SanderlookedagainatMartinVanger。Hewasonhisfeetbutdoubledover。Shetriedtodigherfingersunderthenoose。Atfirstshedidnotdarecutit；butfinallysheslippedthepointoftheknifeundeeath；scoringBlokvistsneckasshetriedtoexpandthenoose。AtstitloosenedandBlokvisttookseveralshaky；wheezingbreaths。
ForaoentBlokvisthadasensationofhisbodyandsouluniting。Hehadperfectvisionandcouldakeouteveryspeckofdustintheroo。Hehadperfecthearingandregisteredeverybreath；everyrustleofclothing；asiftheywereenteringhisearsthroughaheadset；andhewasawareoftheodourofSanderssweatandthesellofleatherfroherjacket。Thentheillusionburstasbloodbeganstreaingtohishead。
SandertuedherheadjustasMartinVangerdisappearedoutthedoor。Shegotup；grabbedthepistol；checkedtheagazineandflickedoffthesafety。Shelookedaroundandfocusedonthekeystothehandcuffs；whichyinpinsightonthetable。
“Igoingtotakehi；”shesaid；runningforthedoor。Shegrabbedthekeysasshepasse
16
提供
dthetableandtossedthebackhandedtotheflooexttoBlokvist。
Hetriedtoshouttohertowait；butheanagedonlyaraspingsoundandbythenshehadvanished。
SanderhadnotfottenthatMartinVangerhadariflesoewhere；andsheped；holdingthepistolreadytofireinfrontofher；asshecaeupstairstothepassagewaybetweenthegarageandthekitchen。Shelistened；butshecouldheaosoundtellingherwhereherpreywas。Sheovedstealthilytowardsthekitchen；andshewasalosttherewhensheheardacarstartingupinthecourtyard。
FrothedriveshesawapairoftaillightspassingHenrikVangershouseandtuingdowntothebridge；andsheranasfastasherlegscouldcarryher。Shestuffedthepistolinherjacketpocketanddidnotbotherwiththeheletasshestartedherotorcycle。Secondstershewascrossingthebridge。
HehadaybeaniysecondstartwhenshecaeintotheroundaboutattheentrancetotheE4。Shecouldnotseehiscar。Shebrakedandtuedofftheotortolisten。
Theskywasfilledwithheavyclouds。Onthehorizonshesawahintofthedawn。ThensheheardthesoundofanengineandcaughtaglipseoftaillightsontheE4；goingsouth。Sanderkickedtheotorcycle；putitintogear；andracedundertheviaduct。Shewasdoing40ilesperhourasshetookthecurveoftheentrancerap。Shesawnotrafficandaeleratedtofullspeedandflewforward。Whentheroadbegantocurvealongaridge；shewasdoing90ph；whichwasaboutthefastesthersoupeduplightweightbikecouldanagegoingdownhill。Aftertwoinutesshesawthelightsabout650yardsahead。
Analyseconsequences。WhatdoIdonow
Shedeceleratedtoaorereasonableseventyfiveandkeptpacewithhi。Shelostsightofhiforseveralsecondswhentheytookseveralbends。Thentheycaeontoalongstraight；shewasonlytwohundredyardsbehindhi。
Heusthaveseentheheadlightfroherotorcycle；andhespedhentheytookalongcurve。Sheaeleratedagainbutlostgroundonthebends。
Shesawtheheadlightsofatruckapproaching。MartinVangerdidtoo。Heincreasedhisspeedagainanddrovestraightintotheoningne。Sandersawthetruckswerveandfshitslights；butthecollisionwasunavoidable。MartinVangerdrovestraightintothetruckandthesoundofthecrashwasterrible。
Sanderbraked。Shesawthetrailerstarttojackknifeacrossherne。Atthespeedshewasgoing；ittooktwosecondsforhertocoverthedistanceuptotheaidentsite。Sheaeleratedandsteeredontothehardshoulder；avoidingthehurtlingbackofthetruckbytwoyardsassheflewpast。Outofthecoerofhereyeshesawfesingfrothefrontofthetruck。
Sherodeon；brakingandthinking；foranother150yardsbeforeshepedandtuedaround。Shesawthedriverofthetruckcliboutofhiscabonthepassengerside。Thensheaeleratedagain。Atkerby；aboutailesouth；shetuedleftandtooktheoldroadbacknorth；paralleltotheE4。Shewentupahillpastthesceneofthecrash。Twocarshadped。BigfeswereboilingoutofthewreckageofMartinscar；whichwaswedgedundeeaththetruck。Aanwassprayingthefeswithasallfireextinguisher。
Shewassoonrollingacrossthebridgeatalowspeed。SheparkedoutsidethecottageandwalkedbacktoMartinVangershouse。
Mikaelwasstillfublingwiththehandcuffs。Hishandsweresonubthathecouldnotgetagriponthekey。Sanderunlockedthecuffsforhiandheldhitightasthebloodbegantocircuteinhishandsagain。
“Martin”hesaidinahoarsevoice。
