船说；thenwalkingdowntotheofficeandclearingouthisdesk。 Hehadnointentionofbreakingtieswiththeagazine；buthehadeventuallyconvincedBergerthathehadtobeseparatedfrotheagazineforatie。Hewouldworkfrohoe。
TheofficewasclosedfortheChristasholidaysandallhiscolleaguesweregone。Hewasweedingthroughtraysofpapersandpackingsincartonstotakeawaywhenthetelephonerang。
“IlookingforMikaelBlokvist；”saidahopefulbutunfailiarvoiceontheline。
“Speaking。”
“Fiveeforbotheringyoulikethisunannounced；sotospeak。MynaeisDirchFrode。”Blokvistnotedthenaeandthetie。“Iawyer；andIrepresentaclientwhowouldveryuchliketohaveatalkwithyou。”
“Thatsfine；pleaseaskyourclienttocalle。”
“Ieanthathewantstoeetwithyouinperson。”
“OK；akeanappointentandsendhiuptotheoffice。Butyoudbetterhurry；Iclearingoutydeskrightnow。”
“MyclientwouldlikeyoutovisithiinHedestaditsonlythreehoursbytrain。”
Blokvistpushedafilingtrayaside。Theediahavetheabilitytoattractthecraziestpeopletocallinperfectlyabsurdtips。EverynewsroointheworldgetsupdatesfroUFOlogists；graphologists；scientologists；paranoiacs；everysortofconspiracytheorist。
BlokvisthadoncelistenedtoalecturebythewriterKarlAlvarNilssonattheABFhallontheanniversaryoftheurderofPrieMinisterOlofPale。Thelecturewasserious；andintheaudiencewereLennartBodstrandotherfriendsofPales。Butasurprisingnuberofaateurinvestigatorshadtuedup。OneofthewasawoaninherfortieswhoduringtheQandAhadtakentheprofferedicrophoneandthenloweredhervoicetoabarelyaudiblewhisper。Thisaloneheraldedaninterestingdevelopent；andnobodywassurprisedwhenthewoanbeganbyciing；“IknohourderedOlofPale。”FrothestageitwassuggestedsoewhatironicallythatifthewoanhadthisrationthenitwouldbehelpfulifsheshareditwiththePaleinvestigationatonce。Shehurriedtoreply：“Icant；”shesaidsosoftlyitwasalostipossibletohear。“Itstoodangerous”
BlokvistwonderedwhetherthisFrodewasanotheroneofthetruthsayerswhocouldrevealthesecretentalhospitalwhereSpo；theSecurityPolice；ranexperientsonthoughtcontrol。
“Idontakehousecalls；”hesaid。
“IhopeIcanconvinceyoutoakeanexception。Myclientisovereighty；andforhiitwouldbetooexhaustingtoedowntoStockhol。Ifyouinsist；wecouldcertainlyarrangesoething；buttotellyouthetruth；itwouldbepreferableifyouwouldbesokind”
“Whoisyourclient”
“ApersonwhosenaeIsuspectyouhaveheardinyourwork。HenrikVanger。”
Blokvistleanedbackinsurprise。HenrikVangerofcoursehehadheardofhi。AnindustrialistandforerheadoftheVangerpanies；oncerenownedinthefieldsofsawills；ines；steel；etals；textiles。Vangerhadbeenoneofthereallybigfishinhisday；withareputationforbeinganhonourable；oldfashionedpatriarchwhowouldnotbendinastrongwind。AcoerstoneofSwedishindustry；oneofthetwentypointstagsoftheoldschool；alongwithMattsCarlgrenofMoDoandHansWerthénattheoldElectrolux。Thebackboneofindustryinthewelfarestate；etcetera。
ButtheVangerpanies；stillfailyowned；hadbeenrackedinthepasttwentyfiveyearsbyreanisations；stockarketcrises；interestcrises；petitionfroAsia；decliningexports；andotheuisanceswhichtakentogetherhadconsignedthenaeVangertothebackwater。ThepanywasruntodaybyMartinVanger；whosenaeBlokvistassociatedwithashort；plupanwiththickhairwhooasionallyflickeredpastontheTVscreen。Hedidnotknowuchabouthi。HenrikVangerhadbeenoutofthepictureforatleasttwentyyears。
“WhydoesHenrikVangerwanttoeete”
“IvebeenHerrVangerswyerforanyyears；buthewillhavetotellyouhiselfwhathewants。Ontheotherhand；IcansaythatHerrVangerwouldliketodiscussapossiblejobwithyou。”
“JobIdonthavetheslightestintentionofgoingtoworkfortheVangerpany。Isitapresssecretaryyouneed”
