第 13 部分阅读
finallyheopenedhisshoulderbagandputhisionthedeskintheoffice。thenhe. pedandlookedabouthiwithasheepishexpression。thebenefitsoflivinginthecountryside；forsooth。therewasnowher. luginthebroadbandcable。hedidnotevenhaveatelephonejacktoconnectanolddial…upode。
blokvistcalledtheteliatelephonepanyfrohisobile。afteraslighthassle；heanagedtogetsoeoofindtheorderthatvangerhadplacedfortheguesthouse。hewantedtoknohethertheconnectioncouldhandleadslandwastoldthatitwouldbepossiblebywayofarelayinhedeby；andthatitwouldtakeseveraldays。
itwasafter4：00bythetieblokvistwasdone。heputonapairofthicksocksandtheborrowedbootsandpulledonanextrasweater。atthefrontdoorhe. pedshort；hehadbeengivennokeystothehouse；andhisbig…cityinstinctsrebelledattheideaofleavingthefrontdoorunlocked。hewentbacktothekitchenandbeganopeningdrawers。finallyhefoundakeyhangingfroanailinthepantry。
theteperaturehaddroppedto…1°f。hewalkedbrisklyacrossthebridgeandupthehillpastthechurch。thekonsustorewasconvenientlylocatedaboutthreehundredyardsaway。hefilledtwopaperbagstooverflowingwithsuppliesandthencarriedthehoebeforereturningacrossthebridge。thistiehe. pedatsusanne’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. forhedestadwasovertheroadfrokonsu；andblokviststartedoffhisexilebycarryingouthisplantogoshoppingintown。hegotoffthebusbytherailwaystationandadeatourofthecentreoftown。alongthewayheboughtheavywinterboots；twopairsoflongunderwear；severalflannelshirts；aproperthigh…lengthwinterjacket；awarcap；andlinedgloves。attheelectronicsstorehefoundasallportabletvwithrabbitears。thesalesclerkassuredhithathewouldatleastbeabletogetsvt；thestatetvchannel；outathedeby；andblokvistproisedtoaskforhisoneybackifthatturnedoutnottobethecase。
he. pedatthelibrarytogethiselfacardandborrowedtwoysteriesbyelizabethgee。heboughtpensandnotes。healsoboughtarucksackforcarryinghisnewpossessions。
finallyheboughtapackofcigarettes。hehad. pedsokingtenyearsago；butoasionallyhewouldhavearelapse。hestuckthepackinhisjacketpocketwitho. eningit。hislast. wastheoptician’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. floorofthecafé；andblokvistwonderedwhethersusannelivedthere；andifso；whethershewasalone。
onsundayorningheawokeinpanicattheincredibledinthatfilledtheguesthouse。ittookhiasecondtogethisbearingsandrealisethatitwasthechurchbellssuoningparishionerstoorningservice。itwasnearly11：00。hestayedinbeduntilheheardanurgenteowinginthedoorwayandgotuptoletoutthecat。
bynoonhehadshoweredandeatenbreakfast。hewentresolutelyintohisofficeandtookd
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