salandernoticeddirchfrodeattheedgeofthetvscreenpassingadoorwayintheeditorialoffices。shefrownedandbitherlowerlipinthought。

    thatmondayhadbeenaslownewsday；andvangergotawholefourinutesonthe9：00news。hewasinterviewedinatvstudioinhedestad。thereporterbeganbystatingthataftertwodecadesofhavingstoodbackfrothespotlighttheindustrialisthenrikvangerwasback。thesegentbeganwithasnappybiographyinblack…and…whitetviages；showinghiwithprieministererlanderandopeningfactoriesinthesixties。thecaerathenfocusedonastudiosofawherevangerwassittingperfectlyrelaxed。heworeayellowshirt；narrowgreentie；andfortabledark…brownsuit。hewasgaunt；buthespokeinaclear；firvoice。andhewasalsoquitecandid。thereporteraskedvangerwhathadproptedhitobeeapartownerofmillenniu。

    “it’sanexcellentagazinewhichihavefollowedwithgreatinterestforseveralyears。todaythepublicationisunderattack。ithaseneieswhoareanisinganadvertisingboycott；tryingtorunitintotheground。”

    thereporterwasnotpreparedforthis；butguessedatoncethatthealreadyunusualstoryhadyetoreunexpectedaspects。

    “what’sbehindthisboycott？”

    “that’soneofthethingsthatmillenniuwillbeexainingclosely。buti’llakeitclearnowthatmillenniuwillnotbesunkwiththefirstsalvo。”

    “isthiswhyyouboughtintotheagazine？”

    “itwouldbedeplorableifthespecialinterestshadthepowertosilencethosevoicesintheediathattheyfindunfortable。”

    vangeractedasthoughhehadbeenaculturalradicalespousingfreedoofspeechallhislife。blokvistburstoutlaughingashespenthisfirsteveninginthetvrooatrull？kerprison。hisfellowinatesglancedathiuneasily。

    laterthatevening；whenhewaslyingonthebunkinhiscell—whichreindedhiofacrapedotelroowithitstinytable；itsonechair；andoneshelfonthewall；headittedthatvangerandbergerhadbeenrightabouthowthenewswouldbearketed。hejustknewthatsoethinghadchangedinpeople’sattitudetowardsmillenniu。

    vanger’ssupportwasnooreorlessthanadeclarationofwaragainstwennerstr？。theessagewasclear：inthefutureyouwillnotbefightingwithaagazinewithastaffofsixandanannualbudgetcorrespondingtothecostofaluncheoneetingofthewennerstr？group。youwillnowbeupagainstthevangercorporation；whichaybeashadowofitsforergreatnessbutstillpresentsaconsiderablytougherchallenge。

    theessagethatvangerhaddeliveredontvwasthathewaspreparedtofight；andforwennerstr？；thatwarwouldbecostly。

    bergerhadchosenherwordswithcare。shehadnotsaiduch；buthersayingthattheagazinehadnottolditsversioncreatedtheipressionthattherewassoethingtotell。despitethefactthatblokvisthadbeenindicted；convicted；andwasnowiprisoned；shehadeoutandsaid—ifnotinsoanywords—thathewasinnocentoflibelandthatanothertruthexisted。preciselybecauseshehadnotusedtheword“innocent；”hisinnocenceseeedoreapparentthanever。thefactthathewasgoingtobereinstatedaspublisherephasisedthatmillenniufeltithadnothingtobeashaedof。intheeyesofthepublic；credibilitywasnoproble—everyonelovesaconspiracytheory；andinthechoicebetweenafilthyrichbusinessanandanoutspokenandcharingeditorinchief；itwasnothardtoguesswherethepublic’ssypathieswouldlie。theedia；however；werenotgoingtobuythestorysoeasily—butbergerayhavedisaredanuberofcritics。

    noneoftheday’seventshadchangedthesituationfundaentally；buttheyhadboughttieandtheyhadshiftedthebalanceofpoweralittle。blokvistiaginedthatwennerstr？hadprobablyhadanunpleasantevening。wennerstr？couldnotknowhowuch；orhowlittle；theyknew；andbeforeheadehisnextovehewasgoingtohavetofindout。

    withagriexpression；bergerturnedoffthetvandthevcrafterhavingwatchedfirstherownandthenvanger’sinterview。itwas2：45intheorning；andshehadtostifletheipulsetocallblokvist。hewaslockedup；anditwasunlikelythathewasallowedtokeephisobile。shehadarrivedhoesolatethatherhusbandwasalreadyasleep。shewentovertothebarandpouredherselfahealthyeasureofaberloursinglealt—shedrankalcoholaboutonceayear—andsatatthewindow；lookingoutacrosssaltsj？ntothelighthouseattheentrancetoskurusound。

    sheandblokvisthadarguedheatedlywhentheywerealoneaftersheconcludedtheagreeentwithvanger。theyhadweatheredanyfull…bloodedarguentsaboutwhatangletouseforaspecificarticle；thedesignoftheagazine；theevaluationoftheirsources’credibility；andathousandotherthingsinvolvedinputtingoutaagazine。butthearguentinvanger’sguesthousehadtouchedonprinciplesthatadeherawareshewasonshak