“Notexactly。IdontknowhoutitotherthantosaythatHerrVangerisexceedinglyanxioustoeetyouandconsultwithyouonaprivateatter。”
“Youcouldntgetoreequivocal；couldyou”
“Ibegyourpardonforthat。 ButisthereanypossibilityofconvincingyoayavisittoHedestadNaturallywewillpayallyourexpensesandareasonablefee。”
“Yourcallesatratheraninconvenienttie。IhavequitealottotakecareofandIsupposeyouveseentheheadlinesabouteinthepastfewdays。”
“TheWennerstraffair”Frodechuckled。“Yes；thatdidhaveacertainauseentvalue。Buttotellyouthetruth；itwasthepublicitysurroundingthetrialthatcausedHerrVangertotakenoticeofyou。Hewantstoofferyouafreenceassignent。Ionlyaessenger。Whattheatterconcesissoethingonlyhecanexpin。”
“ThisisoneoftheoddercallsIvehadinalongtie。Letethinkaboutit。HowcanIreachyou”
Blokvistsatlookingatthedisorderonhisdesk。HecouldnotiaginewhatsortofjobVangerwouldwanttoofferhi；butthewyerhadsueededinarousinghiscuriosity。
HeGoogledtheVangerpany。Itightbeinthebackwatersbutitseeedtobeintheediaalostdaily。HesavedadozenpanyanalysesandthensearchedforFrode；andHenrikandMartinVanger。
MartinVangerappeareddiligentinhiscapacityasCEOoftheVangerCorporation。Frodekeptalowprofile；hewasontheboardoftheHedestadCountryClubandactiveintheRotaryClub。HenrikVangerappeared；withoneexception；onlyinarticlesgivingthebackgroundofthepany。TheHedestadCourierhadpublishedatributetotheforeragnateonhiseightiethbirthdaytwoyearsago；anditincludedashortsketch。Heputtogetherafolderoffiftypagesorso。Thenfinallyheeptiedhisdesk；sealedthecartons；and；havingnoideawhetherhewouldeback；wenthoe。
SanderspentChristasEveattheppelvikenNursingHoeinUppndsVsby。Shehadbroughtpresents：abottleofeaudetoilettebyDiorandanEnglishfruitcakefrohlénsdepartentstore。Shedrankcoffeeasshewatchedthefortysixyearoldwoanwhowithclusyfingerswastryingtountietheknotontheribbon。Sanderhadtendeessinhereyes；butthatthisstrangewoanwasherotheeverceasedtoaazeher。Shecouldrecognisenottheslightestresebnceinlooksoature。
Herothergaveupthestruggleandlookedhelplesslyatthepackage。Itwasnotoneofherbetterdays。Sanderpushedacrossthescissorsthathadbeeninpinsightonthetableandherothersuddenlyseeedtowakeup。
“YouustthinkIstupid。”
“No；Mu。Yourenotstupid。Butlifeisunfair。”
“Haveyouseenyoursister”
“Notinalongtie。”
“Sheneveres。”
“Iknow；Mu。Shedoesntseeeeither。”
“Areyouworking”
“Yes。Idoingfine。”
“WheredoyouliveIdontevenknohereyoulive。”
“IliveinyouroldapartentonLundagatan。Ivelivedthereforseveralyears。Ihadtotakeoverthepayents。”
“InthesuertieaybeIcaneandseeyou。”
“Ofcourse。Inthesuertie。”
HerotheratstgottheChristaspreseenandsniffedatthearoa；enchanted。“Thankyou；Cail；”shesaid。
“Lisbeth。ILisbeth。”
Herotherlookedebarrassed。SandersaidthattheyshouldgototheTVroo。
BlokvistspentthehouroftheDisneyspecialonChristasEvewithhisdaughterPeilatthehoeofhisexwife；Monica；andheewhusbandinSollentuna。AfterdiscussionswithherothertheyhadagreedtogivePeilaniPod；anMP3pyerhardlybiggerthanaatchboxwhichcouldstoreherhugeCDcollection。
Fatheranddaughterspentthetietogetherinherrooupstairs。Peilsparentsweredivorcedwhenshewasfive；andshehadhadanewfathersinceshewasseven。PeilcaetoseehiaboutonceaonthandhadweeklongholidayswithhiinSandhan。Whentheyspenttietogethertheyusuallygotalongwell；butBlokvisthadlethisdaughterdecidehowoftenshewantedtoseehi；theoresoafterherotherrearried。Therehadbeenacoupleofyearsinherearlyteenswhencontactalostped；anditwasonlyinthepasttwoyearsthatsheseeedtowanttoseehioreoften。