Chapter 7

Monday, 11.iv – Tuesday, 12.iv At 5.45 p.m. on Monday Blomkvist closed the lid on his iBook and got up from the kitchen table in his apartment on Bellmansgatan. He put on a jacket and walked to Milton Security’s offices at Slussen. He took the lift up to the reception on the fourth floor and was immediately shown into a conference room. It was 6.00 p.m. on the dot, but he was the last to arrive. “Hello, Dragan,” he said and shook hands. “Thank you for being willing to host this informal meeting.” Blomkvist looked around the room. There were four others there: his sister, Salander’s former guardian² Holger Palmgren, Malin Eriksson, and former Criminal Inspector⁴ Sonny Bohman, who now worked for Milton Security. At Armansky’s instruction Bohman had been following the Salander investigation⁵ from the very start. Palmgren was on his first outing in more than two years. Dr Sivarnandan of the Ersta rehabilitation⁶ home had been less than enchanted⁷ at the idea of letting him out, but Palmgren himself had insisted. He had come by special transport for the disabled, accompanied by his personal nurse, Johanna Karolina Oskarsson, whose salary was paid from a fund that had been mysteriously established to provide Palmgren with the best possible care. The nurse was sitting in an office next to the conference room. She had brought a book with her. Blomkvist closed the door behind him. “For those of you who haven’t met her before, this is Malin Eriksson, Millennium⁸’s editor-in-chief. I asked her to be here because what we’re going to discuss will also affect her job.” “O.K.,” Armansky said. “Everyone’s here. I’m all ears.” Blomkvist stood at Armansky’s whiteboard and picked up a marker. He looked around. “This is probably the craziest thing I’ve ever been involved with,” he said. “When this is all over I’m going to found an association called ‘The Knights⁹ of the Idiotic¹⁰ Table’ and its purpose will be to arrange an annual dinner where we tell stories about Lisbeth Salander. You’re all members.” He paused. “So, this is how things really are,” he said, and he began to make a list of headings on Armansky’s whiteboard. He talked for a good thirty minutes. Afterwards the discussion went on for almost three hours. Gullberg sat down next to Clinton when their meeting was over. They spoke¹² in low voices for a few minutes before Gullberg stood up. The old comrades shook hands. Gullberg took a taxi to Frey’s, packed his briefcase¹³ and checked out. He took the late afternoon train to G?teborg. He chose first class and had the compartment¹⁴ to himself. When he passed ?rstabron he took out a ballpoint pen and a plain paper pad. He thought for a long while and then began to write. He filled half the page before he stopped and tore the sheet off the pad. Forged documents had never been his department or his expertise¹⁵, but here the task was simplified by the fact that the letters he was writing would be signed by himself. What complicated the issue was that not a word of what he was writing was true. By the time the train went through Nyk?ping he had already discarded a number of drafts, but he was starting to get a line on how the letters should be expressed. When they arrived in G?teborg he had twelve letters he was satisfied with. He made sure he had left clear fingerprints¹⁶ on each sheet. At G?teborg Central Station he tracked down a photocopier¹⁷ and made copies of the letters. Then he bought envelopes and stamps and posted the letters in a box with a 9.00 p.m. collection. Gullberg took a taxi to City Hotel on Lorensbergsgatan, where Clinton had already booked a room for him. It was the same hotel Blomkvist had spent the night in several days before. He went straight to his room and sat on the bed. He was completely exhausted¹⁸ and realized that he had eaten only two slices of bread all day. Yet he was not hungry. He undressed, stretched out in bed, and almost at once fell asleep. Salander woke with a start when she heard the door open. She knew right away that it was not one of the night nurses. She opened her eyes to two narrow slits¹⁹ and saw a silhouette²⁰ with crutches²¹ in the doorway²². Zalachenko was watching her in the light that came from the corridor. Without moving her head she glanced at the digital clock: 3.10 a.m. She then glanced at the bedside table and saw the water glass. She calculated the distance. She could just reach it without having to move her body. It would take a very few seconds to stretch out her arm and break off the rim³ of the glass with a firm rap against the hard edge of the table. It would take half a second to shove the broken edge into Zalachenko’s throat if he leaned over her. She looked for other options, but the glass was her only reachable weapon. She relaxed and waited. Zalachenko stood in the doorway for two minutes without moving. Then gingerly he closed the door. She heard the faint scraping of the crutches as he quietly retreated down the corridor. Five minutes later she propped²⁵ herself up on her right elbow, reached for the glass, and took a long drink of water. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and pulled the electrodes off her arms and chest. With an effort she stood up and swayed unsteadily. It took her about a minute to gain control over her body. She hobbled to the door and leaned against the wall to catch her breath. She was in a cold sweat. Then she turned icy with rage. Fuck you, Zalachenko. Let’s end this right here and now. She needed a weapon. The next moment she heard quick heels clacking in the corridor. Shit. The electrodes. “What in God’s name are you doing up?” the night nurse said. “I had to … go … to the toilet,” Salander said breathlessly. “Get back into bed at once.” She took Salander’s hand and helped her into the bed. Then she got a bedpan. “When you have to go to the toilet, just ring for us. That’s what this button is for.” Blomkvist woke up at 10.30 on Tuesday, showered, put on coffee, and then sat down with his iBook. After the meeting at Milton Security the previous evening, he had come home and worked until 5.00 a.m. The story was beginning at last to take shape. Zalachenko’s biography was still vague – all he had was what he had blackmailed²⁸ Bj?rck to reveal, as well as the handful of details Palmgren had been able to provide. Salander’s story was pretty much done. He explained step by step how she had been targeted by a gang of Cold-Warmongers at S.I.S. and locked away in a psychiatric hospital to stop her blowing the gaff on Zalachenko. He was pleased with what he had written. There were still some holes that he would have to fill, but he knew that he had one hell of a story. It would be a newspaper billboard²⁹ sensation and there would be volcanic³⁰ eruptions³¹ high up in the government bureaucracy. He smoked a cigarette while he thought. He could see two particular gaps that needed attention. One was manageable. He had to deal with Teleborian, and he was looking forward to that assignment. When he was finished with him, the renowned³² children’s psychiatrist³³ would be one of the most detested³⁴ men in Sweden. That was one thing. The second thing was more complicated. The men who conspired³⁵ against Salander – he thought of them as the Zalachenko club – were inside the Security Police. He knew one, Gunnar Bj?rck, but Bj?rck could not possibly be the only man responsible. There had to be a group … a division or unit of some sort. There must be chiefs, operations managers. There had to be a budget. But he had no idea how to go about identifying these people, where even to start. He had only the vaguest notion of how S?po was organized. On Monday he had begun his research by sending Cortez to the second-hand³⁶ bookshops on S?dermalm, to buy every book which in any way dealt with the Security Police. Cortez had come to his apartment in the afternoon with six books. Espionage³⁷ in Sweden by Mikael Rosquist (Tempus, 1988); S?po Chief 1962–1970 by P.G. Vinge (Wahlstr?m & Widstrand, 1988); Secret Forces by Jan Ottosson and Lars Magnusson (Tiden, 1991); Power Struggle for S?po by Erik Magnusson (Corona, 1989); An Assignment by Carl Lidbom (Wahlstr?m & Widstrand, 1990); and – somewhat surprisingly – An Agent in Place by Thomas Whiteside (Ballantine, 1966), which dealt with the Wennerstr?m affair. The Wennerstr?m affair of the ’60s, not Blomkvist’s own much more recent Wennerstr?m affair. He had spent much of Monday night and the early hours of Tuesday morning reading or at least skimming the books. When he had finished he made some observations. First, most of the books published about the Security Police were from the late ’80s. An Internet search showed that there was hardly any current literature on the subject. Second, there did not seem to be any intelligible³⁸ basic overview³⁹ of the activities of the Swedish secret police over the years. This may have been because many documents were stamped Top Secret and were therefore off limits, but there did not seem to be any single institution, researcher or media that had carried out a critical examination of S?po. He also noticed another odd thing: there was no bibliography⁴⁰ in any one of the books Cortez had found. On the other hand, the footnotes often referred to articles in the evening newspapers, or to interviews with some old, retired⁴¹ S?po hand. The book Secret Forces was fascinating but largely dealt with the time before and during the Second World War. Blomkvist regarded P.G. Vinge’s memoir⁴² as propaganda, written in self-defence by a severely⁴³ criticized S?po chief who was eventually fired. An Agent in Place contained so much inaccurate⁴⁴ information about Sweden in the first chapter that he threw the book into the wastepaper basket. The only two books with any real ambition to portray⁴⁵ the work of the Security Police were Power Struggle for S?po and Espionage in Sweden. They contained data, names and organizational charts. He found Magnusson’s book to be especially worthwhile reading. Even though it did not offer any answers to his immediate¹ questions, it provided a good account of S?po as a structure as well as its primary concerns over several decades. The biggest surprise was Lidbom’s An Assignment, which described the problems encountered by the former Swedish ambassador to France when he was commissioned to examine S?po in the wake of the Palme assassination⁴⁶ and the Ebbe Carlsson affair. Blomkvist had never before read anything by Lidbom, and he was taken aback by the sarcastic⁴⁷ tone combined with razor-sharp observations. But even Lidbom’s book brought Blomkvist no closer to an answer to his questions, even if he was beginning to get an idea of what he was up against. He opened his mobile and called Cortez. “Hi, Henry. Thanks for the legwork yesterday.” “What do you need now?” “A little more legwork.” “Micke, I hate to say this, but I have a job to do. I’m editorial assistant now.” “An excellent career advancement⁴⁹.” “What is it you want?” “Over the years there have been a number of