Vangersvoicewassuddenlysharp。“Iwontpretendtounderstandhowthehellyoucouldwalkintosuchainefield。IcantrecalsiirstoryexceptperhapstheLundahffairinExpresseninthesixties；ifyouyoungstershaveeverheardofit。Wasyoursourcealsoaythoaniac”HeshookhisheadandtuedtoBergerandsaidquietly；“Ivebeenanewspaperpublisherinthepast；andIcanbeoneagain。Whatwouldyousaytotakingonanotherpartner”
Thequestioncaelikeaboltoutoftheblue；butBergerdidnotseetheleastbitsurprised。
“Telleore；”shesaid。
Vangersaid：“HowlongareyoustayinginHedestad”
“Igoinghoetoorrow。”
“WouldyouconsideryouandMikael；ofcoursehuouringanoldanbyjoiningefordinnertonightWould7：00suit”
“Thatwouldsuitusfine。Wedloveit。ButyourenotansweringthequestionIasked。WhywouldyouwanttobeapartnerinMillenniu”
“Inotavoidingthequestion。Ijustthoughtwecoulddiscussitoverdinner。IhavetotalkwithywyerbeforeIcanputtogetheraconcreteoffer。ButinallsiplicityIcansaythatIhaveoneytoinvest。Iftheagazinesurvivesandstartsakingaprofitagain；thenIlleoutahead。Ifnotwell；Ivehadsignificantlybiggerlossesinyday。”
BlokvistwasabouttoopenhisouthwhenBergerputherhandonhisknee。
“MikaendIhavefoughthardsothatwecouldbepletelyindependent。”
“Nonsense。Nooneispletelyindependent。ButInotouttotakeovertheagazine；andIdontgiveadanaboutthecontents。ThatbastardStenbeckgotallsortsofpointsforpublishingModeTies；sowhycantIbackMillenniuWhichhappenstobeanexcellentagazine；bytheway。”
“DoesthishaveanythingtodowithWennerstr”Blokvistsaid。
Vangersiled。“Mikael；Ieightyyearsplus。TherearethingsIregretnotdoingandpeopleIregretnotfightingore。But；aproposthiic”HetuedtoBergeragain。“Thistypeofinvestentwouldhaveatleastonecondition。”
“Letshearit；”Bergersaid。
“MikaelBlokvistustresuehispositionaspublisher。”
“No；”Blokvistsnapped。
“Butyes；”Vangersaid；equallycurt。“WennerstrwillhaveastrokeifwesendoutapressreleasesayingthattheVangerCorporationisbackingMillenniu；andatthesaetieyoureretuingaspublisher。Thatsabsolutelytheclearestsignalwecouldsendeveryonewillunderstandthatitsnotatakeoverandthattheeditorialpolicieswontchange。Andthatalonewillgivetheadvertiserswhoarethinkingofpullingoutreasontoreconsider。Wennerstrisntonipotent。Hehaseneiestoo；andtherearepaniesnewtoyouthatwillconsidertakingspace。”
“Whatthehellwasthatalbout”BlokvistsaidassoonasBergerpulledthefrontdoorshut。
“Ithinkitswhatyoucaldvanceprobesforabusinessdeal；”shesaid。“YoudidnttellethatHenrikVangerissuchasweetie。”
Blokvistpntedhiselfinfrontofher。“Ricky；youknewexactlywhatthisconversationwasgoingtobeabout。”
“Hey；toyboy。Itsonly3：00；andIwanttobeproperlyentertainedbeforedinner。”
Blokvistwasenraged。ButhehadneveranagedtobeenragedatErikaBergerforverylong。
Sheworeabckdress；awaistlengthjacket；andpups；whichshejusthappenedtohavebroughtalonginherlittlesuitcase。SheinsistedthatBlokvistwearajacketandtie。Heputonhisbcktrousers；agreyshirt；darktie；andgreysportscoat。WhentheyknockedpunctuallyonthedoorofVangershoe；ittuedoutthatDirchFrodeandMartinVangerwerealsoaongtheguests。EveryonewaswearingajacketandtieexceptforVanger。
“Theadvantageofbeingovereightyisthatnoonecancriticisewhatyouwear；”hedecred。Heworeabowtieandabrowncardigan。
Bergerwasinhighspiritsthroughoutthedinner。
Itwasnotuntiltheyovedtothedrawingroowiththefirepceandcognacwaspouredthatthediscussiontookonaserioustone。Theytalkedforalosttwohoursbeforetheyhadtheoutlineforadealonthetable。