    10

    yground。

    “idon’tknohattodonow；”blokvisthadsaid。“thisanhashiredetoghostwritehisautobiography。upuntilnowi’vebeenfreetogetupandleavetheoenthetriestoforceetowritesoethingthatisn’ttrue；ortriestopersuadeetoslantthestoryinawayidon’tholdwith。nowhe’sapartownerofouragazine—andtheonlyonewiththeresourcestosavemillenniu。allofasuddeni’sittingonthefence；inapositionthataboardofprofessionalethicswouldneverapprove。”

    “haveyougotabetteridea？”bergeraskedhi。“becauseifyouhave；spititout；beforewetypeupthecontractandsignit。”

    “ricky；vangerisexploitingusinsoesortofprivatevendettaagainstwennerstr？。”

    “sowhat？wehaveavendettaagainstwennerstr？ourselves。”

    blokvistturnedawayfroherandlitacigarette。

    theirconversationhadgoneonforquiteawhile；untilbergerwentintothebedroo；undressed；andclibedintobed。shepretendedtobeasleepwhenhegotinbesidehertwohourslater。

    thiseveningareporterfrodagensnyheterhadaskedherthesaequestion：“howismillenniugoingtobeablecrediblytoassertitsindependence？”

    “whatdoyouean？”

    thereporterthoughtthequestionhadbeenclearenough；buthespelleditoutanyway。

    “oneofmillenniu’sobjectivesistoinvestigatecorporations。hoilltheagazinebeabletoclaiinacrediblewaythatit’sinvestigatingthevangercorporation？”

    bergergavehiasurprisedlook；asifthequestionwerepletelyunexpected。

    “areyouinsinuatingthatmillenniu’scredibilityisdiinishedbecauseawell…knownfinancierwithsignificantresourceshasenteredthepicture？”

    “youcouldnotnowcrediblyinvestigatethevangercorporation。”

    “isthatarulethatappliesspecificallytomillenniu？”

    “excusee？”

    “iean；youworkforapublicationthatisfortheostpartownedbyajorcorporateentities。doesthateanthatnoneofthenewspaperspublishedbythebonniergroupiscredible？aftonbladetisownedbyahugenorwegiancorporation；whichinturnisaajorplayerinitandunications—doesthateanthatanythingaftonbladetpublishesabouttheelectronicsindustryisnotcredible？metroisownedbythestenbeckgroup。areyousayingthatnopublicationinswedenthathassignificanteconoicinterestsbehinditiscredible？”

    “no；ofcoursenot。”

    “thenwhyareyouinsinuatingthatmillenniu’scredibilitywouldbediinishedbecausewealsohavebackers？”

    thereporterhelduphishand。

    “ok；i’llretractthatquestion。”

    “no。don’tdothat。iwantyoutoprintexactlywhatisaid。andyoucanaddthatifdnproisestofocusalittleextraonthevangercorporation；thenwe’llfocusalittleoreonthebonniergroup。”

    butitwasahicaldilea。

    blokvistwasworkingforhenrikvanger；whowasinapositiontosinkmillenniuwiththestrokeofapen。whatwouldhappenifblokvistandvangerbecaeeneies？

    andaboveall—whatpricedidsheputonherowncredibility；andwhenhadshebeentransforedfroanindependenteditorintoacorruptedone？

    salanderclosedherbrowserandshutdownherpower。shewasoutofworkandhungry。thefirstconditiondidnotworryhersouch；sinceshehadregainedcontroloverherbankaountandbjuranhadalreadytakenonthestatusofavagueunpleasantnessinherpast。thehungershedealtwithbyswitchingonthecoffeeaker。sheadethreebigopenrye…breadsandwicheswithcheese；caviar；andahard…boiledegg。sheatehernighttiesnacksonthesofainthelivingroowhilesheworkedontherationshehadgathered。

