Finallyheopenedhisshoulderbagandputhisionthedeskintheoffice。Thenhepedandlookedabouthiwithasheepishexpression。Thebenefitsoflivinginthecountryside；forsooth。Therewasnowherluginthebroadbandcable。Hedidnotevenhaveatelephonejacktoconnectanolddialupode。
BlokvistcalledtheTeliatelephonepanyfrohisobile。Afteraslighthassle；heanagedtogetsoeoofindtheorderthatVangerhadpcedfortheguesthouse。HewantedtoknohethertheconnectioncouldhandleADSLandwastoldthatitwouldbepossiblebywayofareyinHedeby；andthatitwouldtakeseveraldays。
Itwasafter4：00bythetieBlokvistwasdone。Heputonapairofthicksocksandtheborrowedbootsandpulledonanextrasweater。Atthefrontdoorhepedshort；hehadbeengivennokeystothehouse；andhisbigcityinstinctsrebelledattheideaofleavingthefrontdoorunlocked。Hewentbacktothekitchenandbeganopeningdrawers。Finallyhefoundakeyhangingfroanailinthepantry。
Theteperaturehaddroppedto1°F。Hewalkedbrisklyacrossthebridgeandupthehillpastthechurch。TheKonsustorewasconvenientlylocatedaboutthreehundredyardsaway。Hefilledtwopaperbagstooverflowingwithsuppliesandthencarriedthehoebeforeretuingacrossthebridge。ThistiehepedatSusannesBridgeCafé。Thewoanbehindthecounterwasinherfifties。HeaskedwhethershewasSusanneandthenintroducedhiselfbysayingthathewasundoubtedlygoingtobearegurcustoer。Hewasforthetiebeingtheonlycustoer；andSusanneofferedhicoffeewhenheorderedsandwichesandboughtaloafofbread。HepickedupacopyoftheHedestadCourierfrothenewspaperrackandsatatatablewithaviewofthebridgeandthechurch；itsfacadenowlitup。ItlookedlikeaChristascard。Ittookhiaboutfourinutestoreadthenewspaper。TheonlynewsofinterestwasabriefiteexpiningthatalocalpoliticianbythenaeofBirgerVangerwasgoingtoinvestin“ITTechCent”atechnologydevelopentcentreinHedestad。Mikaelsatthereuntilthecaféclosedat6：00。
At7：30hecalledBerger；butwasadvisedthatthepartyatthatnuberwasnotavaible。Hesatonthekitchenbenchandtriedtoreadanovelwhich；aordingtothebackcovertext；wasthesensationaldebutofateenagefeinist。ThenovelwasabouttheauthorsattepttogetahandleonhersexlifeduringatriptoParis；andBlokvistwonderedwhetherhecouldbecalledafeinistifhewroteanovebouthisownsexlifeinthevoiceofahighschoolstudent。Probablynot。Hehadboughtthebecausethepublisherhadhailedthefirsttienovelistas“anewCarinaRydberg。”Hequicklyascertainedthatthiswasnotthecaseineitherstyleorcontent。HeputtheasideforawhileandinsteadreadaHopalongCassidystoryinanissueofRekordagasifrotheidfifties。
Everyhalfhourheheardthecurt；utedcngofthechurchbell。Lightswerevisibleinthewindowsatthehoeofthecaretakeracrosstheroad；butBlokvistcouldnotseeanyoneinsidethehouse。HaraldVangershousewasdark。Around9：00acardroveacrossthebridgeanddisappearedtowardsthepoint。Atidnightthelightsonthefacadeofthechurchweretuedoff。ThatwasapparentlythefullextentoftheentertainentinHedebyonaFridaynightinearlyJanuary。Itwaseerilyquiet。
HetriedagaintocallBergerandgothervoiceail；askinghitoleavehisnaeandaessage。Hedidsoandthentuedoffthelightandwenttobed。ThestthinghethoughtaboutbeforehefelsleasthathewasgoingtorunahighriskofgoingstircrazyinHedeby。
Itwasstrangetoawaketouttersilence。Blokvistpassedfrodeepsleeptototalertnessinafractionofasecond；andthenystill；listening。Itwascoldintheroo。Hetuedhisheadandlookedathiswristwatchonastoolnexttothebed。Itwas7：08hehadneverbeenuchofaoingperson；anditusedtobehardforhitowakeithouthavingatleasttwoarclocks。Todayhehadwokenallbyhiself；andheevenfeltrested。
