船说。 Blokvisttriedtotakeupthethreadoftheirearlierconversation；butBergerwasinnooodtodiscussMillenniu。InsteadtheytalkedfortwohoursaboutwhatBlokvistwasdoingupthereandhowheandVangerweregettingon。Latertheywenttoseeifthebedwasbigenoughtoholdbothofthe。
HerthirdeetingwithAdvokatNilsBjuranwasrescheduled；andfinallysetfor5：00onthatsaeFridayafteoon。Atthepreviouseetings；Sanderwasgreetedbyaiddleagedwoanwhoselledofuskandworkedashissecretary。Thistieshehadleftfortheday；andBjuranselledfaintlyofdrink。HewavedSandertoavisitorschairandleafeddistractedlythroughthedocuentsonhisdeskuntilheseeedsuddenlytobeeawareofherpresence。
Ittuedouttobeanotherinterrogation。ThistieheaskedSanderabouthersexlifewhichshehadnointentionofdiscussingwithanyone。
Aftertheeetingsheknewthatshehadhandleditbadly。Atfirstsherefusedtoanswerhisquestions。Hisinterpretationofthiswasthatshewasshy；retarded；orhadsoethingtohide；andhepressedherforanswers。Sanderrealisedthathewasnotgoingtogiveup；soshestartedgivinghibrief；colourlessanswersofthesortsheassuedwouldfitwithherpsychologicalprofile。Sheentioned“Magnus”who；aordingtoherdescription；wasanerdyputerprograerherownagewhotreatedherlikeagentleanshould；tookhertothecinea；andsoetiessharedherbed。“Magnus”wasfiction；sheadehiupasshewentalong；butBjurantookheraountasapretextforeticulouslyappingouthersexlife。HowoftendoyouhavesexOasionally。WhotakestheinitiativeyouorhiIdo。DoyouusecondosOfcoursesheknewaboutHIV。WhatsyourfavouritepositionH；usuallyonyback。DoyouenjoyoralsexEr；waitasecondHaveyoueverhadanalsex
“No；itsnotparticurlynicetobefuckedinthearsebutwhatthehellbusinessisitofyours”
Thatwastheonlytieshelostherteper。Shehadkepthereyesonthefloorsotheywouldnotbetrayherexasperation。Whenshelookedathiagain；hewasgrinningatherfroacrossthedesk。Shelefthisofficewithafeelingofdisgust。Palgrenwouldneverhavedreaedofaskingsuchquestions。Ontheotherhand；hehadalwaysbeenthereifshehadwantedtodiscussanything。Notthatshedid。
BjuranwasonhiswaytobeingaMajorProble。
CHAPTER11
Saturday；February1–Tuesday；February18
DuringthebriefhoursofdaylightonSaturday；BlokvistandBergertookawalkpastthesallboatharbouralongtheroadtostergrden。HehadbeenlivingonHedebyIsndforaonth；buthehadnevertakenawalkinnd；thefreezingteperaturesandregursnowstorshaddeterredhi。ButSaturdaywassunnyandpleasant。ItwasasifBergerhadbroughtwithherahintofspring。Theroadwaslinedwithsnow；ploughedthreefeethigh。Assoonastheyleftthesuercabinareatheywerewalkingindensefirforest。BlokvistwassurprisedbyhowuchhigherandoreinaessibleSderberget；thehilcrossfrothecabins；wasthanitappearedfrothevilge。HethoughtabouthowanytiesHarrietVangerusthavepyedhereasachild；butthenhepushedallthoughtsofheroutofhisind。Afteraboutailethewoodsendedatafencewherethestergrdenfarndbegan。Theycouldseeawhitewoodenstructureandredfarbuildingsarrangedinasquare。Theytuedtoheadbackthesaeway。
Astheypassedthedrivewaytotheestatehouse；Vangerknockedontheupstairswindowandgesturedfirlyforthetoeup。BlokvistandBergerlookedateachother。
“Wouldyouliketoeetacorporatelegend”Blokvistsaid。
“Doeshebite”
“NotonSaturdays。”
Vangerreceivedtheatthedoortohisoffice。
“YouustbeFrkenBerger；Irecogniseyou。”hesaid。“MikaeldidntsayawordaboutyouringtoHedeby。”
OneofBergersoutstandingtalentswasherabilitytoinstantlygetonfriendlyterswiththeostunlikelyindividuals。Blokvisthadseenhertuonthecharforfiveyearoldboys；whowithinteninuteswerefullypreparedtoabandontheirothers。Menovereightyseeednottobeanexception。AftertwoinutesBergerandHenrikVangerwereignoringBlokvistastheychatteredon。Itwasasiftheyhadknowneachothersincechildhoodwell；sinceErikaschildhood；atanyrate。