public reports on S?po. Carl Lidbom did one. There must be several others like it.” “I see.” “Order everything you can find from parliament: budgets, public reports, interpellations, and the like. And get S?po’s annual reports as far back as you can find them.” “Yes, master.” “Good man. And, Henry …” “Yes?” “I don’t need them until tomorrow.” Salander spent the whole day brooding about Zalachenko. She knew that he was only two doors away, that he wandered in the corridors at night, and that he had come to her room at 3.10 this morning. She had tracked him to Gosseberga fully⁵⁰ intending to kill him. She had failed, with the result that Zalachenko was alive and tucked up in bed barely ten metres from where she was. And she was in hot water. She could not tell how bad the situation was, but she supposed that she would have to escape and discreetly⁵¹ disappear abroad herself if she did not want to risk being locked up in some nuthouse again with Teleborian as her warder. The problem was that she could scarcely sit upright in bed. She did notice improvements. The headache was still there, but it came in waves instead of being constant. The pain in her left shoulder had subsided⁵² a bit, but it resurfaced whenever she tried to move. She heard footsteps outside the door and saw a nurse open it to admit a woman wearing black trousers, a white blouse, and a dark jacket. She was a pretty, slender woman with dark hair and a boyish hairstyle. She radiated a cheerful confidence. She was carrying a black briefcase. Salander saw at once that she had the same eyes as Blomkvist. “Hello, Lisbeth. I’m Annika Giannini,” she said. “May I come in?” Salander studied her without expression. All of a sudden she did not have the slightest desire to meet Blomkvist’s sister and regretted that she had accepted this woman as her lawyer. Giannini came in, shut the door behind her, and pulled up a chair. She sat there for some time, looking at her client. The girl looked terrible. Her head was wrapped in bandages. She had purple bruises⁵³ around her bloodshot eyes. “Before we begin to discuss anything, I have to know whether you really do want me to be your lawyer. Normally I’m involved in civil cases in which I represent victims of rape⁵⁴ or domestic violence. I’m not a criminal defence lawyer. I have, however, studied the details of your case, and I would very much like to represent you, if I may. I should also tell you that Mikael Blomkvist is my brother – I think you already know that – and that he and Dragan Armansky are paying my fee.” She paused, but when she got no response she continued. “If you want me to be your lawyer, it’s you I will be working for. Not for my brother or for Armansky. I have to tell you too that I will receive advice and support during any trial from your former guardian, Holger Palmgren. He’s a tough old boy, and he dragged himself out of his sickbed to help you.” “Palmgren?” “Yes.” “Have you seen him?” “Yes.” “How’s he doing?” “He’s absolutely furious, but strangely he doesn’t seem to be at all worried about you.” Salander smiled lopsidedly. It was the first time she had smiled at Sahlgrenska hospital. “How are you feeling?” “Like a sack of shit.” “Well then. Do you want me to be your lawyer? Armansky and Mikael are paying my fee and—” “No.” “What do you mean, no?” “I’ll pay your fee myself. I don’t want a single ?re from Armansky or Kalle Blomkvist. But I can’t pay before I have access to the Internet.” “I understand. We’ll deal with that problem when it arises. In any case, the state will be paying most of my salary. But do you want me to represent you?” Salander gave a curt⁵⁶ nod. “Good. Then I’ll get started by giving you a message from Mikael. It sounds a little cryptic⁵⁷, but he says you’ll know what he means.” “Oh?” “He wants you to know that he’s told me most of the story, except for a few details, of which the first concerns the skills he discovered in Hedestad.” He knows that I have a photographic memory … and that I’m a hacker⁵⁹. He’s kept quiet about that. “O.K.” “The other is the D.V.D. I don’t know what he’s referring to, but he was adamant⁶⁰ that it’s up to you to decide whether you tell me about it or not. Do you know what he’s referring to?” The film of Bjurman raping²⁴ me. “Yes.” “That’s good, then.” Giannini was suddenly hesitant. “I’m a little miffed at my brother. Even though he hired me, he’ll only tell me what he feels like telling me. Do you intend to hide things from me too?” “I don’t know. Could we leave that question for later?” Salander said. “Certainly. We’re going to be talking to each other quite a lot. I don’t have time for a long conversation now – I have to meet Prosecutor⁶² Jervas in forty-five minutes. I just wanted to confirm that you really do want me to be your lawyer. But there’s something else I need to tell you.” “Yes?” “It’s this: if I’m not present, you’re not to say a single word to the police, no matter what they ask you. Even if they provoke you or accuse you of whatever … Can you promise me?” “I could manage that.” Gullberg had been completely exhausted after all his efforts on Monday. He did not wake until 9.00 on Tuesday morning, four hours later than usual. He went to the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth. He stood for a long time looking at his face in the mirror before he turned off the light and went to get dressed. He chose the only clean shirt he had left in the brown briefcase and put on a brown-patterned tie. He went down to the hotel’s breakfast room, drank a cup of black coffee and ate a slice of wholemeal toast with cheese and a little marmalade on it. He drank a glass of mineral water. Then he went to the hotel lobby and called Clinton’s mobile from the public telephone. “It’s me. Status report?” “Rather unsettled.” “Fredrik, can you handle this?” “Yes, it’s like the old days. But it’s a shame von Rottinger isn’t still with us. He was better at planning operations than I.” “You were equally good. You could have switched places at any time. Which indeed you quite often did.” “It’s a matter of intuition. He was always a little sharper.” “Tell me, how are you all doing?” “Sandberg is brighter than we thought. We brought in the external help in the form of M?rtensson. He’s a gofer, but he’s usable. We have taps on Blomkvist’s landline and mobile. We’ll take care of Giannini’s and the Millennium office telephones today. We’re looking at the blueprints⁶³ for all the relevant offices and apartments. We’ll be going in as soon as it can be done.” “First thing is to locate all the copies …” “I’ve already done that. We’ve had some unbelievable luck. Giannini called Blomkvist this morning. She actually asked him how many copies there were in circulation, and it turned out that Blomkvist only has one. Berger copied the report, but she sent the copy on to Bublanski.” “Good. No time to waste.” “I know. But it has to be done in one fell swoop⁶⁴. If we don’t lift all the copies simultaneously⁶⁵, it won’t work.” “True.” “It’s a bit complicated, since Giannini left for G?teborg this morning. I’ve sent a team of externals to tail her. They’re flying down right now.” “Good.” Gullberg could not think of anything more to say. “Thanks, Fredrik,” he said at last. “My pleasure. This is a lot more fun than sitting around waiting for a kidney.” They said goodbye. Gullberg paid his hotel bill and went out to the street. The ball was in motion. Now it was just a matter of mapping out the moves. He started by walking to Park Avenue Hotel, where he asked to used the fax machine. He did not want to do it at the hotel where he had been staying. He faxed copies of the letters he had written the day before. Then he went out on to Avenyn to look for a taxi. He stopped at a rubbish bin⁴⁸ and tore up the photocopies⁶⁶ of his letters. * Giannini was with Prosecutor Jervas for fifteen minutes. She wanted to know what charges she was intending to bring against Salander, but she soon realized that Jervas was not yet sure of her plan. “Right now I’ll settle for charges of grievous bodily harm or attempted murder. I refer to the fact that Salander hit her father with an axe²³. I take it that you will plead self-defence?” “Maybe.” “To be honest with you, Niedermann is my priority at the moment.” “I understand.” “I’ve been in touch with the Prosecutor General. Discussions are ongoing⁶⁷ as to whether to combine all the charges against your client under the jurisdiction⁶⁸ of a prosecutor in Stockholm and tie them in with what happened here.” “I assumed that the case would be handled in Stockholm,” Giannini said. “Fine. But I need an opportunity to question the girl. When can we do that?” “I have a report from her doctor, Anders Jonasson. He says that Salander won’t be in a condition to participate in an interview for several days yet. Quite apart from her injuries, she’s on powerful painkillers⁷⁰.” “I received a similar report, and as you no doubt realize, this is frustrating⁷². I repeat that my priority is Niedermann. Your client says that she doesn’t know where he’s hiding.” “She doesn’t know Niedermann at all. She happened to identify him and track him down to Gosseberga, to Zalachenko’s farm.” “We’ll meet again as soon as your client is strong enough to be interviewed,” Jervas said. Gullberg had a bunch of flowers in his hand when he got into the lift at Sahlgrenska hospital at the same time as a short-haired woman in a dark jacket. He held the lift door open for her and let her go first to the reception desk on the ward¹¹. “My name is Annika Giannini. I’m a lawyer and I’d like to see my client again, Lisbeth Salander.” Gullberg turned his head very slowly and looked in surprise at the woman he had followed out of the lift. He glanced down at her briefcase as the nurse checked Giannini’s I.D. and consulted a list. “Room twelve,” the nurse said. “Thank you. I know the way.” She walked off down the corridor. “May I help you?” “Thank you, yes. I’d like to leave these flowers for Karl Axel Bodin.” “He’s not allowed visitors.” “I know. I just want to leave the flowers.” “We’ll take care of them.” Gullberg had brought the flowers with him mainly as an excuse. He wanted to get an idea of how the ward was laid out. He thanked the nurse and followed the sign to the staircase. On the way he passed Zalachenko’s door, room fourteen according to Jonas Sandberg. He waited in the stairwell. Through a glass pane⁷³ in the door he saw the nurse take the bouquet⁷⁴ into Zalachenko’s room. When she returned to her station, Gullberg pushed open the door to room fourteen and stepped quickly inside. “Good morning, Alexander,” he said. Zalachenko looked up in surprise at his unannounced visitor. “I thought you’d be dead by now,” he said. “Not quite yet.” “What do you want?” “What do you think?” Gullberg pulled up the chair and sat down. “Probably to see me dead.” “Well, that’s gratitude⁷⁵ for you. How could you be so bloody⁷⁶ stupid? We give you a whole new life and you finish up here.” If Zalachenko could have laughed he would