第 13 部分阅读
inthelastbuildingontheeastsideoftheroadlivedgerdavanger；widowofhenrik’sbrothergreger；andherson；alexander。
“gerdaissickly。shesuffersfrorheuatis。alexanderownsasallshareofthevangercorporation；butherunsanuberofhisownbusinesses；includingrestaurants。heusuallyspendsafewonthseachyearinbarbados；wherehehasinvestedaconsiderablesuinthetouristtrade。”
betweengerda’sandhenrik’shouseswasaplotoflandwithtwosaller；eptybuildings。theywereusedasguesthousesforfailyebers。ontheothersideofhenrik’shousestoodaprivatedwellingwhereanotherretiredeployeelivedwithhiswife；butitwaseptyinthewinterwhenthecouplerepairedtospain。
theyreturnedtothecrossroads；andwiththatthetourwasover。duskwasbeginningtofall。blokvisttooktheinitiative。
“henrik；i’lldowhati’vebeenhiredtodo。i’llwriteyourautobiography；andi’llhuouryoubyreadingalltheaterialaboutharrietascarefullyandcriticallyasican。ijustwantyoutorealisethati’notaprivatedetective。”
“iexpectnothing。”
“fine。”
“i’anightowl；”vangersaid。“soi’atyourdisposalanytieafterlunch。i’llarrangeforyoutohaveanofficeuphere；andyoucanakeuseofitwheneveryoulike。”
“no；thankyou。ihaveanofficeintheguesthouse；andthat’swherei’lldoywork。”
“asyouwish。”
“ifineedtotalktoyou；we’lldoitinyouroffice；buti’notgoingtostartthrowingquestionsatyoutonight。”
“iunderstand。”theoldanseeediprobablytiid。
“it’sgoingtotakeacoupleofweekstoreadthroughthepapers。we’llworkontwofronts。we’lleetforafewhourseachdaysothaticaninterviewyouandgatheraterialforyourbiography。whenistarthavingquestionsaboutharrietwhichineedtodiscusswithyou；i’llletyouknow。”
“thatsoundssensible。”
“i’goingtorequireafreehandtodoywork；andiwon’thaveanysetworkhours。”
“youdecideforyourselfhowtheworkshouldbedone。”
“isupposeyou’reawarethatihavetospendacoupleofonthsinprison。idon’tknowexactlywhen；buti’notgoingtoappeal。it’llprobablybesoetiethisyear。”
vangerfrowned。“that’sunfortunate。we’llhavetosolvethatproblewhenitesup。youcanalwaysrequestapostponeent。”
“ifit’sperittedandihaveenoughaterial；iightbeabletoworkonyourinprison。oneorething：i’stillpartownerofmillenniuandasofnowit’saagazineincrisis。ifsoethinghappensthatrequiresypresenceinstockhol；iwouldhavetodropwhati’doingandgothere。”
“ididn’ttakeyouonasaserf。iwantyoutodoathoroughjobontheassignenti’vegivenyou；but；ofcourse；youcansetyourownscheduleanddotheworkasyouseefit。ifyouneedtotakesoetieoff；feelfreetodoit；butififindoutthatyou’renotdoingthework；i’llconsiderthatabreachofcontract。”
vangerlookedovertowardsthebridge。hewasagauntan；andblokvistthoughtthathelookedatthatoentlikeaelancholyscarecrow。
“asfarasmillenniuisconcerned；weoughttohaveadiscussionaboutwhatkindofcrisisit’sinandwhethericanhelpinsoeway。”
“thebestassistanceyoucanofferistogiveewennerstr？’sheadonaplatterrighthereandnow。”
“ohno；i’notthinkingofdoingthat。”theoldangaveblokvistahardlook。“theonlyreasonyoutookthisjobwasbecauseiproisedtoexposewennerstr？。ifigiveyoutherationnow；youcould. comworkonthejobwheneveryoufeltlikeit。i’llgiveyoutherationayearfronow。”
“henrik；fiveeforsayingthis；butican’tbesurethatayearfronowyou’llbealive。”
vangersighedandcastathoughtfulgazeoverthefishingharbour。
“fairenough。i’lltalktofrodeandseeifwecanworksoethingout。butasfarasmillenniuisconcerned；iightbeabletohelpinanotherway。asiunderstandit；theadvertisershavebegu. comullout。”
“theadvertisersaretheiediateproble；butthecrisisgoesdeeperthanthat。it’saatteroftrust。itdoesn’tatterhowanyadvertiserswehaveifno…onewantstobuytheagazine。”
“irealisethat。i’stillontheboardofdirectorsofquitealargecorporation；albeitinapassiverole。wehav. comlaceadvertiseentssoewhere。let’sdiscusstheatteratsoestage。wouldyouliketohavedinner…”
“no。iwanttogetsettled；buysoegroceries；andtakealookaround。toorrowi’llgotohedestadandshopforwinterclothes。”
