船说“SohesthefatherofHarrietandMartin”Blokvistsaid；pointingattheportraitonthecoffeetable。 Reluctantlyhehadtoaditthattheoldansstorywasintriguing。
“Correct。InthetefortiesGottfriedetaGeranwoanbythenaeofIsabelKoenig；whohadetoSwedenafterthewar。ShewasquiteabeautyIeanthatshehadalovelyradiancelikeGarboorIngridBergan。HarrietprobablygotoreofhergenesfroherotherratherthanfroGottfried。Asyoucanseefrothephotograph；shewasprettyevenatfourteen。”
BlokvistandVangerconteptedthepicture。
“Butletecontinue。Isabelwasboin1928andisstillive。Shewaselevenwhenthewarbegan；andyoucaniaginewhatitwasliketobeateenagerinBerlinduringtheaerialbobardents。ItusthavefeltasifshehadarrivedinparadiseonearthwhenshendedinSweden。RegrettablyshesharedanyofGottfriedsvices；shewaszyandpartiedincessantly。ShetravelledagreatdealinSwedenandabroad；andckedallsenseofresponsibility。Obviouslythisaffectedthechildren。Martinwasboin1948andHarrietin1950。Theirchildhoodwaschaotic；withaotherwhowasforeverleavingtheandafatherwhowasvirtuallyanalcoholic。
“In1958Idhadenoughanddecidedtotrytobreaktheviciouscycle。Atthetie；GottfriedandIsabelwerelivinginHedestadIinsistedthattheyoveouthere
MartinandHarrietwereoreorlesslefttofendfortheselves。”
Vangergncedattheclock。
“Mythirtyinutesarealostup；butIclosetotheendofthestory。Willyougiveeareprieve”
“Goon；”Blokvistsaid。
“Inshort；then。Iwaschildlessinstrikingcontrasttoybrothersandotherfailyebers；whoseeedobsessedwiththeneeropagatethehouseofVanger。GottfriedandIsabeldidovehere；buttheirarriagewasontherocks。AfteronlyayearGottfriedovedouttohiscabin。HelivedtherealoneforlongperiodsandwentbacktoIsabelwhenitgottoocold。ItookcareofMartinandHarriet；andtheybecaeinanywaysthechildrenIneverhad。
“Martinwastotellthetruth；therewasatieinhisyouthwhenIwasafraidhewasgoingtofollowinhisfathersfootsteps。Hewasweakandintrovertedandencholy；buthecouldalsobedelightfundenthusiastic。Hehadsoetroubledyearsinhisteens；buthestraightenedhiselfoutwhenhestartedattheuniversity。Heiswell；inspiteofeverythingheisCEOofwhatsleftoftheVangerCorporation；whichIsupposeistohiscredit。”
“AndHarriet”
“Harrietwastheappleofyeye。Itriedtogiveherasenseofsecurityanddevelopherselfconfidence；andwetookalikingtoeachother。Ilookedonherasyowndaughter；andsheendedupbeingclosertoethantoherparents。Yousee；Harrietwasveryspecial。Shewasintrovertedlikeherbrotherandasateenagershebecaewrappedupinreligion；unlikeanyoneelseinthefaily。Butshehadacleartalentandshewastreendouslyintelligent。Shehadbothoralsandbackbone。WhenshewasfourteenorfifteenIwasconvincedthatshewastheoneandnotherbrotheroranyoftheediocrecousins；nephews；andniecesaroundewhowasdestinedtoruntheVangerbusinessoneday；oratleastpyacentralroleinit。”
“Sowhathappened”
“NoeetotherealreasonIwanttohireyou。IwantyoutofindoutwhointhefailyurderedHarriet；andwhosincethenhasspentalostfortyyearstryingtodriveeinsane。”
CHAPTER5
Thursday；Deceber26
Forthefirsttiesincehebeganhisonologue；theoldanhadanagedtotakeBlokvistbysurprise。Hehadtoaskhitorepeatittobesurehehadheardcorrectly。Nothinginthecuttingshadhintedataurder。
“ItwasSepteber24；1966。Harrietwassixteenandhadjustbegunhersecondyearatprepschool。ItwasaSaturday；andittuedintotheworstdayofylife。IvegoneovertheeventssoanytiesthatIthinkIcanaountforwhathappenedineveryinuteofthatdayexcepttheostiportantthing。”
Headeasweepinggesture。“Hereinthishouseagreatnuberofyfailyhadgathered。Itwastheloathsoeannualdinner。 Itwasatraditionwhichyfathersfatherintroducedandwhichgenerallytuedirettydetestableaffairs。Thetraditioncaetoanendintheeighties；whenMartinsiplydecreedthatalldiscussionsaboutthebusinesswouldtakepceatregurboardeetingsandbyvoting。Thatsthebestdecisionheeverade。”
