ThirteenpercentofthewoeninSwedenhavebeensubjectedtoaggravatedsexuassaultoutsideofasexualretionship。
CHAPTER15
Friday；May16–Saturday；May31
MikaelBlokvistwasreleasedfroRullkerPrisononFriday；May16；twoonthsafterhewasaditted。Thesaedayheenteredthefacility；hehadsubittedanapplicationforparole；withnogretiis。Heneverdidquiteunderstandthetechnicalreasonsbehindhisrelease；butitayhavehadsoethingtodowiththefactthathedidnotuseanyholidayleaveandthattheprisonpoputionwasfortytwowhilethenuberofbedswasthirtyone。Inanycase；thewardenPeterSarowsky；afortyyearoldPolishexilewithwhoBlokvistgotalongwell；wroteareendationthathissentencebereduced。
HistieatRullkerhadbeenunstressfundpleasantenough。Theprisonhadbeendesigned；asSarowskyexpressedit；forhooligansanddrunkdrivers；notforhardenedcriinals。Thedailyroutinesreindedhioflivinginayouthhostel。Hisfellowprisoners；halfofwhoweresecondgenerationiigrants；regardedBlokvistassoethingofararebirdinthegroup。HewastheonlyinatetoappearontheTVnews；whichlenthiacertainstatus。
Onhisfirstday；hewascalledratalkandofferedtherapy；trainingfroKovux；ortheopportunityforotheradulteducation；andoupationalcounselling。Hedidnotfeenyneedatallforsocialrehabilitation；hehadpletedhisstudies；hethought；andhealreadyhadajob。Ontheotherhand；heaskedforperissiontokeephisiinhiscellsothathecouldcontinuetoworkonthehewasissionedtowrite。Hisrequestwasgrantedwithoutfurtherado；andSarowskyarrangedtobringhialockablecabisothathecouldleavetheputerinhiscell。Notthatanyoftheinateswouldhavestolenorvandaliseditoranythinglikethat。Theyratherkeptaprotectiveeyeonhi。
InthiswayBlokvistspenttwoonthsworkingaboutsixhoursadayontheVangerfailychronicle；workthatwasinterruptedonlybyafewhoursofcleaningorrecreationeachday。Blokvistandtwoothers；oneofwhocaefroSkvdeandhadhisrootsinChile；wereassignedtocleantheprisongyeachday。RecreationconsistedofwatchingTV；pyingcards；orweighttraining。Blokvistdiscoveredthathewasapassablepokerpyer；buthestilllostafewfiftyrecoinseveryday。Regutionsperittedpyingforoneyifthetotalpotdidnotexceedfivekronor。
Hewastoldofhisreleaseonlyonedaybefore。Sarowskysuonedhitohisofficeandtheysharedatoastwithaquavit。
BlokvistwentstraightbacktothecabininHedeby。Whenhewalkedupthefrontstepsheheardaeowandfoundhiselfescortedbythereddishbrowncat。
“OK；youcanein；”hesaid。“ButIhavenoilkyet。”
Heunpackedhisbags。Itwasasifhehadbeenonholiday；andherealisedthatheactuallyissedthepanyofSarowskyandhisfellowprisoners。Absurdasitseeed；hehadenjoyedhistieatRullker；buthisreleasehadesounexpectedlythathehadhadnotietoletanyoneknow。
Itwasjustafter6：00intheevening。HehurriedovertoKonsutobuygroceriesbeforetheyclosed。WhenhegothoehecalledBerger。Aessagesaidshewasunavaible。Heaskedforhertocallhithenextday。
Thenhewalkeduptohiseployershouse。HefoundVangeronthegroundfloor。TheoldanraisedhiseyebrowsinsurprisewhenhesawMikael。
“Didyouescape”
“Releasedearly。”
“Thatsasurprise。”
“Foretoo。Ifoundoutstnight。”
Theylookedateachotherforafewseconds。ThentheoldansurprisedBlokvistbythrowinghisarsaroundhiandgivinghiabearhug。
“Iwasjustabouttoeat。Joine。”
Annaproducedagreatquantityofbaconpancakeswithlingonberries。Theysatthereinthediningrooandtalkedforalosttwohours。Blokvisttoldhiabouthowfarhehadgotwiththefailychronicle；andwheretherewereholesandgaps。TheydidnottalkatalboutHarriet；butVangertoldhialboutMillenniu。