“goodidea。”
“i’dlikethefilesaboutharriettobeovedovertoyplace。”
“theyneedtobehandled…”
“withgreatcare—iunderstand。”
blokvistreturnedtotheguesthouse。histeethwerechatteringbythetiehegotindoors。thetheroeteroutsidethewindowsaid5°f；andhecouldn’treebereverfeelingsocoldasafterthatwalk；whichhadlastedbarelytwentyinutes。
hespentanhoursettlinghiselfintowhatwastobehishoefortheingyear。heputhisclothesinthewardrobeinthebedroo；histoiletrieswentinthebathroocabi。hissecondsuitcasewasactuallyatrunkonwheels。froithetooks；cdsandacdplayer；notes；asanyotaperecorder；amicrotekscanner；aportableink…jetprinter；aminoltadigitalcaera；andanuberofotheritesheregardedasessentialkitforayearinexile。
hearrangedthesandthecdsontheshelfintheofficealongsidetwobinderscontainingresearchaterialonhans…erikwennerstr？。theaterialwasuseless；buthecouldnotletitgo。soehowhehadtoturnthosetwofoldersintobuildingblocksforhiscontinuingcareer。
finallyheopenedhisshoulderbagandputhisionthedeskintheoffice。thenhe. compedandlookedabouthiwithasheepishexpression。thebenefitsoflivinginthecountryside；forsooth。therewasnowher. comluginthebroadbandcable。hedidnotevenhaveatelephonejacktoconnectanolddial…upode。
blokvistcalledtheteliatelephonepanyfrohisobile。afteraslighthassle；heanagedtogetsoeoofindtheorderthatvangerhadplacedfortheguesthouse。hewantedtoknohethertheconnectioncouldhandleadslandwastoldthatitwouldbepossiblebywayofarelayinhedeby；andthatitwouldtakeseveraldays。
itwasafter4：00bythetieblokvistwasdone。heputonapairofthicksocksandtheborrowedbootsandpulledonanextrasweater。atthefrontdoorhe. compedshort；hehadbeengivennokeystothehouse；andhisbig…cityinstinctsrebelledattheideaofleavingthefrontdoorunlocked。hewentbacktothekitchenandbeganopeningdrawers。finallyhefoundakeyhangingfroanailinthepantry。
theteperaturehaddroppedto…1°f。hewalkedbrisklyacrossthebridgeandupthehillpastthechurch。thekonsustorewasconvenientlylocatedaboutthreehundredyardsaway。hefilledtwopaperbagstooverflowingwithsuppliesandthencarriedthehoebeforereturningacrossthebridge。thistiehe. compedatsusanne’sbridgecafé。thewoanbehindthecounterwasinherfifties。heaskedwhethershewassusanneandthenintroducedhiselfbysayingthathewasundoubtedlygoingtobearegularcustoer。hewasforthetiebeingtheonlycustoer；andsusanneofferedhicoffeewhenheorderedsandwichesandboughtaloafofbread。hepickedupacopyofthehedestadcourierfrothenewspaperrackandsatatatablewithaviewofthebridgeandthechurch；itsfacadenowlitup。itlookedlikeachristascard。ittookhiaboutfourinutestoreadthenewspaper。theonlynewsofinterestwasabriefiteexplainingthatalocalpoliticianbythenaeofbirgervangerwasgoingtoinvestin“ittechcent”—atechnologydevelopentcentreinhedestad。mikaelsatthereuntilthecaféclosedat6：00。
at7：30hecalledberger；butwasadvisedthatthepartyatthatnuberwasnotavailable。hesatonthekitchenbenchandtriedtoreadanovelwhich；aordingtothebackcovertext；wasthesensationaldebutofateenagefeinist。thenovelwasabouttheauthor’sattepttogetahandleonhersexlifeduringatriptoparis；andblokvistwonderedwhetherhecouldbecalledafeinistifhewroteanovelabouthisownsexlifeinthevoiceofahigh…schoolstudent。probablynot。hehadboughtthebecausethepublisherhadhailedthefirst…tienovelistas“anewcarinarydberg。”hequicklyascertainedthatthiswasnotthecaseineitherstyleorcontent。heputtheasideforawhileandinsteadreadahopalongcassidystoryinanissueofrekordagasifrotheid…fifties。
everyhalfhourheheardthecurt；utedclangofthechurchbell。lightswerevisibleinthewindowsatthehoeofthecaretakeracrosstheroad；butblokvistcouldnotseeanyoneinsidethehouse。haraldvanger’shousewasdark。around9：00acardroveacrossthebridgeanddisappearedtowardsthepoint。atidnightthelightsonthefacadeofthechurchwereturnedoff。thatwasapparentlythefullextentoftheentertainentinhedebyonafridaynightinearlyjanuary。itwaseerilyquiet。
