“butyou’renotheretolookintoherdisappearance？”
“whatakesyouthinkthat？”
“well；thefactthatnilssonluggedfourassiveboxesoverhere。thatcouldbehenrik’sprivateinvestigationsovertheyears。ilookedinharriet’soldroo；wherehenrikkeepsit；anditwasgone。”
ceciliavangerwasnofool。
“you’llhavetotaketheatterupwithhenrik；notwithe；”blokvistsaid。“butitwon’tsurpriseyoutoknowthathenrikhastalkedalotaboutthegirl’sdisappearance；andithoughtitwouldbeinterestingtoreadthroughwhathadbeencollected。”
ceciliagavehianotherofherjoylesssiles。“iwondersoetieswho’scrazier；yfatheroryuncle。iusthavelistenedtohionharriet’sdisappearanceathousandties。”
“whatdoyouthinkhappenedtoher？”
“isthisaninterviewquestion？”
“no；”hesaidwithalaugh。“i’justcurious。”
“whati’curiousaboutiswhetheryou’reanutcasetoo。whetheryou’veswallowedhenrik’sconvictionorwhetherinfactyou’retheonewho’segginghion。”
“youthinkthathenrik’sanutcase？”
“don’tgetewrong。he’soneofthewarestandostthoughtfulpeopleiknow。i’veryfondofhi。butonthisparticulartopic；he’sobsessive。”
“butharrietreallydiddisappear。”
“i’justsodansickofthewholestory。it’spoisonedourlivesfordecades；anditdoesn’tstopdoingso。”shegotupabruptlyandputonherfurcoat。“ihavetogo。youseelikeapleasantsort。martinthinkssotoo；buthisjudgeentisn’talwaysreliable。you’reweletoeforcoffeeatyhousewheneveryoulike。i’alostalwayshoeintheevening。”
“thankyou；”blokvistsaid。“youdidn’tanswerthequestionthatwasn’taninterviewquestion。”
shepausedatthedoorandrepliedwithoutlookingathi。
“ihavenoidea。ithinkitwasanaidentthathassuchasipleexplanationthatitwillastonishusifweeverfindout。”
sheturnedtosileathi—forthefirsttiewithwarth。thenshewasgone。
ifithadbeenanagreeablefirsteetingwithceciliavanger；thesaecouldnotbesaidofhisfirstencounterwithisabella。harriet’sotherwasexactlyashenrikvangerhadwarned：sheprovedtobeanelegantwoanwhoreindedhivaguelyoflaurenbacall。shewasthin；dressedinablackpersianlabcoatwithatchingcap；andshewasleaningonablackcanewhenblokvistranintoheroneorningonhiswaytosusanne’s。shelookedlikeanageingvapire—stillstrikinglybeautifulbutasvenoousasasnake。isabellavangerwasapparentlyonherwayhoeaftertakingawalk。shecalledtohifrothecrossroad。
“hellothere；youngan。ehere。”
theandingtonewashardtoistake。blokvistlookedaroundandconcludedthathewastheonesuoned。hedidasinstructed。
“iaisabellavanger；”thewoansaid。
“hello。mynaeismikaelblokvist。”hestuckouthishand；whichsheignored。
“areyouthatpersonwho’sbeensnoopingaroundinourfailyaffairs？”
“well；ifyoueanaithepersonthathenrikvangerhasputundercontracttohelphiwithhisaboutthevangerfaily；thenyes。”
“that’snoneofyourbusiness。”
“which？thefactthathenrikvangerofferedeacontractorthefactthatiaepted？”
“youknowperfectlywellwhatiean。idon’tcareforpeoplepokingaroundinylife。”
“iwon’tpokearoundinyourlife。therestyou’llhavetodiscusswithhenrik。”
isabellaraisedhercaneandpressedthehandleagainstmikael’schest。shedidnotuseuchforce；buthetookastepbackinsurprise。
“justyoukeepawayfroe；”shesaid；andturnedonherheelandwalkedunsteadilytowardsherhouse。blokvistwentonstandingwherehewas；lookinglikeaanwhohasjustetarealliveic…character。whenhelookeduphesawvangerinthewindowofhisoffice。inhishandhewasholdingacup；whichheraisedinanironicsalute。
theonlytravellingthatblokvistdidduringthatfirstonthwasadrivetoabayonlakesiljan。heborrowedfrode’smercedesanddrovethroughasnowylandscapetospendtheafternoonwithdetectivesuperintendentmorell。blokvisthadtriedtoforanipressionofmorellbasedonthewayhecaeacrossinthepolicereport。whathefoundwasawiryoldanwhoovedsoftlyandspokeevenoreslowly。
