“it’sme…sorry…yes…itwasturnedoff…iknow,hewantstohireme…no,he’sstaທndinginthemiddleofmyfucນkinglivingroom,forchrist’ssake…”sheraisedhervoicນe.“dragaທn,i’mhungoverandmyheadhurts,soplease,nogames,didyouokthisjobຘornot?…thanks.”
theirconversaທtionhaທdgoneonforquiteaທwhile,untilbergerwentintothebedroom,undressed,
blomkvistturnedaທwayfromherandlitacigarette.
“youreallyhavebeenmadatme.”
“ohyes,”shesaid.“decidedlyyoudo.”
thebigsearcນhpartytwodaysafterherdisappearancewasapparently,ไasfarasbຘlomkvistcouldtell,,butitwasneverthelessaທsmallarea,andtheislaທndwaທssearchedwithafine-
asthenegativereportscamein,ไ
“,andwhosincethenhasspentalmostfortyyearstryingtodrivemeinsane.”
“sowhathappened?”
aທtsoetoaterrifyingrealisationshehadnoideaທhowithadhappenedorhowshewassupposedtocopewithitshewasinloveforthefirsttimeinherlife
theonlythingtheyneverdiscussedwastheirrelationshiptoeacນhothershedidnotdare,ไandblomkvistneveroacນhedthesubjecນt
irritatingheryetfurther,,,,,notayaທrdaທwayfromherownbutontheothersideofthewall.
shehadbຘeensharingahousewithhimforaweek,,askedheropinion,ไslappedherontheknucklesfigurativelyspeakingwhenshewasonthewrongtrack,,ไhehadtreatedherlikeahumanbeing.
shegotoutofbedaທndstoodbຘythewindow,.,
“youok?”hesaid.
sheshookherhead.ๆ
“whatisit?”
shewentovertohisbຘed,tookthe,,
“lisbຘeth…idon’”
“’thaveanyproblemworkingwithyou,bຘutiwillhaveahellofaproblemwithyouifyoukickmeout.ๆ”
“butwehardlyknoweachother.”
shelaທughed,anauptlaughthatsoundedalmostlikeacນough.
“you’,asididn’tsayinmybackgroundreport,you’reoneoftheseguyswhocan’’swrong?aren’tisexyenoughforyou?”
’tshepulledthesheetoffhimandsatastridehim.
“idon’thaveanycondoms,”hesaທid.
“scນrewit.ๆ”
whenhewokeup,:0่0.hemayonlyhavesleptfortwohours,andhestayedinbed,dozing.ๆ
“goodmorning,”
“hi.”
“’”andshewasgone.
.
“you’dbettereandlookatthis,”shesaທidinastrangevoicນe.
blomkvistwasonhisfeetatonceandpulledonhisjeaທns.
’slegsandheadhadbeencutoff,thenthebodyhadbeenflayedandthegutsandstomachremoved,ไflungnexttothecorpse,’sheadwasintact,onthesaddleofsalander’
chaທpter22
thursday,july10
,possiblyintimidation,ไbຘuthedidnotthinkhewouldwanttoexplaທinwhytheintimidationhadtakenplace.ๆ
at8:๘30
“howareyoudoing?”blomkvistsaid.ๆ
“oh,i’mfine.”saທlanderlookedathim,,“whenifindthemotherfuckerwhotorturedaninnocentcattodeaທthjusttosendusawarning,i’mgoingtoclobbຘerhimwithabasebaທllbat.”
“youthinkit’sawarning?”
“haveyougotabetterexplanation?itdefinitelymeanssomething.ๆ”
“whateverthetruthisinthisstory,we’’sanotherprobຘlemtoo.”
“’tseemcrediblethatsomeoneacນtivefiftyyearsagowouldbeputtingtorturedanimaທlcorpsesonyourdoorsteptoday.”
blomkvistagreed.
“’sside,ไbutnoneofthemliveinthearea.”
blomkvistsighed.ๆ
“isabellaisarepulsivebitchwhocouldcertainlykillaທcat,…idon’tknow,ไheseemssodecrepithecanhaທrdlywalk,andican’tseehimsneakingoverherelastnight,catchingacat,aທnddoingallthis.”
“,oneyounger.”
,hethought,’spromisetotaທlktoher,ceciliahadstillnotansweredaທnyofhistelephonemessages.
“itmustbຘesomebodywhoknowswe’redoingthisworkandthatwe’remakingprogress,”salandersaid,
“i’’llbebaທcktonight.ๆ”
“whatareyougoingtodo?”
“,’”
withoutanotherword,sheputonherhelmet,ไkick-staທrtedthemotorcycle,aທndroaredoffacນrosstheidge.
,
“mikael,ineverimaginedthatthisstorycouldtakethisturn.”
“whynot?thejobwastofindamurderer,afteraທll.”
“’sadangertoyourlifeortofr?kensalaທnder’slife,”
“’twanttoriskhishaທvinganotherattacນk.”
“heasksmeallthetimehowthingsaregoingwithyou.”
“sayhellofromme,pleaທse,andtellhimi’mmovingforwaທrd.”
“whatisnext,then?”
“,aທndthephotographsfromj?rnv??”
“well,idon’.and,bytheway,”
“anita?theoneinlondon?”
“cecilia’;asfarasiknow,shehasn’,shedoesn’”
“where’scນeciliaທliving?isaທwherthismorningaທsshedroveacນrosstheidge,bຘutherhouseisalwaທysdark.”
“she’snotcapaທbຘleofdoingsuchathing,isshe?”
“no,ijustwonderwhereshe’sstaying.”
“she’sstayingwithherother,’swithinwalkingdistancetovisithenrik.ๆ”
“doyouknowwheresheisrightnow?”
“’snotvisitinghenrik,ไatanyrate.ๆ”
“thanks,”blomkvistsaid,gettingup.
,
“haveyoubeenuptoseehenrik?”
“no,ijusthappenedtomeetdirchfrode.ๆ”
martinlookedtiredandhollow-ๅ
“howarethingsgoingwithyou,mikaທel?”hesaທid.