hetriedagaintocallbergerandgothervoiceail；askinghitoleavehisnaeandaessage。hedidsoandthenturnedoffthelightandwenttobed。thelastthinghethoughtaboutbeforehefellasleepwasthathewasgoingtorunahighriskofgoingstir…crazyinhedeby。
itwasstrangetoawaketouttersilence。blokvistpassedfrodeepsleeptototalalertnessinafractionofasecond；andthenlaystill；listening。itwascoldintheroo。heturnedhisheadandlookedathiswristwatchonastoolnexttothebed。itwas7：08—hehadneverbeenuchofaorningperson；anditusedtobehardforhitowakeupwithouthavingatleasttwoalarclocks。todayhehadwokenallbyhiself；andheevenfeltrested。
heputsoewateronforcoffeebeforegettingintotheshower。hewassuddenlyausedathissituation。kalleblokvist—onaresearchtripinthebackofbeyond。
theshowerheadchangedfroscaldingtoice…coldattheslightesttouch。therewasnoorningpaperonthekitchentable。thebutterwasfrozen。therewasnocheeseslicerinthedrawerofkitchenutensils。itwasstillpitchdarkoutside。thetheroetershowed6belowzero。itwassaturday。
thebus. comforhedestadwasovertheroadfrokonsu；andblokviststartedoffhisexilebycarryingouthisplantogoshoppingintown。hegotoffthebusbytherailwaystationandadeatourofthecentreoftown。alongthewayheboughtheavywinterboots；twopairsoflongunderwear；severalflannelshirts；aproperthigh…lengthwinterjacket；awarcap；andlinedgloves。attheelectronicsstorehefoundasallportabletvwithrabbitears。thesalesclerkassuredhithathewouldatleastbeabletogetsvt；thestatetvchannel；outathedeby；andblokvistproisedtoaskforhisoneybackifthatturnedoutnottobethecase。
he. compedatthelibrarytogethiselfacardandborrowedtwoysteriesbyelizabethgee。heboughtpensandnotes。healsoboughtarucksackforcarryinghisnewpossessions。
finallyheboughtapackofcigarettes。hehad. compedsokingtenyearsago；butoasionallyhewouldhavearelapse。hestuckthepackinhisjacketpocketwitho. comeningit。hislast. comwastheoptician’s；andthereheboughtcontactlenssolutionandorderednewlenses。
by2：00hewasbackinhedeby；andhewasjustreovingthepricetagsfrohisnewclotheswhenheheardthefrontdooropen。ablondewoan—perhapsinherfifties—knockedontheopenkitchendoorasshesteppedacrossthethreshold。shewascarryingaspongecakeonaplatter。
“hello。ijustwantedtoeovertointroduceyself。mynaeishelenanilsson；andiliveacrosstheroad。ihearwe’regoingtobeneighbours。”
theyshookhandsandheintroducedhiself。
“ohyes；i’veseenyouontv。it’sgoingtobenicetoseelightsoverhereintheevening。”
blokvistputonsoecoffee。shebegantoobjectbutthensatatthekitchentable；castingafurtiveglanceoutthewindow。
“hereeshenrikwithyhusband。itlookslikesoeboxesforyou。”
vangerandgunnarnilssondrewupoutsidewithadolly；andblokvistrushedouttogreettheandtohelpcarrythefourpackingcratesinside。theysettheboxesonthefloornexttothestove。blokvistgotoutthecoffeecupsandcutintofr？kennilsson’sspongecake。
thenilssonswerepleasantpeople。theydidnotseecuriousaboutwhyblokvistwasinhedestad—thefactthathewasworkingforhenrikvangerwasevidentlyenoughofanexplanation。blokvistobservedtheinteractionbetweenthenilssonsandvanger；concludingthatitwasrelaxedandlackinginanysortofgulfbetweenasterandservants。theytalkedaboutthevillageandtheanwhohadbuilttheguesthousewhereblokvistwasliving。thenilssonswouldproptvangerwhenhiseoryfailedhi。he；ontheotherhand；toldafunnystoryabouthownilssonhadehoeonenighttodiscoverthevillageidiotfroacrossthebridgetryingtobreakawindowattheguesthouse。nilssonwentovertoaskthehalf…witteddelinquentwhyhedidn’tgointhroughtheunlockedfrontdoor。nilssoninspectedblokvist’slittletvwithisgivingandinvitedhitoeacrosstotheirhouseiftherewaseveraprograehewantedtosee。
vangerstayedonbrieflyafterthenilssonsleft。hethoughtitbestthatblokvistsortthroughthefileshiself；andhecouldetothehouseifhehadanyprobles。
