第 1 部分阅读
1
提供
hegirlwiththedragontattoo
larssonstieg
prologue
afridayinnoveber
ithappenedeveryyear；wasalostaritual。andthiswashiseighty…secondbirthday。when；asusual；theflowerwasdelivered；hetookoffthewrappingpaperandthenpickedupthetelephoocalldetectivesuperintendentmorellwho；whenheretired；hadovedtolakesiljanindalarna。theywerenotonlythesaeage；theyhadbeenbornonthesaeday—whichwassoethingofanironyunderthecircustances。theoldpoliceanwassittingwithhiscoffee；waiting；expectingthecall。
“itarrived。”
“whatisitthisyear？”
“idon’tknohatkinditis。i’llhavetogetsoeootellewhatitis。it’swhite。”
“noletter；isuppose。”
“justtheflower。thefraeisthesaekindaslastyear。oneofthosedo…it…yourselfones。”
“postark？”
“stockhol。”
“handwriting？”
“saeasalways；allincapitals。upright；neatlettering。”
withthat；thesubjectwasexhausted；andnotanotherwordwasexchangedforalostainute。theretiredpoliceanleanedbackinhiskitchenchairanddrewonhispipe。heknewhewasnolongerexpectedtoeupwithapithyentoranysharpquestionwhichwouldshedanewlightonthecase。thosedayshadlongsincepassed；andtheexchangebetweenthetwoenseeedlikearitualattachingtoaysterywhichno…oneelseinthewholeworldhadtheleastinterestinunravelling。
thelatinnaewasleptosperurubite。itwasaplantaboutfourincheshighwithsall；heather…likefoliageandawhiteflowerwithfivepetalsaboutoneinchacross。
theplantwasnativetotheaustralianbushanduplands；whereitwastobefoundaongtussocksofgrass。thereitwascalleddesertsnow。soeoneatthebotanicalgardensinuppsalawouldlaterconfirthatitwasaplantseldocultivatedinsweden。thebotanistwroteinherreportthatitwasrelatedtotheteatreeandthatitwassoetiesconfusedwithitsoreoncousinleptosperuscopariu；whichgrewinabundanceinnewzealand。whatdistinguishedthe；shepointedout；wasthatrubitehadasallnuberoficroscopicpinkdotsatthetipsofthepetals；givingtheflowerafaintpinkishtinge。
rubitewasaltogetheranunpretentiousflower。ithadnoknownedicinalproperties；anditcouldnotinducehallucinatoryexperiences。itwasneitheredible；norhadauseintheanufactureofplantdyes。ontheotherhand；theaboriginalpeopleofaustraliaregardedassacredtheregionandthefloraaroundayersrock。
thebotanistsaidthatsheherselfhadneverseenonebefore；butafterconsultinghercolleaguesshewastoreportthatatteptshadbeenadetointroducetheplantatanurserying？teb；andthatitight；ofcourse；becultivatedbyaateurbotanists。itwasdifficulttogrowinswedenbecauseitthrivedinadrycliateandhadtoreainindoorshalfoftheyear。itwouldnotthriveincalcareoussoilandithadtobewateredfrobelow。itneededpapering。
thefactofitsbeingsorareafloweroughttohaveadeiteasiertotracethesourceofthisparticularspecien；butinpracticeitwasanipossibletask。therewasnoregistrytolookitupin；nolicencestoexplore。anywherefroahandfultoafewhundredenthusiastscouldhavehadaesstoseedsorplants。andthosecouldhavechangedhandsbetweenfriendsorbeenboughtbyailorderfroanywhereineurope；anywhereintheantipodes。
butitwasonlyoneintheseriesofystifyingflowersthateachyeararrivedbypostonthefirstdayofnoveber。theywerealwaysbeautifulandfortheostpartrareflowers；alwayspressed；ountedonwater…colourpaperinasiplefraeeasuringsixinchesbyeleveninches。
thestrangestoryoftheflowershadneverbeenreportedinthepress；onlyaveryfewpeopleknewofit。thirtyyearsagotheregulararrivaloftheflowerwastheobjectofuchscrutiny—atthenationalforensiclaboratory；aongfingerprintexperts；graphologists；criinalinvestigators；andoneortworelativesandfriendsoftherecipient。nowtheactorsinthedraawerebutthree：theelderlybirthdayboy；theretiredpolicedetective；andthepersonwhohadpostedtheflower。thefirsttwoatleasthadreachedsuchanagethatthegroupofinterestedpartieswouldsoonbefurtherdiinished。
thepoliceanwasahardenedveteran。hewouldneverfethisfirstcase；inwhichhehadhadtotakeintocustodyaviolentandappallinglydrunkworkeratanelectricalsubstationbeforehecausedothershar。duringhiscareerhehadbroughtinpoachers；wifebeaters；conen；carthieves；anddrunkdrivers。hehaddealtwithburglars；drugdealers；rapists；andonederangedbober。hehadbeeninvolvedinnineurderoranslaughtercases。infiveofthesetheurdererhadcalledthepolicehiselfand；fullofreorse；confessedtohavingkilledhiswifeorbrotherorsoeotherrelative。twoothersweresolvedwithinafewdays。anotherrequiredtheassistanceofthenationalcriinalpoliceandtooktwoyears。
theninthcasewassolvedtothepolice’ssatisfaction；whichistosaythattheyknehotheurdererwas；butbecausetheevidencewassoinsubstantialthepublicprosecutordecidedno. roceedwiththecase。tothedetectivesuperintendent’sdisay；thestatuteofliitationseventuallyputanendtotheatter。butallinallhecouldlookbackonanipressivecareer。
hewasanythingbutpleased。
forthedetective；the“caseofthepressedflowers”hadbeennaggingathiforyears—hislast；unsolved；andfrustratingcase。thesituationwasdoublyabsurdbecauseafterspendingliterallythousandsofhoursbrooding；ondutyandoff；hecouldnotsaybeyonddoubtthatacriehadindeedbeenitted。
thetwoenknewthatwhoeverhadountedtheflowerswouldhaveworngloves；thattherewouldbenofingerprintsonthefraeortheglass。thefraecouldhavebeenboughtincaerashopsorstationerystorestheworldover。therewas；quitesiply；noleadtofollow。mostoftentheparcelwaspostedinstockhol；butthreetiesfrolondon；twicefroparis；twicefrocopenhagen；oncefromadrid；oncefrobonn；andoncefropensacola；florida。thedetectivesuperintendenthadhadtolookitupinanatlas。
afterputtingdownthetelephoheeighty…two…year…oldbirthdayboysatforalongtielookingattheprettybuteaninglessflowerwhosenaehedidnotyetknow。thenhelookedupatthewallabovehisdesk。therehungforty…threepressedflowersintheirfraes。fourrowsoften；andoneatthebottowithfour。inth. rowonewasissingfrotheninthslot。desertsnoouldbenuberforty…four。
withoutwarninghebegantoweep。hesurprisedhiselfwiththissuddenburstofeotionafteralostfortyyears。
part1
incentive
december20–january3
eighteenpercentofthewoeninswedenhaveatoiebeenthreatenedbyaan。
chapter1
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