Friday；Deceber20
Thetrialwasirretrievablyover；everythingthatcouldbesaidhadbeensaid；buthehadneverdoubtedthathewouldlose。Thewrittenverdictwashandeddownat10：00onFridayoing；andallthatreainedwasasuingupfrothereporterswaitinginthecorridoroutsidethedistrictcourt。
“Carl”MikaelBlokvistsawthethroughthedoorwayandslowedhisstep。Hehadnowishtodiscusstheverdict；butquestionswereunavoidable；andheofallpeopleknewthattheyhadtobeaskedandanswered。Thisishowitistobeacriinal；hethought。Ontheothersideoftheicrophone。Hestraightenedupandtriedtosile。Thereportersgavehifriendly；alostebarrassedgreetings。
“LetsseeAftonbdet；Expressen；TTwireservice；TV4；andwhereareyoufroahyes；DagensNyheter。Iustbeacelebrity；”Blokvistsaid。
“Giveusasoundbite；KalleBlokvist。”Itwasareporterfrooneoftheeveningpapers。
Blokvist；hearingthenicknae；forcedhiselfasalwaysnottorollhiseyes。Once；whenhewastwentythreeandhadjuststartedhisfirstsuerjobasajoualist；Blokvisthadchanceduponagangwhichhadpulledofffivebankrobberiesoverthepasttwoyears。Therewasnodoubtthatitwasthesaegangineveryinstance。Theirtradearkwastoholduptwobanksatatiewithilitaryprecision。TheyworeasksfroDisneyWorld；soinevitablypolicelogicdubbedthetheDonaldDuckGang。ThenewspapersrenaedthetheBearGang；whichsoundedoresinister；oreappropriatetothefactthatontwooasionstheyhadrecklesslyfiredwaingshotsandthreatenedcuriouspassersby。
Theirsixthoutingwasatabankinstergtndattheheightoftheholidayseason。Areporterfrothelocalradiostationhappenedtobeinthebankatthetie。Assoonastherobbersweregonehewenttoapublictelephoneanddictatedhisstoryforlivebroadcast。
BlokvistwasspendingseveraldayswithagirlfriendatherparentssuercabinnearKatrinehol。Exactlywhyheadetheconnectionhecouldnotexpin；eventothepolice；butashewaslisteningtothenewsreporthereeberedagroupoffoureninasuercabinafewhundredfeetdowntheroad。Hehadseenthepyingbadintonoutintheyard：fourblond；athletictypesinshortswiththeirshirtsoff。Theywereobviouslybodybuilders；andtherehadbeensoethingaboutthethathadadehilooktwiceaybeitwasbecausethegaewasbeingpyedinbzingsunshinewithwhatherecognisedasintenselyfocusedenergy。
Therehadbeennogoodreasontosuspecttheofbeingthebankrobbers；butneverthelesshehadgooahilloverlookingtheircabin。Itseeedepty。ItwasaboutfortyinutesbeforeaVolvodroveupandparkedintheyard。Theyoungengotout；inahurry；andwereeachcarryingasportsbag；sotheyighthavebeendoingnothingorethaningbackfroaswi。Butoneoftheretuedtothecarandtookoutfrothebootsoethingwhichhehurriedlycoveredwithhisjacket。EvenfroBlokvistsretivelydistantobservationposthecouldtellthatitwasagoodoldAK4；theriflethathadbeenhisconstantpanionfortheyearofhisilitaryservice。
Hecalledthepoliceandthatwasthestartofathreedaysiegeofthecabin；bnketcoveragebytheedia；withBlokvistinafrontrowseatandcollectingagratifyinglyrgefeefroaneveningpaper。ThepolicesetuptheirheadquartersinacaravaninthegardenofthecabinwhereBlokvistwasstaying。