blokvistbroughtwithhianotewithtenquestions；ainlyideasthathadcroppedupwhilehewasreadingthepolicereport。morellansweredeachquestionputtohiinaschoolasterlyway。finallyblokvistputawayhisnotesandexplainedthatthequestionsweresiplyanexcuseforaeeting。whathereallywantedwastohaveachatwithhiandaskonecrucialquestion：wasthereanysinglethingintheinvestigationthathadnotbeenincludedinthewrittenreport？anyhunches；even；thattheinspectorightbewillingtosharewithhi？
becausemorell；likevanger；hadspentthirty…sixyearsponderingtheystery；blokvisthadexpectedacertainresistance—hewasthenewanwhohadeinandstartedtrapingaroundinthethicketwheremorellhadgoneastray。buttherewasnotahintofhostility。morellethodicallyfilledhispipeandlititbeforehereplied。
“wellyes；obviouslyihadyownideas。butthey’resovagueandfleetingthaticanhardlyputtheintowords。”
“whatdoyouthinkhappened？”
“ithinkharrietwasurdered。henrikandiagreeonthat。it’stheonlyreasonableexplanation。butweneverdiscoveredwhattheotiveighthavebeen。ithinkshewasurderedforaveryspecificreason—itwasn’tsoeactofadnessorarapeoranythinglikethat。ifwehadknowntheotive；we’dhaveknownwhokilledher。”morellstoppedtothinkforaoent。“theurderayhavebeenittedspontaneously。bythatieanthatsoeoneseizedanopportunitywhenitpresenteditselfintheingandgoinginthewakeoftheaident。theurdererhidthebodyandthenatsoelatertiereoveditwhileweweresearchingforher。”
“we’retalkingaboutsoeonewhohasnervesofice。”
“there’sonedetail…harrietwenttohenrik’sroowantingtospeaktohi。inhindsight；itseestoeastrangewaytobehave—sheknewhehadhishandsfullwithalltherelativeswhowerehangingaround。ithinkharrietaliverepresentedagravethreattosoeone；thatshewasgoingtotellhenriksoething；andthattheurdererknewshewasaboutto…well；spillthebeans。”
“andhenrikwasbusywithseveralfailyebers？”
“therewerefourpeopleintheroo；besideshenrik。hisbrothergreger；acousinnaedmagnussj？gren；andtwoofharald’schildren；birgerandcecilia。butthatdoesn’ttellusanything。let’ssupposethatharriethaddiscoveredthatsoeonehadebezzledoneyfrothepany—hypothetically；ofcourse。sheayhaveknownaboutitforonths；andatsoepointsheayevenhavediscusseditwiththepersoninquestion。sheayhavetriedtoblackailhi；orsheayhavefeltsorryforhiandfeltuneasyaboutexposinghi。sheayhavedecidedallofasuddenandtoldtheurdererso；andheindesperationkilledher。”
“you’vesaid‘he’and‘hi。’”
“thesaysthatostkillersareen。butit’salsotruethatinthevangerfailyareseveralwoenwhoarerealfirebrands。”
“i’veetisabella。”
“she’soneofthe。butthereareothers。ceciliavangercanbeextreelycaustic。haveyouetsarasj？gren？”
blokvistshookhishead。
“she’sthedaughterofsofiavanger；oneofhenrik’scousins。inhercasewe’retalkingaboutatrulyunpleasantandinconsideratelady。butshewaslivinginmal？；andasfarasicouldascertain；shehadnootiveforkillingthegirl。”
“soshe’soffthelist。”
“theprobleisthatnoatterhoetwistedandturnedthings；wenevercaeupwithaotive。that’stheiportantthing。”
“youputavastaountofworkintothiscase。wasthereanyleadyoureebernothavingfollowedup？”
morellchuckled。“no。i’vedevotedanendlessaountoftietothiscase；andican’tthinkofanythingthatididn’tfollowuptothebitter；fruitlessend。evenafteriwasprootedandovedawayfrohedestad。”
“movedaway？”
“yes；i’notfrohedestadoriginally。iservedtherefro1963until1968。afterthatiwasprootedtosuperintendentandovedtotheg？vlepolicedepartentfortherestofycareer。butevening？vleiwentondiggingintothecase。”
“idon’tsupposethathenrikwouldeverletup。”
“that’strue；butthat’snotthereason。thepuzzleaboutharrietstillfascinatesetothisday。iean…it’slikethis：everypoliceofficerhashisownunsolvedystery。ireeberfroydaysinhedestadhowoldercolleagueswouldtalkinthecanteenaboutthecaseofrebecka。therewasoneofficerinparticular；aannaedtorstensson—he’sbeendeadforyears—whoyearafteryearkeptreturningtothatcase。inhisfreetieandwhenhewasonholiday。whenevertherewasaperiodofcalaongthelocalhooliganshewouldtakeoutthosefoldersandstudythe。”
