Berger was right: he should be in Stockholm—in bed with her, for instance—and
planning his campaigns against Wennerström. But he felt apathetic about that too,
and he didn’t even have the faintest idea how to begin planning a counter-
strategy.
Had it been daylight, he would have walked straight to Vanger’s house, cancelled
his contract, and gone home. But from the rise beside the church he could make
out all the houses on the island side. Harald Vanger’s house was dark, but there
were lights on in Cecilia’s home, as well as in Martin’s villa out by the point and in
the house that was leased. In the small-boat harbour there were lights on in the
draughty cabin of the artist and little clouds of sparks were rising from his chimney.
There were also lights on in the top floor of the café, and Blomkvist wondered
whether Susanne lived there, and if so, whether she was alone.
On Sunday morning he awoke in panic at the incredible din that filled the guest
house. It took him a second to get his bearings and realise that it was the church
bells summoning parishioners to morning service. It was nearly 11:00. He stayed in
bed until he heard an urgent meowing in the doorway and got up to let out the
cat.
By noon he had showered and eaten breakfast. He went resolutely into his office
and took down the first binder from the police investigation. Then he hesitated.
From the gable window he could see Susanne’s Bridge Café. He stuffed the binder
into his shoulder bag and put on his outdoor clothes. When he reached the café, he
found it brimming with customers, and there he had the answer to a question that
had been in the back of his mind: how could a café survive in a backwater like
Hedeby? Susanne specialised in churchgoers and presumably did coffee and cakes
for funerals and other functions.
He took a walk instead. Konsum was closed on Sundays, and he continued a few
hundred yards towards Hedestad, where he bought newspapers at a petrol station.
He spent an hour walking around Hedeby, familiarising himself with the town
before the bridge. The area closest to the church and past Konsum was the centre,
with older buildings—two-storey stone structures which Blomkvist guessed had
been built in the 1910s or ’20s and which formed a short main street. North of the
road into town were well-kept apartment buildings for families with children.
Along the water and to the south of the church were mostly single-family homes.