ThefalloftheBearGanggavehithestarbillingthatunchedhiasayoungjoualist。Thedownsideofhiscelebritywasthattheothereveningnewspapercouldnotresistusingtheheadline“KalleBlokvistsolvesthecase。”ThetongueincheekstorywaswrittenbyanolderfealecolunistandcontainedreferencestotheyoungdetectiveinAstridLindgrenssforchildren。Toakeattersworse；thepaperhadrunthestorywithagrainyphotographofBlokvistwithhisouthhalfopenevenasheraisedanindexfingeoint。
ItadenodifferencethatBlokvisthadneverinlifeusedthenaeCarl。Frothatoenton；tohisdisay；hewasnicknaedKalleBlokvistbyhispeersanepitheteployedwithtauntingprovocation；notunfriendlybutnotreallyfriendlyeither。InspiteofhisrespectforAstridLindgrenwhoseshelovedhedetestedthenicknae。Ittookhiseveralyearsandfarweightierjoualisticsuessesbeforethenicknaebegantofade；buthestillcringedifeverthenaewasusedinhishearing。
Rightnowheachievedapcidsileandsaidtothereporterfrotheeveningpaper：“Oheon；thinkofsoethingyourself。Youusuallydo。”
Histonewasnotunpleasant。Theyallkneweachother；oreorless；andBlokvistsostviciouscriticshadnotethatoing。Oneofthejoualiststherehadatoieworkedwithhi。AndatapartysoeyearsagohehadnearlysueededinpickinguponeofthereportersthewoanfroSheonTV4。
“Youtookarealhitintheretoday；”saidtheonefroDagensNyheter；clearlyayoungparttier。“Howdoesitfeel”
Despitetheseriousnessofthesituation；neitherBlokvistnortheolderjoualistscouldhelpsiling。HeexchangedgnceswithTV4。HowdoesitfeelThehalfwittedsportsreportershoveshisicrophoneinthefaceoftheBreathlessAthleteonthefinishingline。
“Icanonlyregretthatthecourtdidnotetoadifferentconclusion；”hesaidabitstuffily。
“Threeonthsingaond150；000kronordaages。Thatsprettysevere；”saidShefroTV4。
“Illsurvive。”
“AreyougoingtoapologisetoWennerstrShakehishand”
“Ithinknot。”
“Soyoustillwouldsaythathesacrook”DagensNyheter。
ThecourthadjustruledthatBlokvisthadlibelledanddefaedthefinancierHansErikWennerstr。Thetrialwasoverandhehadnopnstoappeal。SowhatwouldhappenifherepeatedhiscionthecourthousestepsBlokvistdecidedthathedidnotwanttofindout。
“IthoughtIhadgoodreasoublishtherationthatwasinypossession。Thecourthasruledotherwise；andIustaeptthatthejudicialprocesshastakenitscourse。Thoseofusontheeditorialstaffwillhavetodiscussthejudgeentbeforewedecidewhatweregoingtodo。Ihavenooretoadd。”
“Buthowdidyouetofetthatjoualistsactuallyhavetobackuptheirassertions”ShefroTV4。Herexpressionwasneutral；butBlokvistthoughthesawahintofdisappointedrepudiationinhereyes。
Thereportersonsite；apartfrotheboyfroDagensNyheter；wereallveteransinthebusiness。Forthetheanswertothatquestionwasbeyondtheconceivable。“Ihavenothingtoadd；”herepeated；butwhentheothershadaeptedthisTV4stoodhiagainstthedoorstothecourthouseandaskedherquestionsinfrontofthecaera。Shewaskinderthanhedeserved；andtherewereenoughclearanswerstosatisfyallthereportersstillstandingbehindher。Thestorywouldbeintheheadlinesbuthereindedhiselfthattheywerenotdealingwiththeediaeventoftheyearhere。Thereportershadwhattheyneededandheadedbacktotheirrespectivenewsroos。
Heconsideredwalking；butitwasablusteryDeceberdayandhewasalreadycoldaftertheinterview。Ashewalkeddownthecourtroosteps；hesawWilliaBgettingoutofhiscar。Heusthavebeensittingthereduringtheinterview。Theireyeset；andthenBsiled。