    thelawyerfrodefrohedestadhadhiredhertodoaninvestigationofmikaelblokvist；thejournalistwhowasgivenaprisonsentenceforlibellingfinancierhans…erikwennerstr？。afewonthslaterhenrikvanger；alsofrohedestad；joinsblokvist’sagazine’sboardofdirectorsandclaisthatthereisaconspiracytocrushtheagazine。allthisonthesaedaythattheforergoestoprison。mostfascinatingofall：atwo…year…oldbackgroundarticle—“withtwoeptyhands”—abouthans…erikwennerstr？；whichshefoundintheonlineeditionofmonopolyfinancialmagazine。itseeedthathebeganhiscareerintheverysaevangercorporationinthelatesixties。

    youdidn’thavetobearocketscientisttoseethattheseeventsweresoehowrelated。therehadtobeaskeletoninoneoftheircupboards；andsalanderlovedhuntingskeletons。besides；shehadnothingelseonattheoent。

    part3

    mergers

    may16tojuly11

    thirteenpercentofthewoeninswedenhavebeensubjectedtoaggravatedsexualassaultoutsideofasexualrelationship。

    chapter15

    friday；may16–saturday；may31

    mikaelblokvistwasreleasedfrorull？kerprisononfriday；may16；twoonthsafterhewasaditted。thesaedayheenteredthefacility；hehadsubittedanapplicationforparole；withnogreatoptiis。heneverdidquiteunderstandthetechnicalreasonsbehindhisrelease；butitayhavehadsoethingtodowiththefactthathedidnotuseanyholidayleaveandthattheprisonpopulationwasforty…twowhilethenuberofbedswasthirty…one。inanycase；thewarden—petersarowsky；aforty…year…oldpolishexile—withwhoblokvistgotalongwell；wroteareendationthathissentencebereduced。

    histieatrull？kerhadbeenunstressfulandpleasantenough。theprisonhadbeendesigned；assarowskyexpressedit；forhooligansanddrunkdrivers；notforhardenedcriinals。thedailyroutinesreindedhioflivinginayouthhostel。hisfellowprisoners；halfofwhoweresecond…generationiigrants；regardedblokvistassoethingofararebirdinthegroup。hewastheonlyinatetoappearonthetvnews；whichlenthiacertainstatus。

    onhisfirstday；hewascalledratalkandofferedtherapy；trainingfrokovux；ortheopportunityforotheradulteducation；andoupationalcounselling。hedidnotfeelanyneedatallforsocialrehabilitation；hehadpletedhisstudies；hethought；andhealreadyhadajob。ontheotherhand；heaskedforperissiontokeephisiinhiscellsothathecouldcontinuetoworkonthehewasissionedtowrite。hisrequestwasgrantedwithoutfurtherado；andsarowskyarrangedtobringhialockablecabisothathecouldleavetheputerinhiscell。notthatanyoftheinateswouldhavestolenorvandaliseditoranythinglikethat。theyratherkeptaprotectiveeyeonhi。

    inthiswayblokvistspenttwoonthsworkingaboutsixhoursadayonthevangerfailychronicle；workthatwasinterruptedonlybyafewhoursofcleaningorrecreationeachday。blokvistandtwoothers；oneofwhocaefrosk？vdeandhadhisrootsinchile；wereassignedtocleantheprisongyeachday。recreationconsistedofwatchingtv；playingcards；orweighttraining。blokvistdiscoveredthathewasapassablepokerplayer；buthestilllostafewfifty…？recoinseveryday。regulationsperittedplayingforoneyifthetotalpotdidnotexceedfivekronor。

    hewastoldofhisreleaseonlyonedaybefore。sarowskysuonedhitohisofficeandtheysharedatoastwithaquavit。

    blokvistwentstraightbacktothecabininhedeby。whenhewalkedupthefrontstepsheheardaeowandfoundhiselfescortedbythereddish…browncat。

    “ok；youcanein；”hesaid。“butihavenoilkyet。”

    heunpackedhisbags。itwasasifhehadbeenonholiday；andherealisedthatheactuallyissedthepanyofsarowskyandhisfellowprisoners。absurdasitseeed；hehadenjoyedhistieatrull？ker；buthisreleasehadesounexpectedlythathehadhadnotietoletanyoneknow。

    itwasjustafter6：00intheevening。hehurriedovertokonsutobuygroceriesbeforetheyclosed。whenhegothoehecalledberger。aessagesaidshewasunavailable。heaskedforhertocallhithenextday。

    thenhewalkeduptohiseployer’shouse。hefoundvangeronthegroundfloor。theoldanraisedhiseyebrowsinsurprisewhenhesawmikael。

    “didyouescape？”

    “releasedearly。”

    “that’sasurprise。”

    “foretoo。ifoundoutlastnight。”

    theylookedateachotherforafewseconds。thentheoldansurprisedblokvistbythrowinghisarsaroundhiandgivinghiabearhug。