“wasthatalsoacaseaboutaissinggirl？”
morelllookedsurprised。thenhesiledwhenherealisedthatblokvistwaslookingforsoesortofconnection。
“no；that’snotwhyientionedit。i’talkingaboutthesoulofapolicean。therebeckacasewassoethingthathappenedbeforeharrietvangerwasevenborn；andthestatuteofliitationshaslongsincerunout。soetieinthefortiesawoanwasassaultedinhedestad；raped；andurdered。that’snotaltogetherunon。everyofficer；atsoepointinhiscareer；hastoinvestigatethatkindofcrie；butwhati’talkingaboutarethosecasesthatstaywithyouandgetunderyourskinduringtheinvestigation。thisgirlwaskilledintheostbrutalway。thekillertiedherupandstuckherheadintothesoulderingebersofafireplace。onecanonlyguesshowlongittookforthepoorgirltodie；orwhattorentsheusthaveendured。”
“christalighty。”
“exactly。itwassosadistic。poortorstenssonwasthefirstdetectiveonthesceneaftershewasfound。andtheurderreainedunsolved；eventhoughexpertswerecalledinfrostockhol。hecouldneverletgoofthatcase。”
“icanunderstandthat。”
“myrebeckacasewasharriet。inthisinstancewedon’tevenknowhowshedied。wecan’tevenprovethataurderwasitted。butihaveneverbeenabletoletitgo。”hepausedtothinkforaoent。“beingahoicidedetectivecanbetheloneliestjobintheworld。thefriendsofthevictiareupsetandindespair；butsoonerorlater—afterweeksoronths—theygobacktotheireverydaylives。fortheclosestfailyittakeslonger；butfortheostpart；tosoedegree；theytoogetovertheirgrievinganddespair。lifehastogoon；itdoesgoon。buttheunsolvedurderskeepgnawingawayandintheendthere’sonlyonepersonleftwhothinksnightanddayaboutthevicti：it’stheofficerwho’sleftwiththeinvestigation。”
threeotherpeopleinthevangerfailylivedonhedebyisland。alexandervanger；sonofgreger；bornin1946；livedinarenovatedwoodenhouse。vangertoldblokvistthatalexanderwaspresentlyinthewestindies；wherehegavehiselfovertohisfavouritepasties：sailingandwhilingawaythetie；notdoingascrapofwork。alexanderhadbeentwentyandhehadbeenthereonthatday。
alexandersharedthehousewithhisother；gerda；eightyyearsoldandwidowofgregervanger。blokvisthadneverseenher；shewasostlybedridden。
thethirdfailyeberwasharaldvanger。duringhisfirstonthblokvisthadnotanagedevenaglipseofhi。harald’shouse；theoneclosesttoblokvist’scabin；lookedglooyandoinouswithitsblackoutcurtainsdrawnacrossallthewindows。blokvistsoetiesthoughthesawarippleinthecurtainsashepassed；andoncewhenhewasabouttogotobedlate；henoticedaglieroflightingfroarooupstairs。therewasagapinthecurtains。fororethantwentyinuteshestoodinthedarkathisownkitchenwindowandwatchedthelightbeforehegotfedupand；shivering；wenttobed。intheorningthecurtainswerebackinplace。
haraldseeedtobeaninvisiblebutever…presentspiritwhoaffectedlifeinthevillagebyhisabsence。inblokvist’siagination；haraldincreasinglytookontheforofanevilgolluwhospiedonhissurroundingsfrobehindthecurtainsanddevotedhiselftono…one…knew…whatattersinhisbarricadedcavern。
haraldwasvisitedonceadaybythehoe…helpservicefrotheothersideofthebridge。shewouldbringbagsofgroceries；trudgingthroughthesnowdriftsuptohisdoor。nilssonshookhisheadwhenblokvistaskedaboutharald。hehadofferedtodotheshovelling；hesaid；butharalddidnotwantanyoosetfootonhisproperty。onlyonce；duringthefirstwinterafterharaldhadreturnedtohedebyisland；didnilssondrivethetractoruptheretoclearthesnowfrothecourtyard；justashedidforalltheotherdriveways。haraldhadeoutofhishouseatastartlingpace；yellingandgesticulatinguntilnilssonwentaway。
unfortunately；nilssonwasunabletoclearblokvist’syardbecausethegatewastoonarrowforthetractor。asnowshovelandanuallabourwerestilltheonlywaytodoit。