BergerstartedoffquiteboldlybyscoldingVangerforluringherpublisherawayintothesticks。Theoldanrepliedthatasfarashecouldtellfroassortedpressreportsshehadinfactfiredhi。 Andhadshenotdoneso；thennowightbehightietogetridofexcessbalstintheeditorialoffices。Andinthatcase；Vangersaid；aperiodofrusticlifewoulddoyoungBlokvistsoegood。
ForfiveinutestheydiscussedBlokvistsshortingsintheostirritatingters。Blokvistleanedbackandpretendedtobeinsulted；buthefrownedwhenBergeradesoecrypticrearksthatightalludetohisfailingsasajoualistbutightalsohaveappliedtosexualprowess。Vangertiltedhisheadbackandroaredwithughter。
Blokvistwasastonished。HehadneverseenVangersonaturandrexed。HecouldsuddenlyseethatVanger；fiftyyearsyoungeroreventhirtyyearsusthavebeenquiteacharing；attractivediesan。Hehadneverrearried。Thereusthavebeenwoenwhocrossedhispath；yetfoearlyhalfacenturyhehadreainedabachelor。
BlokvisttookasipofcoffeeandprickeduphisearsagainwhenherealisedthattheconversationhadsuddenlytuedseriousandhadtodowithMillenniu。
“Mikaelhastoldethatyourehavingproblesattheagazine。”BergergncedatBlokvist。“No；hehasntdiscussedyourintealoperations；butapersonwouldhavetobedeafandblindnottoseethatyouragazine；justliketheVangerCorporation；isindifficulties。”
“Iconfidentthatwecanrepairthesituation；”Bergersaid。
“Idoubtit；”Vangersaid。
“Whyisthat”
“LetsseehowanyeployeesdoyouhaveSixAonthlyagazinewithaprintrunof21；000；anufacturingcosts；saries；distribution；officesYouneedrevenuesofabout10illion。Ithinkweknohatpercentageofthataounthastoefroadvertisingrevenue。”
“So”
“SofriendWennerstrisavengefundnarrowindedbastardwhoisntgoingtofethisrecentcontretepsinahurry。Howanyadvertisershaveyoulostinthepastsixonths”
BergerregardedVangerwithawaryexpression。Blokvistcaughthiselfholdinghisbreath。OnthoseoasionswhenheandtheoldanhadtouchedonthefutureofMillenniu；ithadalwaysconceedannoyingrearksortheagazinessituationinretiontoBlokvistsabilitytofinishhisworkinHedestad。ButVangerwasnowaddressingErikaalone；onebosstoanother。SignalspassedbetweenthethatBlokvistcouldnotinterpret；whichighthavehadtodowiththefactthathewasbasicallyapoorworkingcssboyfroNorrndandshewasanuppercssgirlwithadistinguished；inteationalfailytree。
“CouldIhavealittleorecoffee”Bergerasked。Vangerpouredheracupatonce。“OK；youvedoneyourhoework。Werebleeding。”
“Howlong”
“Wevegotsixonthstotuourselvesaround。Eightonths；ax。Wedonthaveenoughcapitaltokeepourselvesafloatlongerthanthat。”
Theoldansexpressionwasinscrutableashestaredoutofthewindow。Thechurchwasstillstandingthere。
“DidyouknowthatIwasonceinthenewspaperbusiness”hesaid；onceoreaddressingtheboth。
BlokvistandBergerbothshooktheirheads。Vangerughedagain；ruefully。
“WeownedsixdailynewspapersinNorrnd。Thatwasbackinthefiftiesandsixties。Itwasyfathersideahethoughtitightbepoliticallyadvantageoustohaveasectionoftheediabehindus。WereactuallystilloneoftheownersoftheHedestadCourier。Birgeristhechairanoftheboardforthegroupofowners。Haraldsson；”headded；forBlokvistsbenefit。
“Andalsoalocalpolitician；”Blokvistsaid。
“Martinisontheboardtoo。HekeepsBirgerinline。”
“Whydidyouletgoofthenewspapersyouowned”Blokvistasked。
“Corporaterestructuringinthesixties。Publishingnewspaperswasinsoewaysoreahobbythananinterest。Whenweneededtotightenthebudget；itwasoneofthefirstassetsthatwesold。ButIknohatittakestorunapublicationMayIaskyouapersonalquestion”
ThiswasdirectedatErika。
“IhaventaskedMikaeboutthis；andifyoudontwanttoanswer；youdonthaveto。Idliketoknowhowyouendedupinthisquagire。Didyouhaveastoryordidntyou”
NowitwasBlokviststutolookinscrutable。Bergerhesitatedonlyasecondbeforeshesaid：“Wehadastory。Butitwasaverydifferentstory。”
Vangeodded；asifheunderstoodpreciselywhatBergerwassaying。Blokvistdidnot。
“Idontwanttodiscusstheatter。”Blokvistcutthediscussionshort。“Ididtheresearchandwrotethearticle。IhadallthesourcesIneeded。Butthenitallwenttohell。”
“Youhadsourcesforeverystthingyouwrote”
“Idid。”