have. In his opinion, the Swedish Security Police were amateurs. That applied⁷⁷ to Gullberg and equally to Bj?rck. Not to mention that complete idiot Bjurman. “Once again we have to haul you out of the furnace.” The expression did not sit well with Zalachenko, once the victim of a petrol bomb attack – from that bloody daughter of his two doors down the corridor. “Spare me the lectures. Just get me out of this mess.” “That’s what I wanted to discuss with you.” Gullberg put his briefcase on to his lap, took out a notebook, and turned to a blank page. Then he gave Zalachenko a long, searching look. “There’s one thing I’m curious about … were you really going to betray us after all we’ve done for you?” “What do you think?” “It depends how crazy you are.” “Don’t call me crazy. I’m a survivor⁷⁸. I do what I have to do to survive.” Gullberg shook his head. “No, Alexander, you do what you do because you’re evil and rotten. You wanted a message from the Section. I’m here to deliver it. We’re not going to lift a finger to help you this time.” All of a sudden Zalachenko looked uncertain. He studied Gullberg, trying to figure out if this was some puzzling bluff⁷⁹. “You don’t have a choice,” he said. “There’s always a choice,” Gullberg said. “I’m going to—” “You’re not going to do anything at all.” Gullberg took a deep breath, unzipped the outside pocket of his case, and pulled out a 9 mm Smith & Wesson with a gold-plated butt²⁷. The revolver was a present he had received from British Intelligence twenty-five years earlier as a reward for an invaluable⁸⁰ piece of information: the name of a clerical officer at M.I.5 who in good Philby style was working for the Russians. Zalachenko looked astonished. Then he burst out laughing. “And what are you going to do with that? Shoot me? You’ll spend the rest of your miserable⁸¹ life in prison.” “I don’t think so.” Zalachenko was suddenly very unsure whether Gullberg was bluffing⁸². “There’s going to be a scandal of enormous proportions.” “Again, I don’t think so. There’ll be a few headlines, but in a week nobody will even remember the name Zalachenko.” Zalachenko’s eyes narrowed. “You’re a filthy⁸³ swine,” Gullberg said then with such coldness in his voice that Zalachenko froze. Gullberg squeezed the trigger and put the bullet right in the centre of Zalachenko’s forehead just as the patient was starting to swing his prosthesis over the edge of the bed. Zalachenko was thrown back on to the pillow. His good leg kicked four, five times before he was still. Gullberg saw a red flower-shaped splatter on the wall behind the bedhead. He became aware that his ears were ringing after the shot and he rubbed his left one with his free hand. Then he stood up and put the muzzle⁸⁴ to Zalachenko’s temple and squeezed the trigger twice. He wanted to be sure this time that the bastard⁸⁵ really was dead. * Salander sat up with a start the instant she heard the first shot. Pain stabbed through her shoulder. When the next two shots came she tried to get her legs over the edge of the bed. Giannini had only been there for a few minutes. She sat paralysed and tried to work out from which direction the sharp reports had come. She could tell from Salander’s reaction that something deadly was in the offing. “Lie still,” she shouted. She put her hand on Salander’s chest and shoved her client down on to the bed. Then Giannini crossed the room and pulled open the door. She saw two nurses running towards another room two doors away. The first nurse stopped short on the threshold. “No, don’t!” she screamed and then took a step back, colliding with the second nurse. “He’s got a gun. Run!” Giannini watched as the two nurses took cover in the room next to Salander’s. The next moment she saw a thin, grey-haired man in a hound’s-tooth jacket walk into the corridor. He had a gun in his hand. Annika recognized him as the man who come up in the lift with her. Then their eyes met. He appeared confused. He aimed the revolver at her and took a step forward. She pulled her head back in and slammed the door shut, looking around in desperation. A nurses’ table stood right next to her. She rolled it quickly over to the door and wedged the tabletop under the door handle. She heard a movement and turned to see Salander just starting to clamber out of bed again. In a few quick steps she crossed the floor, wrapped her arms around her client and lifted her up. She tore electrodes and I.V. tubes loose as she carried her to the bathroom and set her on the toilet seat. Then she turned and locked the bathroom door. She dug her mobile out of her jacket pocket and dialled 112. Gullberg went to Salander’s room and tried the door handle. It was blocked. He could not move it even a millimetre. For a moment he stood indecisively outside the door. He knew that the lawyer Giannini was in the room, and he wondered if a copy of Bj?rck’s report might be in her briefcase. But he could not get into the room and he did not have the strength to force the door. That had not been part of the plan anyway. Clinton would take care of Giannini. Gullberg’s only job was Zalachenko. He looked around the corridor and saw that he was being watched by nurses, patients and visitors. He raised the pistol and fired at a picture hanging on the wall at the end of the corridor. His spectators vanished as if by magic. He glanced one last time at the door to Salander’s room. Then he walked decisively back to Zalachenko’s room and closed the door. He sat in the visitor’s chair and looked at the Russian defector who had been such an intimate part of his own life for so many years. He sat still for almost ten minutes before he heard movement in the corridor and was aware that the police had arrived. By now he was not thinking of anything in particular. Then he raised the revolver one last time, held it to his temple, and squeezed the trigger. As the situation developed, the futility⁸⁶ of attempting suicide in the middle of a hospital became apparent. Gullberg was transported at top speed to the hospital’s trauma⁸⁷ unit, where Dr Jonasson received him and immediately initiated⁸⁸ a battery of measures to maintain his vital functions. For the second time in less than a week Jonasson performed emergency surgery, extracting a full-metal-jacketed bullet from human brain tissue. After a five-hour operation, Gullberg’s condition was critical. But he was still alive. Yet Gullberg’s injuries were considerably⁸⁹ more serious than those that Salander had sustained. He hovered⁹⁰ between life and death for several days. Blomkvist was at the Kaffebar on Hornsgatan when he heard on the radio that a 66-year-old unnamed man, suspected of attempting to murder the fugitive⁹¹ Lisbeth Salander, had been shot and killed at Sahlgrenska hospital in G?teborg. He left his coffee untouched, picked up his laptop case, and hurried off towards the editorial offices on G?tgatan. He had crossed Mariatorget and was just turning up St Paulsgatan when his mobile beeped. He answered on the run. “Blomkvist.” “Hi, it’s Malin.” “I heard the news. Do we know who the killer⁷¹ was?” “Not yet. Henry is chasing it down.” “I’m on the way in. Be there in five minutes.” Blomkvist ran into Cortez at the entrance to the Millennium offices. “Ekstr?m’s holding a press conference at 3.00,” Cortez said. “I’m going to Kungsholmen now.” “What do we know?” Blomkvist shouted after him. “Ask Malin,” Cortez said, and was gone. Blomkvist headed into Berger’s … wrong, Eriksson’s office. She was on the telephone and writing furiously on a yellow Post-it. She waved him away. Blomkvist went into the kitchenette and poured coffee with milk into two mugs marked with the logos of the K.D.U. and S.S.U. political parties. When he returned she had just finished her call. He gave her the S.S.U. mug. “Right,” she said. “Zalachenko was shot dead at 1.15.” She looked at Blomkvist. “I just spoke to a nurse at Sahlgrenska. She says that the murderer was a man in his seventies, who arrived with flowers for Zalachenko minutes before the murder. He shot Zalachenko in the head several times and then shot himself. Zalachenko is dead. The murderer is just about alive and in surgery.” Blomkvist breathed more easily. Ever since he had heard the news at the Kaffebar he had had his heart in his throat and a panicky feeling that Salander might have been the killer. That really would have thrown a spanner in the works. “Do we have the name of the assailant?” Eriksson shook her head as the telephone rang again. She took the call, and from the conversation Blomkvist gathered that it was a stringer in G?teborg whom Eriksson had sent to Sahlgrenska. He went to his own office and sat down. It felt as if it was the first time in weeks that he had even been to his office. There was a pile of unopened post that he shoved firmly to one side. He called his sister. “Giannini.” “It’s Mikael. Did you hear what happened at Sahlgrenska?” “You could say so.” “Where are you?” “At the hospital. That bastard aimed at me, too.” Blomkvist sat speechless for several seconds before he fully took in what his sister had said. “What on earth… you were there?” “Yes. It was the most horrendous⁹² thing I’ve ever experienced.” “Are you hurt?” “No. But he tried to get into Lisbeth’s room. I blockaded the door and locked us in the bathroom.” Blomkvist’s whole world suddenly felt off balance. His sister had almost… “How is she?” he said. “She’s not hurt. Or, I mean, she wasn’t hurt in today’s drama at least.” He let that sink in. “Annika, do you know anything at all about the murderer?” “Not a thing. He was an older man, neatly⁹³ dressed. I thought he looked rather bewildered. I’ve never seen him before, but I came up in the lift with him a few minutes before it all happened.” “And Zalachenko is dead, no question?” “Yes. I heard three shots, and according to what I’ve overheard he was shot in the head all three times. But it’s been utter chaos⁹⁴ here, with a thousand policemen, and they’re evacuating⁹⁵ a ward for acutely ill and injured patients who really ought not to be moved. When the police arrived one of them tried to question Lisbeth before they even bothered to ask what shape she’s in. I had to read them the riot act.” Inspector Erlander saw Giannini through the doorway to Salander’s room. The lawyer had her mobile pressed to her ear, so he waited for her to finish her call. Two hours after the murder there was still chaos in the corridor. Zalachenko’s room was sealed off. Doctors had tried resuscitation⁹⁶ immediately after the shooting, but soon gave up. He was beyond all help. His body was sent to the pathologist, and the crime scene investigation proceeded as best it could under the circumstances. Erlander’s mobile chimed. It was Fredrik Malmberg from the investigative team. “We’ve got a positive I.D. on the murderer,” Malmberg said. “His name is Evert Gullberg and he’s seventy-eight years old.” Seventy-eight. Quite elderly for a murderer. “And who the hell is Evert Gullberg?” “Retired. Lives in Laholm. Apparently⁹⁷ he was a tax lawyer. I got a call from S.I.S. who told me that they had recently initiated a preliminary investigation against him.” “When and why?” “I don’t know when. But apparently he had a habit of sending crazy and threatening letters to people in government.” “Such as who?” “The Minister of Justice, for one.” Erlander sighed. So, a madman. A fanatic⁹⁸. “This morning S?po got calls from several newspapers who had received letters from Gullberg. The Ministry⁹⁹ of Justice also called, because Gullberg had made specific death threats against Karl Axel Bodin.” “I want copies of the letters.” “From S?po?” “Yes, damn it. Drive up to Stockholm and pick them up in person if necessary. I want them on my desk when I get back to H.Q. Which will be in about an hour.” He thought for a second and then asked one more question. “Was it S?po that called you?” “That’s what I told you.” “I mean … they called you, not vice⁵⁵ versa?” “Exactly.” Erlander closed his mobile. He wondered what had got into S?po to make them, out of the blue, feel the need to get in touch with the police – of their own accord. Ordinarily you couldn’t get a word out of them. Wadensj?? flung open the door to the room at the Section where Clinton was resting. Clinton sat up cautiously. “Just what the bloody hell is going on?” Wadensj?? shrieked¹⁰⁰. “Gullberg has murdered Zalachenko and then shot himself in the head.” “I know,” Clinton said. “You know?” Wadensj?? yelled. He was bright red in the face and looked as if he was about to have a stroke. “He shot himself, for Christ’s sake. He tried to commit suicide. Is he out of his mind?” “You mean he’s alive?” “For the time being, yes, but he has massive brain damage.” Clinton sighed. “Such a shame,” he said with real sorrow in his voice. “Shame?” Wadensj?? burst out. “Gullberg is out of his mind. Don’t you understand what—” Clinton cut him off. “Gullberg has cancer of the stomach, colon¹⁰¹ and bladder. He’s been dying for several months, and in the best case he had only a few months left.” “Cancer?” “He’s been carrying that gun around for the past six months, determined¹⁰² to use it as soon as the pain became unbearable¹⁰³ and before the disease turned him into a vegetable. But he was able to do one last favour for the Section. He went out in grand style.” Wadensj?? was almost beside himself. “You knew? You knew that he was thinking of killing¹⁰⁴ Zalachenko?” “Naturally. His assignment was to make sure that Zalachenko never got a chance to talk. And as you know, you couldn’t threaten or reason with that man.” “But don’t you understand what a scandal this could turn into? Are you just as barmy as Gullberg?” Clinton got to his feet laboriously¹⁰⁵. He looked Wadensj?? in the eye and handed him a stack of fax copies. “It was an operational decision. I mourn for my friend, but I’ll probably be following him pretty soon. As far as a scandal goes … A retired tax lawyer wrote paranoid letters to newspapers, the police, and the Ministry of Justice. Here’s a sample of them. Gullberg blames Zalachenko for everything from the Palme assassination to trying to poison the Swedish people with chlorine. The letters are plainly the work of a lunatic and were illegible¹⁰⁶ in places, with capital letters, underlining, and exclamation¹⁰⁷ marks. I especially like the way he wrote in the margin¹⁰⁸.” Wadensj?? read the letters with rising astonishment¹⁰⁹. He put a hand to his brow. Clinton said: “Whatever happens, Zalachenko’s death will have nothing to do with the Section. It was just some demented pensioner¹¹⁰ who fired the shots.” He paused. “The important thing is that, starting from now, you have to get on board with the program. And don’t rock the boat.” He fixed¹¹¹ his gaze on Wadensj??. There was steel in the sick man’s eyes. “What you have to understand is that the Section functions as the spear head for the total defence of the nation. We’re Sweden’s last line of defence. Our job is to watch over the security of our country. Everything else is unimportant.” Wadensj?? regarded Clinton with doubt in his eyes. “We’re the ones who don’t exist,” Clinton went on. “We’re the ones nobody will ever thank. We’re the ones who have to make the decisions that nobody else wants to make. Least of all the politicians.” His voice quivered with contempt as he spoke those last words. “Do as I say and the Section might survive. For that to happen, we have to be decisive and resort to tough measures.” Wadensj?? felt the panic rise. Cortez wrote feverishly¹¹², trying to get down every word that was said from the podium at the police press office at Kungsholmen. Prosecutor Ekstr?m had begun. He explained that it had been decided¹¹³ that the investigation into the police killing in Gosseberga – for which Ronald Niedermann was being sought – would be placed under the jurisdiction of a prosecutor in G?teborg. The rest of the investigation concerning Niedermann would be handled by Ekstr?m himself. Niedermann was a suspect in the murders of Dag Svensson and Mia Johansson. No mention was made of Advokat Bjurman. Ekstr?m had also to investigate and bring charges against Lisbeth Salander, who was under suspicion for a long list of crimes. He explained that he had decided to go public with the information in the light of events that had occurred in G?teborg that day, including the fact that Salander’s father, Karl Axel Bodin, had been shot dead. The immediate reason for calling the press conference was that he wanted to deny the rumours¹¹⁴ already being circulated in the media. He had himself received a number of calls concerning these rumours. “Based on current information, I am able to tell you that Karl Axel Bodin’s daughter, who is being held for the attempted murder of her father, had nothing to do with this morning’s events.” “Then who was the murderer?” a reporter from Dagens Eko shouted. “The man who at 1.15 today fired the fatal shots at Karl Axel Bodin before attempting to commit suicide has now been identified. He is a 78-year-old man who has been undergoing treatment for a terminal illness and the psychiatric problems associated with it.” “Does he have any connection to Lisbeth Salander?” “No. The man is a tragic¹¹⁵ figure who evidently acted alone, in accordance with his own paranoid delusions¹¹⁶. The Security Police recently initiated an investigation of this man because he had written a number of apparently unstable¹¹⁷ letters to well-known politicians and the media. As recently as this morning, newspaper and government offices received letters in which he threatened to kill Karl Axel Bodin.” “Why didn’t the police give Bodin protection?” “The letters naming Bodin were sent only last night and thus arrived at the same time as the murder was being committed. There was no time to act.” “What’s the killer’s name?” “We will not give out that information until his next of kin²⁶ have been notified.” “What sort of background does he have?” “As far as I understand, he previously¹¹⁸ worked as an accountant and tax lawyer. He has been retired for fifteen years. The investigation is still under way, but as you can appreciate from the letters he sent, it is a tragedy that could have been prevented if there had been more support within society.” “Did he threaten anyone else?” “I have been advised that he did, yes, but I do not have any details to pass on to you.” “What will this mean for the case against Salander?” “For the moment, nothing. We have Karl Axel Bodin’s own testimony¹¹⁹ from the officers who interviewed him, and we have extensive forensic¹²⁰ evidence against her.” “What about the reports that Bodin tried to murder his daughter?” “That is under investigation, but there are strong indications that he did indeed attempt to kill her. As far as we can determine at the moment, it was a case of deep antagonism¹²¹ in a tragically¹²² dysfunctional family.” Cortez scratched his ear. He noticed that the other reporters were taking notes as feverishly as he was. Gunnar Bj?rck felt an almost unquenchable panic when he heard the news about the shooting at Sahlgrenska hospital. He had terrible pain in his back. It took him an hour to make up his mind. Then he picked up the telephone and tried to call his old protector in Laholm. There was no answer. He listened to the news and heard a summary of what had been said at the press conference. Zalachenko had been shot by a 78-year-old tax specialist. Good Lord, seventy-eight years old. He tried again to call Gullberg, but again in vain. Finally his uneasiness took the upper hand. He could not stay in the borrowed summer cabin in Sm?dalar?. He felt vulnerable and exposed. He needed time and space to think. He packed clothes, painkillers, and his wash bag. He did not want to use his own telephone, so he limped to the telephone booth at the grocer’s to call Landsort and book himself a room in the old ships’ pilot lookout¹²³. Landsort was the end of the world, and few people would look for him there. He booked the room for two weeks. He glanced at his watch. He would have to hurry to make the last ferry. He went back to the cabin as fast as his aching back would permit. He made straight for the kitchen and checked that the coffee machine was turned off. Then he went to the hall to get his bag. He happened to look into the living room and stopped short in surprise. At first he could not grasp what he was seeing. In some mysterious way the ceiling lamp had been taken down and placed on the coffee table. In its place hung a rope from a hook, right above a stool that was usually in the kitchen. Bj?rck looked at the noose¹²⁴, failing to understand. Then he heard movement behind him and felt his knees buckle¹²⁵. Slowly he turned to look. Two men stood there. They were southern European, by the look of them. He had no will to react when calmly they took him in a firm grip under both arms, lifted him off the ground, and carried him to the stool. When he tried to resist, pain shot like a knife through his back. He was almost paralysed as he felt himself being lifted on to the stool. Sandberg was accompanied by a man who went by the nickname of Falun and who in his youth had been a professional burglar. He had, in time, retrained as a locksmith. Hans von Rottinger had first hired Falun for the Section in 1986 for an operation that involved forcing entry into the home of the leader of an anarchist¹²⁶ group. After that, Falun had been hired from time to time until the mid-’90s, when there was less demand for this type of operation. Early that morning Clinton had revived the contact and given Falun an assignment. Falun would make 10,000 kronor tax-free for a job that would take about ten minutes. In return he had pledged not to steal anything from the apartment that was the target of the operation. The Section was not a criminal enterprise, after all. Falun did not know exactly what interests Clinton represented, but he assumed it had something to do with the military. He had read Jan Guillou’s books, and he did not ask any questions. But it felt good