According to the Hedestad Courier, Blomkvist’s first month out in the country was
the coldest in recorded memory, or (as Vanger informed him) at least since the
wartime winter of 1942. After only a week in Hedeby he had learned all about long
underwear, woolly socks, and double undershirts.
He had several miserable days in the middle of the month when the temperature
dropped to -35°F. He had experienced nothing like it, not even during the year he
spent in Kiruna in Lapland doing his military service.
One morning the water pipes froze. Nilsson gave him two big plastic containers of
water for cooking and washing, but the cold was paralysing. Ice flowers formed on
the insides of the windows, and no matter how much wood he put in the stove, he
was still cold. He spent a long time each day splitting wood in the shed next to the
house.
At times he was on the brink of tears and toyed with taking the first train heading
south. Instead he would put on one more sweater and wrap up in a blanket as he
sat at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and reading old police reports.
Then the weather changed and the temperature rose steadily to a balmy 14°F.
Mikael was beginning to get to know people in Hedeby. Martin Vanger kept his
promise and invited him for a meal of moose steak. His lady friend joined them for
dinner. Eva was a warm, sociable, and entertaining woman. Blomkvist found her
extraordinarily attractive. She was a dentist and lived in Hedestad, but she spent
the weekends at Martin’s home. Blomkvist gradually learned that they had known
each other for many years but that they had not started going out together until
they were middle-aged. Evidently they saw no reason to marry.
“She’s actually my dentist,” said Martin with a laugh.
“And marrying into this crazy family isn’t really my thing,” Eva said, patting Martin
affectionately on the knee.