“YousaidthatHarrietwasurdered”
“Wait。Letetellyouwhathappened。ItwasaSaturday；asIsaid。Itwasalsothedayoftheparty；withtheChildrensDayparadethatwasarrangedbythesportsclubinHedestad。Harriethadgoneintothetownduringthedayandwatchedtheparadewithsoeofherschoolfriends。ShecaebackheretoHedebyIsndjustafter2：00intheafteoon。Dinnerwassupposedtobeginat5：00；andshewasexpectedtotakepartalongwiththeotheryoungpeopleinthefaily。”
Vangergotupandwentovertothewindow。HeotionedBlokvisttojoinhi；andpointed。
“At2：15；afewinutesafterHarrietcaehoe；adraaticaidentourredoutthereonthebridge。AancalledGustavAronsson；brotherofafareratstergrdenasallholdingonHedebyIsndtuedontothebridgeandcrashedheadonwithanoiltruck。Evidentlybothweregoingtoofastandwhatshouldhavebeenainorcollisionprovedacatastrophe。Thedriverofthetruck；presuablyinstinctively；tuedhiswheewayfrothecar；hittherailingofthebridgeandthetankerflippedover；itendedupacrossthebridgewithitstrailerhangingovertheedge。Oneoftherailingshadbeendrivenintotheoiltankandfableheatingoilbeganspurtingout。IntheeantieAronssonsatpinnedinsidehiscar；screainginpain。Thetankerdriverwasalsoinjuredbutanagedtoscrableoutofhiscabin。”
Theoldanwentbacktohischair。
“TheaidentactuallyhadnothingtodowithHarriet。Butitwassignificantinacrucialway。Ashablesensued：peopleonbothsidesofthebridgehurriedtotrytohelp；theriskoffirewassignificantandaajorarwassounded。Policeofficers；anabunce；therescuesquad；thefirebrigade；reportersandsightseersarrivedinrapidsuession。Naturallyalloftheassebledontheainndside；hereontheisndsidewedidwhatwecouldtogetAronssonoutofthewreck；whichprovedtobedanablydifficult。Hewaspinnedinandseriouslyinjured。
“Wetrierisehiloosewithourbarehands；andthatdidntwork。Hewouldhavetobecutorsawedout；butwecouldntdoanythingthatriskedstrikingaspark；wewerestandingintheiddleofaseaofoilnexttoatankertrucklyingonitsside。Ifithadexplodedwewouldhaveallbeenkilled。Ittookalongtiebeforewecouldgethelpfrotheainndside；thetruckwaswedgedrightacrossthebridge；andclibingoveritwouldhavebeenthesaeasclibingoverabob。”
Blokvistcouldnotresistthefeelingthattheoldanwastellingaeticulouslyrehearsedstory；deliberatelytocapturehisinterest。Theanwasanexcellentstoryteller；noquestion。Ontheotherhand；wherewasthestoryheading
“Whatattersabouttheaidentisthatthebridgewasblockedfortwentyfourhours。NotuntilSundayeveningwasthestoftheoilpupedout；andthenthetruckcouldbeliftedupbycraneandthebridgeopenedfortraffic。DuringthesetwentyfourhoursHedebyIsndwastoallintentsandpurposescutofffrotherestoftheworld。Theonlywaytogetacrosstotheainndwasonafireboatthatwasbroughtintotransportpeoplefrothesallboatharbouronthissidetotheoldharbourbelowthechurch。ForseveralhourstheboatwasusedonlybyrescuecrewsitwasntuntilquiteteonSaturdaynightthatstrandedisndersbegantobeferriedacross。Doyouunderstandthesignificanceofthis”
“IassuethatsoethinghappenedtoHarriethereontheisnd；”Blokvistsaid；“andthatthelistofsuspectsconsistsofthefinitenuberofpeopletrappedhere。Asortoflockedrooysteryinisndforat”
Vangersiledironically。“Mikael；youdontknowhowrightyouare。EvenIhavereadyDorothySayers。Thesearethefacts：Harrietarrivedhereontheisndabout2：10。Ifwealsoincludechildrenandunarriedguests；allinalboutfortyfailyebersarrivedinthecourseoftheday。Alongwithservantsandresidents；thereweresixtyfourpeopleeitherhereoearthefar。Soeofthetheoneswhoweregoingtospendthenightwerebusygettingsettledinneighbouringfarsoringuestroos。