to be back in the saddle again after so many years of silence from his former employer. His job was to open the door. He was expert at breaking and entering. Even so, it still took five minutes to force the lock to Blomkvist’s apartment. Then Falun waited on the landing as Sandberg went in. “I’m in,” Sandberg said into a handsfree mobile. “Good,” Clinton said into his earpiece. “Take your time. Tell me what you see.” “I’m in the hall with a wardrobe and hat-rack on my right. Bathroom on the left. Otherwise there’s one very large room, about fifty square metres. There’s a small kitchen alcove¹²⁷ at the far end on the right.” “Is there any desk or …” “He seems to work at the kitchen table or sitting on the living-room sofa … wait.” Clinton waited. “Yes. Here we are, a folder¹²⁸ on the kitchen table. And Bj?rck’s report is in it. It looks like the original.” “Very good. Anything else of interest on the table?” “Books. P.G. Vinge’s memoirs¹²⁹. Power Struggle for S?po by Erik Magnusson. Four or five more of the same.” “Is there a computer?” “No.” “Any safe?” “No … not that I can see.” “Take your time. Go through the apartment centimetre by centimetre. M?rtensson reports that Blomkvist is still at the office. You’re wearing gloves, right?” “Of course.” * Erlander had a chat with Giannini in a brief interlude between one or other or both of them talking on their mobiles. He went into Salander’s room and held out his hand to introduce himself. Then he said hello to Salander and asked her how she was feeling. Salander looked at him, expressionless. He turned to Giannini. “I need to ask some questions.” “Alright.” “Can you tell me what happened this morning?” Giannini related what she had seen and heard and how she had reacted up until the moment she had barricaded¹³⁰ herself with Salander in the bathroom. Erlander glanced at Salander and then back to her lawyer. “So you’re sure that he came to the door of this room?” “I heard him trying to push down the door handle.” “And you’re perfectly¹³¹ sure about that? It’s not difficult to imagine things when you’re scared or excited.” “I definitely heard him at the door. He had seen me and pointed¹³² his pistol at me, he knew that this was the room I was in.” “Do you have any reason to believe that he had planned, beforehand that is, to shoot you too?” “I have no way of knowing. When he took aim at me I pulled my head back in and blockaded the door.” “Which was the sensible thing to do. And it was even more sensible of you to carry your client to the bathroom. These doors are so thin that the bullets would have gone clean through them if he had fired. What I’m trying to figure out is whether he wanted to attack you personally or whether he was just reacting to the fact that you were looking at him. You were the person nearest to him in the corridor.” “Apart from the two nurses.” “Did you get the sense that he knew you or perhaps recognized you?” “No, not really.” “Could he have recognized you from the papers? You’ve had a lot of publicity¹³³ over several widely reported cases.” “It’s possible. I can’t say.” “And you’d never seen him before?” “I’d seen him in the lift, that’s the first time I set eyes on him.” “I didn’t know that. Did you talk?” “No. I got in at the same time he did. I was vaguely¹³⁴ aware of him for just a few seconds. He had flowers in one hand and a briefcase in the other.” “Did you make eye contact?” “No. He was looking straight ahead.” “Who got in first?” “We got in more or less at the same time.” “Did he look confused or—” “I couldn’t say one way or the other. He got into the lift and stood perfectly still, holding the flowers.” “What happened then?” “We got out of the lift on the same floor, and I went to visit my client.” “Did you come straight here?” “Yes … no. That is, I went to the reception desk and showed my I.D. The prosecutor has forbidden my client to have visitors.” “Where was this man then?” Giannini hesitated. “I’m not quite sure. He was behind me, I think. No, wait … he got out of the lift first, but stopped and held the door for me. I couldn’t swear to it, but I think he went to the reception desk too. I was just quicker on my feet than he was. But the nurses would know.” Elderly, polite, and a murderer, Erlander thought. “Yes, he did go to the reception desk,” he confirmed. “He did talk to the nurse and he left the flowers at the desk, at her instruction. But you didn’t see that?” “No. I have no recollection of any of that.” Erlander had no more questions. Frustration¹³⁵ was gnawing¹³⁶ at him. He had had the feeling before and had trained himself to interpret it as an alarm triggered by instinct. Something was eluding¹³⁷ him, something that was not right. The murderer had been identified as Evert Gullberg, a former accountant and sometime business consultant¹³⁸ and tax lawyer. A man in advanced old age. A man against whom S?po had lately initiated a preliminary investigation because he was a nutter¹³⁹ who wrote threatening letters to public figures. Erlander knew from long experience that there were plenty of nutters¹⁴⁰ out there, some pathologically obsessed¹⁴¹ ones who stalked celebrities¹⁴² and looked for love by hiding in woods near their villas¹⁴³. When their love was not reciprocated¹⁴⁴ – as why would it be? – it could quickly turn to violent hatred¹⁴⁵. There were stalkers who travelled from Germany or Italy to follow a 21-year-old lead singer in a pop band from gig to gig, and who then got upset because she would not drop everything to start a relationship with them. There were bloody-minded individuals who harped¹⁴⁶ on and on about real or imaginary injustices¹⁴⁷ and who sometimes turned to threatening behaviour. There were psychopaths and conspiracy¹⁴⁸ theorists, nutters who had the gift to read messages hidden from the normal world. There were plenty of examples of these fools taking the leap from fantasy to action. Was not the assassination of Anna Lindh* the result of precisely¹⁴⁹ such a crazy impulse? But Inspector Erlander did not like the idea that a mentally ill accountant, or whatever he was, could wander into a hospital with a bunch of flowers in one hand and a pistol in the other. Or that he could, for God’s sake, execute someone who was the object of a police investigation – his investigation. A man whose name in the public register was Karl Axel Bodin but whose real name, according to Blomkvist, was Zalachenko. A bastard defected Soviet¹⁵⁰ Russian agent and professional gangster¹⁵¹. At the very least Zalachenko was a witness; but in the worst case he was involved up to his neck in a series of murders. Erlander had been allowed to conduct two brief interviews with Zalachenko, and at no time during either had he been swayed by the man’s protest ations of innocence¹⁵². His murderer had shown interest also in Salander, or at least in her lawyer. He had tried to get into her room. And then he had attempted suicide. According to the doctors, he had probably succeeded, even if his body had not yet absorbed the message that it was time to shut down. It was highly unlikely that Evert Gullberg would ever be brought before a court. Erlander did not like the situation, not for a moment. But he had no proof that Gullberg’s shots had been anything other than what they seemed. So he had decided to play it safe. He looked at Giannini. “I’ve decided that Salander should be moved to a different room. There’s a room in the connecting corridor to the right of the reception area that would be better from a security point of view. It’s in direct line-of-sight of the reception desk and the nurses’ station. No visitors will be permitted other than you. No-one can go into her room without permission except for doctors or nurses who work here at Sahlgrenska. And I’ll see to it that a guard is stationed outside her door round the clock.” “Do you think she’s in danger?” “I know of nothing to indicate that she is. But I want to play it safe.” Salander listened attentively¹⁵³ to the conversation between her lawyer and her adversary¹⁵⁴, a member of the police. She was impressed that Giannini had replied so precisely and lucidly¹⁵⁵, and in such detail. She was even more impressed by her lawyer’s way of keeping cool under stress. Otherwise she had had a monstrous¹⁵⁶ headache ever since Giannini had dragged her out of bed and carried her into the bathroom. Instinctively¹⁵⁷ she wanted as little as possible to do with the hospital staff. She did not like asking for help or showing any sign of weakness. But the headaches were so overpowering that she could not think straight. She reached out and rang for a nurse. Giannini had planned her visit to G?teborg as a brisk, necessary prologue¹⁵⁸ to long-term work. She wanted to get to know Salander, question her about her actual condition, and present a first outline of the strategy that she and Blomkvist had cobbled together to deal with the legal proceedings¹⁵⁹. She had originally intended to return to Stockholm that evening, but the dramatic events at Sahlgrenska had meant that she still had not had a real conversation with Salander. Her client was in much worse shape than she had been led to believe. She was suffering from acute headaches and a high fever, which prompted a doctor by the name of Endrin to prescribe a strong painkiller⁶⁹, an antibiotic¹⁶⁰, and rest. Consequently, as soon as her client had been moved to a new room and a security guard had been posted outside, Giannini was asked, quite firmly, to leave. It was already 4.30 p.m. She hesitated. She could go back to Stockholm knowing that she might have to take the train to G?teborg again as soon as the following day. Or else she could stay overnight. But her client might be too ill to deal with a visit tomorrow as well. She had not booked a hotel room. As a lawyer who mainly represented abused women without any great financial resources, she tried to avoid padding her bill with expensive hotel charges. She called home first and then rang Lillian Josefsson, a lawyer colleague who was a member of the Women’s Network and an old friend from law school. “I’m in G?teborg,” she said. “I was thinking of going home tonight, but certain things happened today that require me to stay overnight. Is it O.K. if I sleep at your place?” “Oh, please do, that would be fun. We haven’t seen each other in ages.” “I’m not interrupting anything?” “No, of course not. But I’ve moved. I’m now on a side street off Linnégatan. But I do have a spare room. And we can go out to a bar later if we feel like it.” “If I have the energy,” Giannini said. “What time is good?” They agreed that Giannini should turn up at around 6.00. Giannini took the bus to Linnégatan and spent the next hour in a Greek restaurant. She was famished¹⁶¹, and ordered a shish kebab with salad. She sat for a long time thinking about the day’s events. She was a little shaky now that the adrenaline had worn off, but she was pleased with herself. In a time of great danger she had been cool, calm and collected. She had instinctively made the right