Vanger—he had turned up for a family gathering to which Blomkvist had not been
invited on the day after Vanger’s heart attack. Alexander Vanger. Isabella Vanger.
Whom had Frode talked to? What might he have let slip this time? How many of
the anxious relatives had picked up on the fact that Blomkvist had made a
breakthrough in his investigation?
It was after 8:00. He called the locksmith in Hedestad and ordered a new lock. The
locksmith said that he could come out the following day. Blomkvist said he would
pay double if he came at once. They agreed that he would come at around 10:30
that night and install a new deadbolt lock.
Blomkvist drove to Frode’s house. His wife showed him into the garden behind the
house and offered him a cold Pilsner, which he gratefully accepted. He asked how
Henrik Vanger was.
Frode shook his head.
“They operated on him. He had blockages in his coronary arteries. The doctors say
that the next few days are critical.”
They thought about this for a while as they drank their Pilsners.
“You haven’t talked to him, I suppose?”
“No. He’s not well enough to talk. How did it go in Stockholm?”
“The Salander girl accepted the job. Here’s the contract from Milton Security. You
have to sign it and put it in the post.”
Frode read through the document.
“She’s expensive,” he said.
“Henrik can afford it.”
Frode nodded. He took a pen out of his breast pocket and scrawled his name.