“I wasn’t expecting you for another month,” she said. “You surprised me.”
He turned her around so that he could see her face. They stood in silence for a
moment. She still would not look him in the eye.
“Cecilia. Forget about the coffee. What’s going on?”
She shook her head and took a deep breath.
“Mikael, I’d like you to leave. Don’t ask. Just leave.”
Mikael first walked back to the cottage, but paused at the gate, undecided. Instead
of going in he went down to the water by the bridge and sat on a rock. He smoked
a cigarette while he sorted out his thoughts and wondered what could have so
dramatically changed Cecilia Vanger’s attitude towards him.
He suddenly heard the sound of an engine and saw a big white boat slip into the
sound beneath the bridge. When it passed, Mikael saw that it was Martin Vanger
standing at the wheel, with his gaze focused on avoiding sunken rocks in the water.
The boat was a forty-foot motor cruiser—an impressive bundle of power. He stood
up and took the beach path. He discovered that several boats were already in the
water at various docks, a mixture of motorboats and sailing boats. There were
several Pettersson boats, and at one dock an IF-class yacht was rocking in the wake.
Other boats were larger and more expensive vessels. He noticed a Hallberg-Rassy.
The boats also indicated the class distribution of Hedeby’s marina—Martin Vanger
had without a doubt the largest and the plushest boat in view.
He stopped below Cecilia Vanger’s house and stole a glance at the lighted windows
on the top floor. Then he went home and put on some coffee of his own. He went
into his office while he waited for it to brew.
Before he presented himself at the prison he had returned the majority of Vanger’s
documentation on Harriet. It had seemed wise not to leave it in an empty house.
Now the shelves looked bare. He had, of the reports, only five of Vanger’s own
notebooks, and these he had taken with him to Rullåker and now knew by heart.
He noticed an album on the top shelf of the bookcase that he had forgotten.
He carried it to the kitchen table. He poured himself coffee and began going
through it.