decisions. It was a pleasant feeling to know that her reactions were up to an emergency. After a while she took her Filofax from her briefcase and opened it to the notes section. She read through it carefully. She was filled with doubt about the plan that her brother had outlined to her. It had sounded logical at the time, but it did not look so good now. Even so, she did not intend to back out. At 6.00 she paid her bill and walked to Lillian’s place on Olivedalsgatan. She punched in the door code her friend had given her. She stepped into the stairwell and was looking for a light switch when the attack came out of the blue. She was slammed up against a tiled wall next to the door. She banged her head hard, felt a rush of pain and fell to the ground. The next moment she heard footsteps moving swiftly away and then the front door opening and closing. She struggled to her feet and put her hand to her forehead. There was blood on her palm. What the hell? She went out on to the street and just caught a glimpse of someone turning the corner towards Sveaplan. In shock she stood still for about a minute. Then she walked back to the door and punched in the code again. Suddenly she realized that her briefcase was gone. She had been robbed. It took a few seconds before the horror of it sank in. Oh no. The Zalachenko folder. She felt the alarm spreading up from her diaphragm. Slowly she sat down on the staircase. Then she jumped up and dug into her jacket pocket. The Filofax. Thank God. Leaving the restaurant she had stuffed it into her pocket instead of putting it back in her briefcase. It contained the draft of her strategy in the Salander case, point by detailed¹⁶² point. Then she stumbled up the stairs to the fifth floor and pounded on her friend’s door. Half an hour had passed before she had recovered enough to call her brother. She had a black eye and a gash¹⁶³ above her eyebrow¹⁶⁴ that was still bleeding. Lillian had cleaned it with alcohol and put a bandage on it. No, she did not want to go to hospital. Yes, she would like a cup of tea. Only then did she begin to think rationally again. The first thing she did was to call Blomkvist. He was still at Millennium, where he was searching for information about Zalachenko’s murderer with Cortez and Eriksson. He listened with increasing dismay to Giannini’s account of what had happened. “No bones broken?” he said. “Black eye. I’ll be O.K. after I’ve had a chance to calm down.” “Did you disturb a robbery, was that it?” “Mikael, my briefcase was stolen, with the Zalachenko report you gave me.” “Not a problem. I can make another copy—” He broke off as he felt the hair rise on the back of his neck. First Zalachenko. Now Annika. He closed his iBook, stuffed it into his shoulder bag and left the office without a word, moving fast. He jogged home to Bellmansgatan and up the stairs. The door was locked. As soon as he entered the apartment he saw that the folder he had left on the kitchen table was gone. He did not even bother to look for it. He knew exactly where it had been. He sank on to a chair at the kitchen table as thoughts whirled through his head. Someone had been in his apartment. Someone who was trying to cover Zalachenko’s tracks. His own copy and his sister’s copy were gone. Bublanski still had the report. Or did he? Blomkvist got up and went to the telephone, but stopped with his hand on the receiver. Someone had been in his apartment. He looked at his telephone with the utmost suspicion and took out his mobile. But how easy is it to eavesdrop on a mobile conversation? He slowly put the mobile down next to his landline and looked around. I’m dealing¹⁶⁵ with pros⁶¹ here, obviously. People who could bug¹⁶⁶ an apartment as easily as get into one without breaking a lock. He sat down again. He looked at his laptop case. How hard is it to hack⁵⁸ into my email? Salander can do it in five minutes. He thought for a long time before he went back to the landline and called his sister. He chose his words with care. “How are you doing?” “I’m fine, Micke.” “Tell me what happened from the moment you arrived at Sahlgrenska until you were attacked.” It took ten minutes for Giannini to give him her account. Blomkvist did not say anything about the implications of what she told him, but asked questions until he was satisfied. He sounded like an anxious brother, but his mind was working on a completely different level as he reconstructed the key points. She had decided to stay in G?teborg at 4.30 that afternoon. She called her friend on her mobile, got the address and door code. The robber was waiting for her inside the stairwell at 6.00 on the dot. Her mobile was being monitored. It was the only possible explanation. Which meant that his was being monitored too. Foolish to think otherwise. “And the Zalachenko report is gone,” Giannini repeated. Blomkvist hesitated. Whoever had stolen the report already knew that his copy too had been stolen. It would only be natural to mention that. “Mine too,” he said. “What?” He explained that he had come home to find that the blue folder on his kitchen table was gone. “It’s a disaster,” he said in a gloomy voice. “That was the crucial part of the evidence.” “Micke … I’m so sorry.” “Me too,” Blomkvist said. “Damn it! But it’s not your fault. I should have published the report the day I got it.” “What do we do now?” “I have no idea. This is the worst thing that could have happened. It will turn our whole plan upside down. We don’t have a shred¹⁶⁷ of evidence left against Bj?rck or Teleborian.” They talked for another two minutes before Blomkvist ended the conversation. “I want you to come back to Stockholm tomorrow,” he said. “I have to see Salander.” “Go and see her in the morning. We have to sit down and think about where we go from here.” When Blomkvist hung up he sat on the sofa staring into space. Whoever was listening to their conversation knew now that Millennium had lost Bj?rck’s report along with the correspondence between Bj?rck and Dr Teleborian. They could be satisfied that Blomkvist and Giannini were in despair. If nothing else, Blomkvist had learned from the preceding night’s study of the history of the Security Police that disinformation was the basis of all espionage activity. And he had just planted disinformation that in the long run might prove invaluable. He opened his laptop case and took out the copy made for Armansky which he had not yet managed to deliver. The only remaining copy, and he did not intend to waste it. On the contrary, he would make five more copies and put them in safe places. Then he called Eriksson. She was about to lock up for the day. “Where did you disappear to in such a hurry?” she said. “Could you hang on there a few minutes please? There’s something I have to discuss with you before you leave.” He had not had time to do his laundry for several weeks. All his shirts were in the basket. He packed a razor and Power Struggle for S?po along with the last remaining copy of Bj?rck’s report. He went to Dressman and bought four shirts, two pairs of trousers and some underwear and took the clothes with him to the office. Eriksson waited while he took a quick shower, wondering what was going on. “Someone broke into my apartment and stole the Zalachenko report. Someone mugged Annika in G?teborg and stole her copy. I have proof that her phone is tapped, which may well mean that mine is too. Maybe yours at home and all the Millennium phones have been bugged¹⁶⁸. And if someone took the trouble to break into my apartment, they’d be pretty dim if they didn’t bug it as well.” “I see,” said Eriksson in a flat voice. She glanced at the mobile on the desk in front of her. “Keep working as usual. Use the mobile, but don’t give away any information. Tomorrow, tell Henry.” “He went home an hour ago. He left a stack of public reports on your desk. But what are you doing here?” “I plan to sleep here tonight. If they shot Zalachenko, stole the reports, and bugged my apartment today, there’s a good chance they’ve just got started and haven’t done the office yet. People have been here all day. I don’t want the office to be empty tonight.” “You think that the murder of Zalachenko … but the murderer was a geriatric psycho.” “Malin, I don’t believe in coincidence. Somebody is covering Zalachenko’s tracks. I don’t care who people think that old lunatic was or how many crazy letters he wrote to government ministers. He was a hired killer of some sort. He went there to kill Zalachenko … and maybe Lisbeth too.” “But he committed suicide, or tried to. What hired killer would do that?” Blomkvist thought for a moment. He met the editor-in-chief’s gaze. “Maybe someone who’s seventy-eight and hasn’t much to lose. He’s mixed up in all this, and when we finish digging we’ll prove it.” Eriksson studied Blomkvist’s face. She had never before seen him so composed and unflinching. She shuddered¹⁶⁹. Blomkvist noticed her reaction. “One more thing. We’re no longer in a battle with a gang of criminals, this time it’s with a government department. It’s going to be tough.” Eriksson nodded. “I didn’t imagine things would go this far. Malin … what happened today makes very plain how dangerous this could get. If you want out, just say the word.” She wondered what Berger would have said. Then stubbornly she shook her head. PART II HACKER REPUBLIC 1 – 22.v An Irish law from the year 697 forbids women to be soldiers – which means that women had been soldiers previously. Peoples who over the centuries have recruited female soldiers include Arabs, Berbers, Kurds, Rajputs, Chinese, Filipinos, Maoris, Papuans, Australian aborigines, Micronesians and American Indians. There is a wealth of legend about fearsome female warriors¹⁷⁰ from ancient Greece. These tales speak of women who were trained in the arts of war from childhood – in the use of weapons, and how to cope with physical privation. They lived apart from the men and went to war in their own regiments¹⁷¹. The tales tell us that they conquered men on the field of battle. Amazons occur in Greek literature in the Iliad of Homer, for example, in 600 B.C. It was the Greeks who coined the term Amazon. The word literally¹⁷² means “without breast”. It is said that in order to facilitate the drawing of a bow, the female’s right breast was removed, either in early childhood or with a red-hot iron after she became an adult. Even though the Greek physicians Hippocrates and Galen are said to have agreed that this operation would enhance the ability to use weapons, it is doubtful whether such operations were actually performed. Herein lies a linguistic¹⁷³ riddle¹⁷⁴ – whether the prefix¹⁷⁵ “a-” in Amazon does indeed mean “without”. It has been suggested that it means the opposite – that an Amazon was a woman with especially large breasts. Nor is there a single example in any museum of a drawing, amulet¹⁷⁶ or statue of a woman without her right breast, which should have been a common motif¹⁷⁷ had the legend about breast amputation¹⁷⁸ been based on fact.