whenhewasaloneonceore；blokvistcarriedtheboxesintohisofficeandadeaninventoryofthecontents。
vanger’sinvestigationintothedisappearanceofhisbrother’sgranddaughterhadbeengoingonforthirty…sixyears。blokvistwonderedwhetherthiswasanunhealthyobsessionorwhether；overtheyears；ithaddevelopedintoanintellectualgae。whatwasclearwasthattheoldpatriarchhadtackledthejobwiththesysteaticapproachofanaateurarchaeologist—theaterialwasgoingtofilltwentyfeetofshelving。
thelargestsectionofitconsistedoftwenty…sixbinders；whichwerethecopiesofthepoliceinvestigation。hardtobelieveanordinaryissing…personcasewouldhaveproducedsuchprehensiveaterial。vangernodoubthadenoughclouttokeepthehedestadpolicefollowingupbothplausibleandiplausibleleads。
thentherewerescraps；photographalbus；aps；textsabouthedestadandthevangerfir；harriet’sdiary；herschools；edicalcertificates。thereweresixteenbounda4voluesofonehundredorsopageseach；whichwerevanger’slogoftheinvestigations。inthesenoteshehadrecordedinanipeablehandhisownspeculations；theories；digressions。blokvistleafedthroughthe。thetexthadaliteraryquality；andhehadthefeelingthatthesetextswerefaircopiesofperhapsanyorenotes。thereweretenbinderscontainingaterialonebersofthevangerfaily；thesepagesweretypedandhadbeenpiledovertheinterveningyears；vanger’sinvestigationsofhisownfaily。
around7：00heheardaloudeowingatthefrontdoor。areddish…browncatslippedswiftlypasthiintothewarth。
“wisecat；”hesaid。
thecatsniffedaroundtheguesthouseforawhile。mikaelpouredsoeilkintoadish；andhisguestlappeditup。thenthecathoppedontothekitchenbenchandcurledup。andthereshestayed。
itwasafter10：00beforeblokvisthadthescopeoftheaterialclearinhisindandhadarrangeditontheshelves。heputonapotofcoffeeandadehiselftwosandwiches。hehadnoteatenaproperealallday；buthewasstrangelyuninterestedod。heofferedthecatapieceofsausageandsoeliverwurst。afterdrinkinghiscoffee；hetookthecigarettesoutofhisjacketpocketandopenedthepack。
hecheckedhisobile。bergerhadnotcalled。hetriedheronceore。againonlyhervoiceail。
oneofthefirststepsblokvisthadtakenwastoscanintheapofhedebyislandthathehadborrowedfrovanger。whileallthenaeswerestillfreshinhisind；hewrotedownwholivedineachhouse。thevangerclanconsistedofsuchanextensivecastthatitwouldtaketietolearnwhowaswho。
justbeforeidnightheputonwarclothesandhisnewshoesandwalkedacrossthebridge。heturnedofftheroadandalongthesoundbelowthechurch。icehadforedonthesoundandinsidetheoldharbour；butfartherouthecouldseeadarkerbeltofopenwater。ashestoodthere；thelightsonthefacadeofthechurchwentout；anditwasdarkallaroundhi。itwasicycoldandstarsfilledthesky。
allofasuddenblokvistfeltdepressed。hecouldnotforthelifeofhiunderstandhowhehadallowedvangertotalkhiintotakingonthisassignent。bergerwasright：heshouldbeinstockhol—inbedwithher；forinstance—andplanninghiscapaignsagainstwennerstr？。buthefeltapatheticaboutthattoo；andhedidn’tevenhavethefaintestideahowtobeginplanningacounter…strategy。
haditbeendaylight；hewouldhavewalkedstraighttovanger’shouse；cancelledhiscontract；andgonehoe。butfrotherisebesidethechurchhecouldakeoutallthehousesontheislandside。haraldvanger’shousewasdark；buttherewerelightsonincecilia’shoe；aswellasinmartin’svillaoutbythepointandinthehousethatwasleased。inthesall…boatharbourtherewerelightsoninthedraughtycabinoftheartistandlittlecloudsofsparkswererisingfrohischiney。therewerealsolightsoninth. comfloorofthecafé；andblokvistwonderedwhethersusannelivedthere；andifso；whethershewasalone。
onsundayorningheawokeinpanicattheincredibledinthatfilledtheguesthouse。ittookhiasecondtogethisbearingsandrealisethatitwasthechurchbellssuoningparishionerstoorningservice。itwasnearly11：00。hestayedinbeduntilheheardanurgenteowinginthedoorwayandgotuptoletoutthecat。
bynoonhehadshoweredandeatenbreakfast。hewentresolutelyintohisofficeandtookd