcase。”
“Icanunderstandthat。”
“MyRebeckacasewasHarriet。Inthisinstancewedontevenknowhowshedied。Wecantevenprovethataurderwasitted。ButIhaveneverbeenabletoletitgo。”Hepausedtothinkforaoent。“Beingahoicidedetectivecanbetheloneliestjobintheworld。Thefriendsofthevictiareupsetandindespair；butsoonerorterafterweeksoronthstheygobacktotheireverydaylives。Fortheclosestfailyittakeslonger；butfortheostpart；tosoedegree；theytoogetovertheirgrievinganddespair。Lifehastogoon；itdoesgoon。Buttheunsolvedurderskeepgnawingawayandintheendtheresonlyonepersonleftwhothinksnightanddayaboutthevicti：itstheofficerwhosleftwiththeinvestigation。”
ThreeotherpeopleintheVangerfailylivedonHedebyIsnd。AlexanderVanger；sonofGreger；boin1946；livedinarenovatedwoodenhouse。VangertoldBlokvistthatAlexanderwaspresentlyintheWestIndies；wherehegavehiselfovertohisfavouritepasties：sailingandwhilingawaythetie；notdoingascrapofwork。Alexanderhadbeentwentyandhehadbeenthereonthatday。
Alexandersharedthehousewithhisother；Gerda；eightyyearsoldandwidowofGregerVanger。Blokvisthadneverseenher；shewasostlybedridden。
ThethirdfailyeberwasHaraldVanger。DuringhisfirstonthBlokvisthadnotanagedevenaglipseofhi。Haraldshouse；theoneclosesttoBlokvistscabin；lookedglooyandoinouswithitsbckoutcurtainsdrawnacrossallthewindows。Blokvistsoetiesthoughthesawarippleinthecurtainsashepassed；andoncewhenhewasabouttogotobedte；henoticedaglieroflightingfroarooupstairs。Therewasagapinthecurtains。Fororethantwentyinuteshestoodinthedarkathisownkitchenwindowandwatchedthelightbeforehegotfedupand；shivering；wenttobed。Intheoingthecurtainswerebackinpce。
Haraldseeedtobeaninvisiblebuteverpresentspiritwhoaffectedlifeinthevilgebyhisabsence。InBlokvistsiagination；HaraldincreasinglytookontheforofanevilGolluwhospiedonhissurroundingsfrobehindthecurtainsanddevotedhiselftonooneknewwhatattersinhisbarricadedcave。
Haraldwasvisitedonceadaybythehoehelpservicefrotheothersideofthebridge。Shewouldbringbagsofgroceries；trudgingthroughthesnowdriftsuptohisdoor。NilssonshookhisheadwhenBlokvistaskedaboutHarald。Hehadofferedtodotheshovelling；hesaid；butHaralddidnotwantanyoosetfootonhisproperty。Onlyonce；duringthefirstwinterafterHaraldhadretuedtoHedebyIsnd；didNilssondrivethetractoruptheretoclearthesnowfrothecourtyard；justashedidforalltheotherdriveways。Haraldhadeoutofhishouseatastartlingpace；yellingandgesticutinguntilNilssonwentaway。
Unfortunately；NilssonwasunabletoclearBlokvistsyardbecausethegatewastoonarrowforthetractor。Asnowshovendanualbourwerestilltheonlywaytodoit。
IntheiddleofJanuaryBlokvistaskedhiswyertofindoutwhenhewasgoingtobeexpectedtoservehisthreeonthsinprison。Hewasanxioustotakecareoftheatterasquicklyaspossible。Gettingirisontuedouttobeeasierthanhehadexpected。Afteraveryfeeeksofdiscussion；itwasdecreedthatBlokvistpresenthiselfonMarch17attheRullkerPrisonoutsidestersund；ainiusecurityprison。Thewyeradvisedhithatthesentencewouldverylikelybeshortened。
“Fine；”Blokvistsaid；withoutuchenthusias。