1 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

2 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

3 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

4 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

7 enchanted   

adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。
• He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。

8 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

9 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

10 idiotic   

adj.白痴的

参考例句：

• It is idiotic to go shopping with no money.去买东西而不带钱是很蠢的。
• The child's idiotic deeds caused his family much trouble.那小孩愚蠢的行为给家庭带来许多麻烦。

11 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 briefcase   

n.手提箱，公事皮包

参考例句：

• He packed a briefcase with what might be required.他把所有可能需要的东西都装进公文包。
• He requested the old man to look after the briefcase.他请求那位老人照看这个公事包。

14 compartment   

n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间

参考例句：

• We were glad to have the whole compartment to ourselves.真高兴，整个客车隔间由我们独享。
• The batteries are safely enclosed in a watertight compartment.电池被安全地置于一个防水的隔间里。

15 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

16 fingerprints   

n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Everyone's fingerprints are unique. 每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。
• They wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints behind (them). 他们戴着手套，以免留下指纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 photocopier   

n.复印机

参考例句：

• You've left your master in the photocopier.你把原件留在影印机里了。
• If the photocopier stops working,just give it a clout.如果那部影印机停止运转的话就敲它一下。

18 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

19 slits   

n.狭长的口子，裂缝( slit的名词复数 )v.切开，撕开( slit的第三人称单数 )；在…上开狭长口子

参考例句：

• He appears to have two slits for eyes. 他眯着两眼。
• "You go to--Halifax,'she said tensely, her green eyes slits of rage. "你给我滚----滚到远远的地方去！" 她恶狠狠地说，那双绿眼睛冒出了怒火。

20 silhouette   

n.黑色半身侧面影，影子，轮廓；v.描绘成侧面影，照出影子来，仅仅显出轮廓

参考例句：

• I could see its black silhouette against the evening sky.我能看到夜幕下它黑色的轮廓。
• I could see the silhouette of the woman in the pickup.我可以见到小卡车的女人黑色半身侧面影。

21 crutches   

n.拐杖, 支柱 v.支撑

参考例句：

• After the accident I spent six months on crutches . 事故后我用了六个月的腋杖。
• When he broke his leg he had to walk on crutches. 他腿摔断了以后，不得不靠拐杖走路。

22 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

23 axe   

n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减

参考例句：

• Be careful with that sharp axe.那把斧子很锋利，你要当心。
• The edge of this axe has turned.这把斧子卷了刃了。

24 raping   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的现在分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• In response, Charles VI sent a punitive expedition to Brittany, raping and killing the populace. 作为报复，查理六世派军讨伐布列塔尼，奸淫杀戮平民。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The conquerors marched on, burning, killing, raping and plundering as they went. 征服者所到之处烧杀奸掠，无所不做。 来自互联网

