(R.L.) Leviticus, 20:27
“A man or a woman who is a medium or a wizard shall be put to death; they shall
be stoned with stones, their blood shall be upon them.”
(Mari) Leviticus, 20:18
“If a man lies with a woman having her sickness, and uncovers her nakedness, he
has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood;
both of them shall be cut off from among their people.”
He went out and sat on the porch. Each verse had been underlined in Harriet’s
Bible. Helita cigarette and listened to the singing of birds nearby.
He had the numbers. But he didn’t have the names. Magda, Sara, Mari, R.J., and R.L.
All of a sudden an abyss opened as Mikael’s brain made an intuitive leap. He
remembered the fire victim in Hedestad that Inspector Morell had told him about.
The Rebecka case, which occurred in the late forties. The girl was raped and then
killed by having her head placed on smouldering coals. “And he shall cut it into
pieces, with its head and its fat, and the priest shall lay them in order upon the wood
that is on the fire upon the altar.” Rebecka. R.J. What was her last name?
What in God’s name had Harriet gotten herself mixed up in?
Vanger had been taken ill. He was in bed when Blomkvist knocked on his door. But
Anna agreed to let him in, saying he could visit the old man for a few minutes.
“A summer cold,” Henrik explained, sniffling. “What did you want?”
“I have a question.”
“Yes?”
“Did you ever hear of a murder that took place in Hedestad sometime in the
forties? A girl called Rebecka—her head was put on a fire.”