They strolled past the small-boat harbour and then under the bridge and out
towards Martin Vanger’s point. Blomkvist pointed out the various houses and told
her about the people who lived in them. He had some difficulty when they came to
Cecilia Vanger’s house. Salander gave him a curious look.
They passed Martin Vanger’s motor yacht and reached the point, and there they sat
on a rock and shared a cigarette.
“There’s one more connection,” Blomkvist said suddenly. “Maybe you’ve already
thought of it.”
“What?”
“Their names.”
Salander thought for a moment and shook her head.
“They’re all Biblical names.”
“Not true,” she said. “Where is there a Liv or Lena in the Bible?”
“They are there. Liv means to live, in other words Eva. And come on—what’s Lena
short for?”
Salander grimaced in annoyance. He had been quicker than she was. She did not
like that.
“Magdalena,” she said.
“The whore, the first woman, the Virgin Mary...they’re all there in this group. This is
so freaky it’d make a psychologist’s head spin. But there’s something else I thought
of with regard to the names.”
Salander waited patiently.
“They’re obviously all traditional Jewish names. The Vanger family has had more
than its share of fanatical anti-Semites, Nazis, and conspiracy theorists. The only
time I met Harald Vanger he was standing in the road snarling that his own
daughter was a whore. He certainly has problems with women.”