“Dead。HedrovespintothefrontofatruckacoupleofilessouthontheE4。”
Blokviststaredather。Shehadonlybeengoneafewinutes。
“Wehavetocallthepolice；”hewhispered。Hebegancoughinghard。
“Why”Sandersaid。
ForteninutesBlokvistwasincapableofstandingup。Hewasstillonthefloor；naked；leaningagainstthewall。Heassagedhisneckandliftedthewaterbottlewithclusyfingers。Sanderwaitedpatientlyuntilhissenseoftouchstartedtoretu。Shespentthetiethinking。
“Putyourtrouserson。”
SheusedBlokvistscutupTshirttowipefingerprintsfrothehandcuffs；theknife；andthegolfclub。ShepickedupherPETbottle。
“Whatareyoudoing”
“Getdressedandhurryup。Itsgettinglightoutside。”
Blokviststoodonshakylegsandanageullonhisboxersandjeans。Heslippedonhistrainers。Sanderstuffedhissocksintoherjacketpocketandthenpedhi。
“Whatexactlydidyoutouchdownhere”
Blokvistlookedaround。Hetriedtoreeber。Atsthesaidthathehadtouchednothingexceptthedoorandthekeys。SanderfoundthekeysinMartinVangersjacket；whichhehadhungoverthechair。Shewipedthedoorhandleandtheswitchandtuedoffthelight。ShehelpedBlokvistupthebaseentstairsandtoldhitowaitinthepassagewaywhilesheputthegolfclubbackinitsproperpce。WhenshecaebackshewascarryingadarkTshirtthatbelongedtoMartinVanger。
“Putthison。Idontwantanyooseeyouscaperingaboutwithabarechesttonight。”
Blokvistrealisedthathewasinastateofshock。Sanderhadtakencharge；andpassivelyheobeyedherinstructions。SheledhioutofMartinshouse。Sheheldontohithewholetie。Assoonastheysteppedinsidethecottage；shepedhi。
“Ifanyoneseesusandaskswhatweweredoingoutsidetonight；youandIwentouttothepointforanighttiewalk；andwehadsexoutthere。”
“Lisbeth；Icant”
“Getintheshower。Now。”
Shehelpedhioffwithhisclothesandpropelledhitothebathroo。Thensheputonwaterforcoffeeandadehalfadozenthicksandwichesonryebreadwithcheeseandliversausageanddillpickles。Shesatdownatthekitchentableandwasthinkinghardwhenhecaelipingbackintotheroo。Shestudiedthebruisesandscrapesonhisbody。Thenoosehadbeensotightthathehadadarkredarkaroundhisneck；andtheknifehadadeabloodygashinhisskinontheleftside。
“Getintobed；”shesaid。
Sheiprovisedbandagesandcoveredthewoundwithaakeshiftpress。Thenshepouredthecoffeeandhandedhiasandwich。
“Ireallynothungry；”hesaid。
“Idontgiveadanifyourehungry。Justeat；”Sanderanded；takingabigbiteofherowncheesesandwich。
Blokvistclosedhiseyesforaoent；thenhesatupandtookabite。Histhroathurtsouchthathecouldscarcelyswallow。
SandertookoffherleatherjacketandfrothebathroobroughtajarofTigerBalfroherspongebag。
“Letthecoffeecoolforawhile。Liefacedown。”
Shespentfiveinutesassaginghisbackandrubbinghiwiththelinient。Thenshetuedhioverandgavehithesaetreatentonthefront。
“Youregoingtohavesoeseriousbruisesforawhile。”
“Lisbeth；wehavetocallthepolice。”
“No；”sherepliedwithsuchveheencethatBlokvienedhiseyesinsurprise。“Ifyoucallthepolice；Ileaving。Idontwanttohaveanythingtodowiththe。MartinVangerisdead。Hediedinacaraident。Hewasaloneinthecar。Therearewitnesses。Letthepoliceorsoeoneelsediscoverthatfuckingtorturechaber。YouandIarejustasignorantaboutitsexistenceaseveryoneelseinthisvilge。”
“Why”
Sheignoredhiandstartedassaginghisachingthighs。
“Lisbeth；wecantjust”
“Ifyougoonnagging；IlldragyoubacktoMartinsgrottoandchainyouupagain。”
Asshesaidthis；Blokvistfelsleep；assuddenlyasifhehadfainted。
CHAPTER25
Saturday；July12–Monday；July14
Blokvistwokewithastartat5：00intheoing；scrabblingathisnecktogetridofthenoose。Sandercaeinandtookholdofhishands；keepinghistill。Heopenedhiseyesandlookedatherblearily。
“Ididntknowthatyoupyedgolf；”hesaid；closinghiseyesagain。Shesatwithhiforacoupleofinutesuntilshewassurehewasasleep。Whileheslept；SanderhadgonebacktoMartinVangersbaseenttoexaineandphotographthecriescene。Inadditiontothetortureinstruents；shehadfoundacollectionofviolentpoographicagazinesandargenuberofPoroidphotographspastedintoalbus。
Therewasnodiary。Ontheotherhand；shedidfindtwoA4binderswithpassportphotographsandhandwrittennotesaboutthewoen。SheputthebindersinanylonbagalongwithMarti船说