“Wehadaboardeeting。FrkenBergerandyourpartnerMalwerekindenoughtoovetwooftheeetingsuphere；whileDirchstoodreataeetinginStockhol。IreallywishIwereafewyearsyounger；butthetruthisthatitstootiringforetotravelsofar。Illtrytogetdownthereduringthesuer。”
“Noreasonnottoholdtheeetingsuphere；”Blokvistsaid。“Sohowdoesitfeeltobeapartowneroftheagazine”
Vangergavehiawrysile。
“ItsactuallytheostfunIvehadinyears。Ivetakenalookatthefinances；andtheylookprettyfair。IwonthavutupasuchoneyasIthoughtthegapbetweenineandexpensesisdwindling。”
“ItalkedwithErikathisweek。Shesaysthatadvertisingrevenuehasperkedup。”
“Itsstartingtotuaround；yes；butitlltaketie。AtfirstthepaniesintheVangerCorporationwentinandboughtupabunchoffullpageads。Buttwoforeradvertisersobiletelephonesandatravelbureauhaveeback。”Hesiledbroadly。“WerealsodoingalittleoreoonehustlingaongWennerstrseneies。And；believee；theresalonglist。”
“HaveyouhearddirectlyfroWennerstr”
“Well；notreally。ButweleakedastorythatWennerstrisanisingtheboycottofMillenniu。Thatusthaveadehilookpetty。AreporteratDNissaidtohavereachedhiandgotasurlyreply。”
“Youareenjoyingthis；arentyou”
“Enjoyisnttheword。Ishouldhavedevotedyselftothisyearsago。”
“WhatisitbetweenyouandWennerstr；anyway”
“Donteventry。Youllfindoutattheendofyouryear。”
WhenBlokvistleftVangeraround9：00therewasadistinctfeelingofspringintheair。Itwasdarkoutsideandhehesitatedforaoent。ThenheadehisfailiarcircuitandknockedonthedoorofCeciliaVangershouse。
Hewasntsurewhatheexpected。Ceciliaopenedhereyeswideandinstantlylookedunfortableasshelethiintothehall。Theystoodthere；suddenlyunsureofeachother。Shetooaskedifhehadescaped；andheexpinedthesituation。
“Ijustwantedtosayhello。AIinterruptingsoething”
Sheavoidedhiseyes。Mikaelcouldsenseatoncethatshewasntparticurlygdtoseehi。
“Nono；ein。Wouldyoulikesoecoffee”
“Iwould。”
Hefollowedherintothekitchen。Shestoodwithherbacktohiasshefilledthecoffeeakerwithwater。Heputahandonhershoulder；andshestiffened。
“Cecilia；youdontlookasifyouwanttogiveecoffee。”
“Iwasntexpectingyouforanotheronth；”shesaid。“Yousurprisede。”
Hetuedheraroundsothathecouldseeherface。Theystoodinsilenceforaoent。Shestillwouldnotlookhiintheeye。
“Cecilia。Fetaboutthecoffee。Whatsgoingon”
Sheshookherheadandtookadeepbreath。
“Mikael；Idlikeyoutoleave。Dontask。Justleave。”
Mikaelfirstwalkedbacktothecottage；butpausedatthegate；undecided。Insteadofgoinginhewentdowntothewaterbythebridgeandsatonarock。HesokedacigarettewhilehesortedouthisthoughtsandwonderedwhatcouldhavesodraaticallychangedCeciliaVangersattitudetowardshi。
Hesuddenlyheardthesoundofanengineandsawabigwhiteboatslipintothesoundbeneaththebridge。Whenitpassed；MikaelsawthatitwasMartinVangerstandingatthewheel；withhisgazefocusedonavoidingsunkenrocksinthewater。Theboatwasafortyfoototorcruiseranipressivebundleofpower。Hestoodupandtookthebeachpath。Hediscoveredthatseveralboatswerealreadyinthewateratvariousdocks；aixtureofotorboatsandsailingboats。TherewereseveralPetterssonboats；andatonedockanIFcssyachtwasrockinginthewake。Otherboatswerergerandoreexpensivevessels。HenoticedaHallbergRassy。TheboatsalsoindicatedthecssdistributionofHedebysarinaMartinVangerhadwithoutadoubtthel船说