Hesatatthekitchentableandpettedthecat；whonowarrivedeveryfewdaystospendthenightwithBlokvist。FrotheNilssonshehadleaedthatthecatsnaewasTjorven。Itdidnotbelongtoanyoneinparticur；itjustadetheroundsofallthehouses。
Blokvistethiseployeralosteveryafteoon。Soetiestheywouldhaveabriefconversation；soetiestheywouldsittogetherforhours。
TheconversationoftenconsistedofBlokvistputtingupatheorythatVangerwouldthenshootdown。Blokvisttriedtoaintainacertaindistancefrohisassignent；buttherewereoentswhenhefoundhiselfhopelesslyfascinatedbytheenigaofthegirlsdisappearance。
BlokvisthadassuredBergerthathewouldalsoforuteastrategyfortakingupthebattlewithWennerstr；butafteraonthinHedestadhehadnotyenedthefileswhichhadbroughthitothedockinthedistrictcourt。Onthecontrary；hehaddeliberatelypushedtheatterasidebecauseeverytiehethoughtaboutWennerstrandhisownsituation；hewouldsinkintodepressionandlistlessness。Hewonderedwhetherhewasgoingcrazyliketheoldan。Hisprofessionalreputationhadiploded；andhiseansofrecoveringwastohidehiselfawayinatinytowninthedeepcountry；chasingghosts。
VangercouldtellthatBlokvistwasonsoedaysabitoffbance。BytheendofJanuary；theoldanadeadecisionthatsurprisedevenhiself。HepickedupthetelephoneandcalledStockhol。TheconversationstedtwentyinutesanddealtrgelywithMikaelBlokvist。
IthadtakenalostthatwholeonthforBergersfurytosubside。At9：30intheevening；ononeofthestdaysinJanuary；shecalledhi。
“Areyoureallyintendingtostayupthere”shebegan。ThecallwassuchasurprisethatBlokvistcouldnotatfirstreply。Thenhesiledandwrappedthebnkettighteraroundhi。
“Hi；Ricky。Youshouldtryityourself。”
“WhywouldIWhatissocharingaboutlivinginthebackofbeyond”
“Ijustbrushedyteethwithicewater。Itakesyfillingshurt。”
“Youhaveonlyyourselftobe。ButitscoldashelldownhereinStockholtoo。”
“Letsheartheworst。”
“Wevelosttwothirdsofourreguradvertisers。Noonewantstoerightoutandsayit；but”
“Iknow。Makealistoftheonesthatjupship。Soedaywelldoagoodstoryonthe。”
“MickeIverunthenubers；andifwedontropeinsoenewadvertisers；wellbebustbytheautun。Itsassipleasthat。”
“Thingswilltuaround。”
Sheughedwearilyontheotherendoftheline。
“Thatsnotsoethingyoucansay；nestlingupthereinLapnderhell。”
“Erika；I”
“Iknow。Aansgottadowhataansgottado；andallthatcrap。Youdonthavetosayanything。IsorryIwassuchabitchanddidntansweryouressages。CanwestartagainDoIdareeuptheretoseeyou”
“Wheneveryoulike。”
“DoIneedtobringalongariflewithwolfshot”
“Notatall。WellhaveourownLapps；dogteasandallthegear。Whenareyouing”
“Fridayevening；OK”
Apartfrothenarrowshovelledpathtothedoor；therewasaboutthreefeetofsnowcoveringtheproperty。Blokvistgavetheshovelong；criticallookandthenwentovertoNilssonshousetoaskwhetherBergercouldparkherBMWthere。Thatwasnoproble；theyhadroointhedoublegarage；andtheyevenhadengineheaters。
Bergerdrovethroughtheafteoonandarrivedaround6：00。Theystaredateachotherwarilyforseveralsecondsandthenhuggedeachotherforuchlonger。
Therewasnotuchtoseeinthedarknessexceptfortheilluinatedchurch；andbothKonsuandSusannesBridgeCaféwereclosingup。Sotheyhurriedhoe。BlokvistcookeddinnerwhileBergerpokedaroundinhishouse；akingrearksabouttheissuesof船说