intheiddleofjanuaryblokvistaskedhislawyertofindoutwhenhewasgoingtobeexpectedtoservehisthreeonthsinprison。hewasanxioustotakecareoftheatterasquicklyaspossible。gettingintoprisonturnedouttobeeasierthanhehadexpected。afteraveryfeeeksofdiscussion；itwasdecreedthatblokvistpresenthiselfonmarch17attherull？kerprisonoutside？stersund；ainiu…securityprison。thelawyeradvisedhithatthesentencewouldverylikelybeshortened。
“fine；”blokvistsaid；withoutuchenthusias。
hesatatthekitchentableandpettedthecat；whonowarrivedeveryfewdaystospendthenightwithblokvist。frothenilssonshehadlearnedthatthecat’snaewastjorven。itdidnotbelongtoanyoneinparticular；itjustadetheroundsofallthehouses。
blokvistethiseployeralosteveryafternoon。soetiestheywouldhaveabriefconversation；soetiestheywouldsittogetherforhours。
theconversationoftenconsistedofblokvistputtingupatheorythatvangerwouldthenshootdown。blokvisttriedtoaintainacertaindistancefrohisassignent；buttherewereoentswhenhefoundhiselfhopelesslyfascinatedbytheenigaofthegirl’sdisappearance。
blokvisthadassuredbergerthathewouldalsoforulateastrategyfortakingupthebattlewithwennerstr？；butafteraonthinhedestadhehadnotyetopenedthefileswhichhadbroughthitothedockinthedistrictcourt。onthecontrary；hehaddeliberatelypushedtheatterasidebecauseeverytiehethoughtaboutwennerstr？andhisownsituation；hewouldsinkintodepressionandlistlessness。hewonderedwhetherhewasgoingcrazyliketheoldan。hisprofessionalreputationhadiploded；andhiseansofrecoveringwastohidehiselfawayinatinytowninthedeepcountry；chasingghosts。
vangercouldtellthatblokvistwasonsoedaysabitoffbalance。bytheendofjanuary；theoldanadeadecisionthatsurprisedevenhiself。hepickedupthetelephoneandcalledstockhol。theconversationlastedtwentyinutesanddealtlargelywithmikaelblokvist。
ithadtakenalostthatwholeonthforberger’sfurytosubside。at9：30intheevening；ononeofthelastdaysinjanuary；shecalledhi。
“areyoureallyintendingtostayupthere？”shebegan。thecallwassuchasurprisethatblokvistcouldnotatfirstreply。thenhesiledandwrappedtheblankettighteraroundhi。
“hi；ricky。youshouldtryityourself。”
“whywouldi？whatissocharingaboutlivinginthebackofbeyond？”
“ijustbrushedyteethwithicewater。itakesyfillingshurt。”
“youhaveonlyyourselftoblae。butit’scoldashelldownhereinstockholtoo。”
“let’sheartheworst。”
“we’velosttwo…thirdsofourregularadvertisers。no…onewantstoerightoutandsayit；but…”
“iknow。makealistoftheonesthatjupship。soedaywe’lldoagoodstoryonthe。”
“micke…i’verunthenubers；andifwedon’tropeinsoenewadvertisers；we’llbebustbytheautun。it’sassipleasthat。”
“thingswillturnaround。”
shelaughedwearilyontheotherendoftheline。
“that’snotsoethingyoucansay；nestlingupthereinlaplanderhell。”
“erika；i’…”
“iknow。aan’sgottadowhataan’sgottado；andallthatcrap。youdon’thavetosayanything。i’sorryiwassuchabitchanddidn’tansweryouressages。canwestartagain？doidareeuptheretoseeyou？”
“wheneveryoulike。”
“doineedtobringalongariflewithwolf…shot？”
“notatall。we’llhaveourownlapps；dogteasandallthegear。whenareyouing？”
“fridayevening；ok？”
apartfrothenarrowshovelledpathtothedoor；therewasaboutthreefeetofsnowcoveringtheproperty。blokvistgavetheshovelalong；criticallookandthenwentovertonilsson’shousetoaskwhetherbergercouldparkherbmwthere。thatwasnoproble；theyhadroointhedoublegarage；andtheyevenhadengineheaters。
bergerdrovethroughtheafternoonandarrivedaround6：00。theystaredateachotherwarilyforseveralsecondsandthenhuggedeachotherforuchlonger。
therewasnotuchtoseeinthedarknessexceptfortheilluinatedchurch；andbothkonsuandsusanne’sbridgecaféwereclosingup。sotheyhurriedhoe。blokvistcookeddinnerwhilebergerpokedaroundinhishouse；akingrearksabouttheissuesof