FrodewouldsetupapanytobewhollyownedbyHenrikVanger；theboardwouldconsistofHenrikandMartinVangerandFrode。Overafouryearperiod；thispanywouldinvestasuofoneythatwouldcoverthegapbetweenineandexpensesforMillenniu。TheoneywouldefroVangerspersonassets。Inretu；Vangerwouldhaveaconspicuouspositionontheagazinesboard。Theagreeentwouldbevalidforfouryears；butitcouldbeterinatedbyMillenniuaftertwoyears。Butthistypeofpreatureterinationwouldbecostly；sinceVangercouldonlybeboughtoutbyrepayentofthesuhehadinvested。
IntheeventofVangersdeath；MartinVangerwouldrepcehiontheMillenniuboardforthereainderoftheperiodduringwhichtheagreeentwasvalid。IfMartinwishedtocontinuehisinvolveentbeyondthisperiod；hecouldakethatdecisionhiselfwhenthetiecae。HeseeedausedbytheprospectofgettingevenwithWennerstr；andBlokvistwonderedagainwhattheoriginwasoftheaniositybetweenthosetwo。
Martinrefilledtheirgsses。VangeradeapointofleaningtowardsBlokvist；andinalowvoicetoldhithatthisnewarrangeenthadnoeffectwhatsoeverontheagreeentthatexistedbetweenthe。Blokvistcouldresuehisdutiesaspublisherfulltieattheendoftheyear。
Itwasalsodecidedthatthereanisation；inordertohavethegreatestipactintheedia；shouldbepresentedonthesaedaythatBlokvistbeganhisprisonsentenceinidMarch。biningastronglynegativeeventwithareanisationwas；inPRters；suchaclusyerrorthatitcouldnotbutastonishBlokvistsdetractorsandgaeroptiuattentionforHenrikVangersnewrole。ButeveryonealsosawthelogicinititwasawayofindicatingthattheyellowpguefgflutteringoverMillenniuseditorialofficeswasabouttobehauleddown；theagazinehadbackerswhowerewillingtoberuthless。TheVangerCorporationightbeinacrisis；butitwasstilproinentindustrialfirwhichcouldgoontheoffenceiftheneedarose。
ThewholeconversationwasadiscussionbetweenBerger；ononeside；andHenrikandMartinVangerontheother。NooneaskedBlokvistwhathethought。
LatethatnightBlokvistywithhisheadrestingonErikasbreasts；lookingintohereyes。
“HowlonghaveyouandHenrikVangerbeendiscussingthisarrangeent”
“Aboutaweek；”shesaid；siling。
“IsChristerinagreeent”
“Ofcourse。”
“Whydidntyoutelle”
“WhyintheworldshouldIdiscussitwithyouYouresignedaspublisher；youlefttheeditorialstaffandtheboard；andyouwenttoliveinthewoods。”
“SoIdeservetobetreatedlikeanidiot。”
“Ohyes；”shesaid。“Decidedlyyoudo。”
“Youreallyhavebeenadate。”
“Mikael；Iveneverfeltsofurious；soabandoned；andsobetrayedaswhenyouleft。Iveneverbeenthisupsetwithyoubefore。”Shetookafirgriponhishairandthenshovedhifartherdowninthebed。
BythetieBergerleftHedebyonSunday；BlokvistwasstillsoannoyedwithVangerthathedidnotwanttoriskrunningintoeitherhioranyothereberofhiscn。Instead；onMondayhetookthebusintoHedestadandspenttheafteoonwalkinginthetown；visitingthelibrary；anddrinkingcoffeeinabakery。IntheeveninghewenttothecineatoseeTheLordoftheRings；whichhehadneverbeforehadtietosee。Hethoughtthatorcs；unlikehuanbeings；weresipleandunplicatedcreatures。
HeendedhisoutingatMcDonaldsinHedestadandcaughtthestbustoHedeby。Headecoffee；tookoutabinder；andsatatthekitchentable。Hereaduntil4：00intheoing。
TherewereanuberofquestionsregardingtheinvestigationthatseeedincreasinglyoddthefurtherBlokvistwentthroughthedocuents。Theywerenotrevolutionarydiscoveriesthatheadeallonhisown；theywereproblesthathadpreoupiedInspectorMorellforlongperiods；especiallyinhisfreetie。
Duringthestyearofherlife；Harriethadchanged。Insoewaysthischangecouldbeexpinedasthechangethateveryonegoesthroughinonefororanotherduringtheirteenageyears。Harrietwasgrowingup。Cssates；teachers；andseveralebersofthefaily；howe船说