Heputsoewateronforcoffeebeforegettingintotheshower。Hewassuddenlyausedathissituation。KalleBlokvistonaresearchtripinthebackofbeyond。
Theshowerheadchangedfroscaldingtoicecoldattheslightesttouch。Therewasnooingpaperonthekitchentable。Thebutterwasfrozen。Therewasnocheeseslicerinthedrawerofkitchenutensils。Itwasstillpitchdarkoutside。Thetheroetershowed6belowzero。ItwasSaturday。
ThebusforHedestadwasovertheroadfroKonsu；andBlokviststartedoffhisexilebycarryingouthispntogoshoppingintown。Hegotoffthebusbytherailwaystationandadeatourofthecentreoftown。Alongthewayheboughtheavywinterboots；twopairsoflongunderwear；severalfnnelshirts；aproperthighlengthwinterjacket；awarcap；andlinedgloves。AttheelectronicsstorehefoundasallportableTVwithrabbitears。ThesalesclerkassuredhithathewouldatleastbeabletogetSVT；thestateTVchannel；outatHedeby；andBlokvistproisedtoaskforhisoneybackifthattuedoutnottobethecase。
HepedatthelibrarytogethiselfacardandborrowedtwoysteriesbyElizabethGee。Heboughtpensandnotes。Healsoboughtarucksackforcarryinghisnewpossessions。
Finallyheboughtapackofcigarettes。Hehadpedsokingtenyearsago；butoasionallyhewouldhavearepse。Hestuckthepackinhisjacketpocketwithoeningit。Hisstwastheopticians；andthereheboughtcontactlenssolutionandorderednewlenses。
By2：00hewasbackinHedeby；andhewasjustreovingthepricetagsfrohisnewclotheswhenheheardthefrontdooropen。Ablondewoanperhapsinherfiftiesknockedontheopenkitchendoorasshesteppedacrossthethreshold。Shewascarryingaspongecakeonaptter。
“Hello。Ijustwantedtoeovertointroduceyself。MynaeisHelenaNilsson；andIliveacrosstheroad。Ihearweregoingtobeneighbours。”
Theyshookhandsandheintroducedhiself。
“Ohyes；IveseenyouonTV。Itsgoingtobenicetoseelightsoverhereintheevening。”
Blokvistputonsoecoffee。Shebegantoobjectbutthensatatthekitchentable；castingafurtivegnceoutthewindow。
“HereesHenrikwithyhusband。Itlookslikesoeboxesforyou。”
VangerandGunnarNilssondrewupoutsidewithadolly；andBlokvistrushedouttogreettheandtohelpcarrythefourpackingcratesinside。Theysettheboxesontheflooexttothestove。BlokvistgotoutthecoffeecupsandcutintoFrkenNilssonsspongecake。
TheNilssonswerepleasantpeople。TheydidnotseecuriousaboutwhyBlokvistwasinHedestadthefactthathewasworkingforHenrikVangerwasevidentlyenoughofanexpnation。BlokvistobservedtheinteractionbetweentheNilssonsandVanger；concludingthatitwasrexedandckinginanysortofgulfbetweenasterandservants。TheytalkedaboutthevilgeandtheanwhohadbuilttheguesthousewhereBlokvistwasliving。TheNilssonswouldproptVangerwhenhiseoryfailedhi。He；ontheotherhand；toldafunnystoryabouthowNilssonhadehoeonenighttodiscoverthevilgeidiotfroacrossthebridgetryingtobreakawindowattheguesthouse。Nilssonwentovertoaskthehalfwitteddelinquentwhyhedidntgointhroughtheunlockedfrontdoor。NilssoninspectedBlokvistslittleTVwithisgivingandinvitedhitoeacrosstotheirhouseiftherewaseveraprograehewantedtosee。
VangerstayedonbrieflyaftertheNilssonsleft。HethoughtitbestthatBlokvistsortthroughthefileshiself；andhecouldetothehouseifhehadanyprobles。
Whenhewasaloneonceore；Blokvistcarriedtheboxesintohisofficeandadeaninventoryofthecontents。
Vangersinvestigationintothedisappearanceofhisbrothersgranddaughterhadbeengoingonforthirtysixyears。Blokvistwonderedwhetherthiswasanunhealthyobsessionorwhether；overtheyears；ithaddevelopedintoanintellectualgae。Whatwasclearwasthattheoldpatriarchhadtackledthejobwiththesysteaticapproachofanaateurarchaeologisttheaterialwasgoingtofilltwentyfeetofshelving。