“Itwasworthingdownherejusttoseeyouwiththatpaperinyourhand。”
Blokvistsaidnothing。BandBlokvisthadknowneachotherforfifteenyears。Theyhadworkedtogetherascubreportersforthefinancialsectionofaoingpaper。Maybeitwasaquestionofcheistry；butthefoundationhadbeenidthereforalifelongenity。InBlokvistseyes；Bhadbeenathirdratereporterandatroublesoepersonwhoannoyedeveryonearoundhiwithcrassjokesandadedisparagingrearksabouttheoreexperienced；olderreporters。Heseeedtodisliketheolderfealereportersinparticur。Theyhadtheirfirstquarrel；thenothers；andanontheantagonistuedpersonal。
Overtheyears；theyhadrunintoeachotherregurly；butitwasnotuntiltheteniiesthattheybecaeseriouseneies。BlokvisthadpublishedaaboutfinancialjoualisandquotedextensivelyanuberofidioticarticleswrittenbyB。Bcaeacrossasapopousasswhogotanyofhisfactsupsidedownandwrotehoagestodotpaniesthatwereonthebrinkofgoingunder。WhenthereaftertheyetbychanceinabarinSdertheyhadallbutetoblows。Bleftjoualis；andnowheworkedinPRforaconsiderablyhighersaryatafirthat；toakethingsworse；waspartofindustrialistHansErikWennerstrssphereofinfluence。
TheylookedateachotherforalongoentbeforeBlokvisttuedonhisheendwalkedaway。ItwastypicalofBtodrivetothecourthousesiplytositthereandughathi。
Thenuber40busbrakedtoainfrontofBscarandBlokvisthoppedontoakehisescape。HegotoffatFridhespn；undecidedwhattodo。Hewasstillholdingthejudgeentdocuentinhishand。FinallyhewalkedovertoKaféAnna；nexttothegarageentranceleadingundeeaththepolicestation。
Halfainuteafterhehadorderedacaffetteandasandwich；thelunchtienewscaeontheradio。ThestoryfollowedthatofasuicidebobinginJerusaleandthenewsthatthegoveenthadappointedaissiontoinvestigatetheallegedforationofanewcartelwithintheconstructionindustry。
JoualistMikaelBlokvistoftheagazineMillenniuwassentencedthisoingto90daysingaolforaggravatedlibelofindustrialistHansErikWennerstr。InanarticleearlierthisyearthatdrewattentiontothesocalledMinosaffair；BlokvistciedthatWennerstrhadusedstatefundsintendedforindustrialinvestentinPondforarsdeals。Blokvistwasalsosentenceay150；000SEKindaages。Inastateent；WennerstrswyerBertilCanerarkersaidthathisclientwassatisfiedwiththejudgeent。Itwasanexceptionallyoutrageouscaseoflibel；hesaid。
Thejudgeentwastwentysixpageslong。ItsetoutthereasonsforfindingBlokvistguiltyonfifteencountsofaggravatedlibelofthebusinessanHansErikWennerstr。Soeachcountcosthitenthousandkronorandsixdaysingaol。Andthentherewerethecourtcostsandhisownwyersfee。Hecouldnotbringhiselftothinkaboutalltheexpenses；buthecalcutedtoothatitighthavebeenworse；thecourthadacquittedhionsevenothercounts。
Ashereadthejudgeent；hefeltagrowingheavinessanddisfortinhisstoach。Thissurprisedhi。Asthetrialbeganheknewthatitwouldtakeairacleforhitoescapeconviction；andhehadbeereconciledtotheoute。Hesatthroughthetwodaysofthetrialsurprisinglycal；andforelevenoredayshewaited；withoutfeelinganythinginparticur；forthecourttofinishdeliberatingandtoeiththedocuenthenowheldinhishand。Itwasonly船说