    “iwasjustabouttoeat。joine。”

    annaproducedagreatquantityofbaconpancakeswithlingonberries。theysatthereinthediningrooandtalkedforalosttwohours。blokvisttoldhiabouthowfarhehadgotwiththefailychronicle；andwheretherewereholesandgaps。theydidnottalkatallaboutharriet；butvangertoldhiallaboutmillenniu。

    “wehadaboardeeting。fr？kenbergerandyourpartnermalwerekindenoughtoovetwooftheeetingsuphere；whiledirchstoodreataeetinginstockhol。ireallywishiwereafewyearsyounger；butthetruthisthatit’stootiringforetotravelsofar。i’lltrytogetdownthereduringthesuer。”

    “noreasonnottoholdtheeetingsuphere；”blokvistsaid。“sohowdoesitfeeltobeapartowneroftheagazine？”

    vangergavehiawrysile。

    “it’sactuallytheostfuni’vehadinyears。i’vetakenalookatthefinances；andtheylookprettyfair。iwon’thavetoputupasuchoneyasithought—thegapbetweenineandexpensesisdwindling。”

    “italkedwitherikathisweek。shesaysthatadvertisingrevenuehasperkedup。”

    “it’sstartingtoturnaround；yes；butit’lltaketie。atfirstthepaniesinthevangercorporationwentinandboughtupabunchoffullpageads。buttwoforeradvertisers—obiletelephonesandatravelbureau—haveeback。”hesiledbroadly。“we’realsodoingalittleoreone…to…onehustlingaongwennerstr？’seneies。and；believee；there’salonglist。”

    “haveyouhearddirectlyfrowennerstr？？”

    “well；notreally。butweleakedastorythatwennerstr？isanisingtheboycottofmillenniu。thatusthaveadehilookpetty。areporteratdnissaidtohavereachedhiandgotasurlyreply。”

    “youareenjoyingthis；aren’tyou？”

    “enjoyisn’ttheword。ishouldhavedevotedyselftothisyearsago。”

    “whatisitbetweenyouandwennerstr？；anyway？”

    “don’teventry。you’llfindoutattheendofyouryear。”

    whenblokvistleftvangeraround9：00therewasadistinctfeelingofspringintheair。itwasdarkoutsideandhehesitatedforaoent。thenheadehisfailiarcircuitandknockedonthedoorofceciliavanger’shouse。

    hewasn’tsurewhatheexpected。ceciliaopenedhereyeswideandinstantlylookedunfortableasshelethiintothehall。theystoodthere；suddenlyunsureofeachother。shetooaskedifhehadescaped；andheexplainedthesituation。

    “ijustwantedtosayhello。aiinterruptingsoething？”

    sheavoidedhiseyes。mikaelcouldsenseatoncethatshewasn’tparticularlygladtoseehi。

    “no…no；ein。wouldyoulikesoecoffee？”

    “iwould。”

    hefollowedherintothekitchen。shestoodwithherbacktohiasshefilledthecoffeeakerwithwater。heputahandonhershoulder；andshestiffened。

    “cecilia；youdon’tlookasifyouwanttogiveecoffee。”

    “iwasn’texpectingyouforanotheronth；”shesaid。“yousurprisede。”

    heturnedheraroundsothathecouldseeherface。theystoodinsilenceforaoent。shestillwouldnotlookhiintheeye。

    “cecilia。fetaboutthecoffee。what’sgoingon？”

    sheshookherheadandtookadeepbreath。

    “mikael；i’dlikeyoutoleave。don’task。justleave。”

    mikaelfirstwalkedbacktothecottage；butpausedatthegate；undecided。insteadofgoinginhewentdowntothewaterbythebridgeandsatonarock。hesokedacigarettewhilehesortedouthisthoughtsandwonderedwhatcouldhavesodraaticallychangedceciliavanger’sattitudetowardshi。

    hesuddenlyheardthesoundofanengineandsawabigwhiteboatslipintothesoundbeneaththebridge。whenitpassed；mikaelsawthatitwasmartinvangerstandingatthewheel；withhisgazefocusedonavoidingsunkenrocksinthewater。theboatwasaforty…foototorcruiser—anipressivebundleofpower。hestoodupandtookthebeachpath。hediscoveredthatseveralboatswerealreadyinthewateratvariousdocks；aixtureofotorboatsandsailingboats。therewereseveralpetterssonboats；andatonedockanif…classyachtwasrockinginthewake。otherboatswerelargerandoreexpensivevessels。henoticedahallberg…rassy。theboatsalsoindicatedtheclassdistributionofhedeby’sarina—martinvangerhadwithoutadoubtthel