Thergestsectionofitconsistedoftwentysixbinders；whichwerethecopiesofthepoliceinvestigation。Hardtobelieveanordinaryissingpersoncasewouldhaveproducedsuchprehensiveaterial。VangeodoubthadenoughclouttokeeptheHedestadpolicefollowingupbothpusibleandipusibleleads。
Thentherewerescraps；photographalbus；aps；textsaboutHedestadandtheVangerfir；Harrietsdiary；herschools；edicalcertificates。ThereweresixteenboundA4voluesofonehundredorsopageseach；whichwereVangerslogoftheinvestigations。Inthesenoteshehadrecordedinanipeablehandhisownspecutions；theories；digressions。Blokvistleafedthroughthe。Thetexthadaliteraryquality；andhehadthefeelingthatthesetextswerefaircopiesofperhapsanyorenotes。ThereweretenbinderscontainingaterialonebersoftheVangerfaily；thesepagesweretypedandhadbeenpiledovertheinterveningyears；Vangersinvestigationsofhisownfaily。
Around7：00heheardaloudeowingatthefrontdoor。Areddishbrowncatslippedswiftlypasthiintothewarth。
“Wisecat；”hesaid。
Thecatsniffedaroundtheguesthouseforawhile。Mikaelpouredsoeilkintoadish；andhisguestppeditup。Thenthecathoppedontothekitchenbenchandcurledup。Andthereshestayed。
Itwasafter10：00beforeBlokvisthadthescopeoftheaterialclearinhisindandhadarrangeditontheshelves。Heputonapotofcoffeeandadehiselftwosandwiches。Hehadnoteatenapropereallday；buthewasstrangelyuninterestedod。Heofferedthecatapieceofsausageandsoeliverwurst。Afterdrinkinghiscoffee；hetookthecigarettesoutofhisjacketpocketandopenedthepack。
Hecheckedhisobile。Bergerhadnotcalled。Hetriedheronceore。Againonlyhervoiceail。
OneofthefirststepsBlokvisthadtakenwastoscanintheapofHedebyIsndthathehadborrowedfroVanger。Whileallthenaeswerestillfreshinhisind；hewrotedownwholivedineachhouse。TheVangercnconsistedofsuchanextensivecastthatitwouldtaketietoleawhowaswho。
Justbeforeidnightheputonwarclothesandhisnewshoesandwalkedacrossthebridge。Hetuedofftheroadandalongthesoundbelowthechurch。Icehadforedonthesoundandinsidetheoldharbour；butfartherouthecouldseeadarkerbeltofopenwater。Ashestoodthere；thelightsonthefacadeofthechurchwentout；anditwasdarkalroundhi。Itwasicycoldandstarsfilledthesky。
AllofasuddenBlokvistfeltdepressed。HecouldnotforthelifeofhiunderstandhowhehadallowedVangertotalkhiintotakingonthisassignent。Bergerwasright：heshouldbeinStockholinbedwithher；forinstanceandpnninghiscapaignsagainstWennerstr。Buthefeltapatheticaboutthattoo；andhedidntevenhavethefaintestideahowtobeginpnningacounterstrategy。
Haditbeendaylight；hewouldhavewalkedstraighttoVangershouse；cancelledhiscontract；andgonehoe。Butfrotherisebesidethechurchhecouldakeoutallthehousesontheisndside。HaraldVangershousewasdark；buttherewerelightsoninCeciliashoe；aswelsinMartinsviloutbythepointandinthehousethatwasleased。Inthesallboatharbourtherewerelightsoninthedraughtycabinoftheartistandlittlecloudsofsparkswererisingfrohischiney。Therewerealsolightsoninthfloorofthecafé；andBlokvistwonderedwhetherSusannelivedthere；andifso；whethershewasalone。
OnSundayoingheawokeinpanicattheincredibledinthatfilledtheguesthouse。Ittookhiasecondtogethisbearingsandrealisethatitwasthechurchbellssuoningparishionerstooingservice。Itwasnearly11：00。Hestayedinbeduntilheheardanurgenteowinginthedoorwayandgotuptoletoutthecat。
Bynoonhehadshoweredandeatenbreakfast。Hewentresolutelyintohisofficeandtookd船说