25 propped   

支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sat propped up in the bed by pillows. 他靠着枕头坐在床上。
• This fence should be propped up. 这栅栏该用东西支一支。

26 kin   

n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的

参考例句：

• He comes of good kin.他出身好。
• She has gone to live with her husband's kin.她住到丈夫的亲戚家里去了。

27 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。

28 blackmailed   

胁迫，尤指以透露他人不体面行为相威胁以勒索钱财( blackmail的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He was blackmailed by an enemy agent (into passing on state secrets). 敌特威胁他（要他交出国家机密）。
• The strikers refused to be blackmailed into returning to work. 罢工者拒绝了要挟复工的条件。

29 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

30 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

31 eruptions   

n.喷发，爆发( eruption的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year. 今年火山爆发了好几次。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Over 200 people have been killed by volcanic eruptions. 火山喷发已导致200多人丧生。 来自辞典例句

32 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

33 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

34 detested   

v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They detested each other on sight. 他们互相看着就不顺眼。
• The freethinker hated the formalist; the lover of liberty detested the disciplinarian. 自由思想者总是不喜欢拘泥形式者，爱好自由者总是憎恶清规戒律者。 来自辞典例句

35 conspired   

密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They conspired to bring about the meeting of the two people. 他们共同促成了两人的会面。
• Bad weather and car trouble conspired to ruin our vacation. 恶劣的气候连同汽车故障断送了我们的假日。

36 second-hand   

adj.用过的，旧的，二手的

参考例句：

• I got this book by chance at a second-hand bookshop.我赶巧在一家旧书店里买到这本书。
• They will put all these second-hand goods up for sale.他们将把这些旧货全部公开出售。

37 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

38 intelligible   

adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的

参考例句：

• This report would be intelligible only to an expert in computing.只有计算机运算专家才能看懂这份报告。
• His argument was barely intelligible.他的论点不易理解。

39 overview   

n.概观，概述

参考例句：

• The opening chapter gives a brief historical overview of transport.第一章是运输史的简要回顾。
• The seminar aims to provide an overview on new media publishing.研讨会旨在综览新兴的媒体出版。

40 bibliography   

n.参考书目；(有关某一专题的)书目

参考例句：

• There is a useful bibliography at the end of each chapter.在每一章后附有一份有用的参考书目。
• The production of this bibliography is totally automated.这个目录的编制过程全是自动化的。

41 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

42 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

43 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

44 inaccurate   

adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的

参考例句：

• The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确，而且夸大其词。
• She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。

45 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

46 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

47 sarcastic   

adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的

参考例句：

• I squashed him with a sarcastic remark.我说了一句讽刺的话把他给镇住了。
• She poked fun at people's shortcomings with sarcastic remarks.她冷嘲热讽地拿别人的缺点开玩笑。

48 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

49 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。

50 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

51 discreetly   

ad.(言行)审慎地，慎重地

参考例句：

• He had only known the perennial widow, the discreetly expensive Frenchwoman. 他只知道她是个永远那么年轻的寡妇，一个很会讲排场的法国女人。
• Sensing that Lilian wanted to be alone with Celia, Andrew discreetly disappeared. 安德鲁觉得莉莲想同西莉亚单独谈些什么，有意避开了。

52 subsided   

v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上

参考例句：

• After the heavy rains part of the road subsided. 大雨过后，部分公路塌陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• By evening the storm had subsided and all was quiet again. 傍晚， 暴风雨已经过去，四周开始沉寂下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

53 bruises   

n.瘀伤，伤痕，擦伤( bruise的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was covered with bruises after falling off his bicycle. 他从自行车上摔了下来，摔得浑身伤痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pear had bruises of dark spots. 这个梨子有碰伤的黑斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

54 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

55 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

56 curt   

adj.简短的，草率的

参考例句：

• He gave me an extremely curt answer.他对我作了极为草率的答复。
• He rapped out a series of curt commands.他大声发出了一连串简短的命令。

57 cryptic   

adj.秘密的，神秘的，含义模糊的

参考例句：

• She made a cryptic comment about how the film mirrored her life.她隐晦地表示说这部电影是她人生的写照。
• The new insurance policy is written without cryptic or mysterious terms.新的保险单在编写时没有隐秘条款或秘密条款。

58 hack   

n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳

参考例句：

• He made a hack at the log.他朝圆木上砍了一下。
• Early settlers had to hack out a clearing in the forest where they could grow crops.早期移民不得不在森林里劈出空地种庄稼。

59 hacker   

n.能盗用或偷改电脑中信息的人，电脑黑客

参考例句：

• The computer hacker wrote that he was from Russia.这个计算机黑客自称他来自俄罗斯。
• This site was attacked by a hacker last week.上周这个网站被黑客攻击了。

60 adamant   

adj.坚硬的，固执的

参考例句：

• We are adamant on the building of a well-off society.在建设小康社会这一点上，我们是坚定不移的。
• Veronica was quite adamant that they should stay on.维罗妮卡坚信他们必须继续留下去。

61 pros   

abbr.prosecuting 起诉；prosecutor 起诉人；professionals 自由职业者；proscenium （舞台）前部n.赞成的意见( pro的名词复数 )；赞成的理由；抵偿物；交换物

参考例句：

• The pros and cons cancel out. 正反两种意见抵消。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We should hear all the pros and cons of the matter before we make a decision. 我们在对这事做出决定之前，应该先听取正反两方面的意见。 来自《简明英汉词典》

62 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

63 blueprints   

n.蓝图，设计图( blueprint的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Have the blueprints been worked out? 蓝图搞好了吗？ 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• BluePrints description of a distributed component of the system design and best practice guidelines. BluePrints描述了一个分布式组件体系的最佳练习和设计指导方针。 来自互联网

64 swoop   

n.俯冲，攫取；v.抓取，突然袭击

参考例句：

• The plane made a swoop over the city.那架飞机突然向这座城市猛降下来。
• We decided to swoop down upon the enemy there.我们决定突袭驻在那里的敌人。

65 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

66 photocopies   

n.影印本( photocopy的名词复数 )；复印件

参考例句：

• Make as many photocopies as you need. 你需要多少复印件就复印多少吧。
• I made two photocopies of the report. 我把这份报告影印了两份。 来自《简明英汉词典》

67 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

68 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

69 painkiller   

n.止痛药

参考例句：

• I shall persuade him to take the painkiller.我将说服他把药吃下去。
• The painkiller only provides him a short respite from his pain.止痛药仅仅让他在疼痛中有短暂的疏解。

70 painkillers   

n.止痛药( painkiller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some painkillers to ease the pain. 医生给了他一些止疼片以减缓疼痛。 来自辞典例句
• The primary painkillers - opiates, like OxyContin - are widely feared, misunderstood and underused. 人们对主要的镇痛药——如鸦片剂奥施康定——存在广泛的恐惧、误解，因此没有充分利用。 来自时文部分

71 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

72 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

73 pane   

n.窗格玻璃，长方块

参考例句：

• He broke this pane of glass.他打破了这块窗玻璃。
• Their breath bloomed the frosty pane.他们呼出的水气，在冰冷的窗玻璃上形成一层雾。

74 bouquet   

n.花束，酒香

参考例句：

• This wine has a rich bouquet.这种葡萄酒有浓郁的香气。
• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。

75 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

76 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

77 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

78 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

79 bluff   

v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗

参考例句：

• His threats are merely bluff.他的威胁仅仅是虚张声势。
• John is a deep card.No one can bluff him easily.约翰是个机灵鬼。谁也不容易欺骗他。

80 invaluable   

adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的

参考例句：

• A computer would have been invaluable for this job.一台计算机对这个工作的作用会是无法估计的。
• This information was invaluable to him.这个消息对他来说是非常宝贵的。

81 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

82 bluffing   

n. 威吓，唬人 动词bluff的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• I don't think he'll shoot—I think he's just bluffing. 我认为他不会开枪—我想他不过是在吓唬人。
• He says he'll win the race, but he's only bluffing. 他说他会赢得这场比赛，事实上只是在吹牛。

83 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。

84 muzzle   

n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默

参考例句：

• He placed the muzzle of the pistol between his teeth.他把手枪的枪口放在牙齿中间。
• The President wanted to muzzle the press.总统企图遏制新闻自由。

85 bastard   

n.坏蛋，混蛋；私生子

参考例句：

• He was never concerned about being born a bastard.他从不介意自己是私生子。
• There was supposed to be no way to get at the bastard.据说没有办法买通那个混蛋。

86 futility   

n.无用

参考例句：

• She could see the utter futility of trying to protest. 她明白抗议是完全无用的。
• The sheer futility of it all exasperates her. 它毫无用处，这让她很生气。

87 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

88 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

89 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

90 hovered   

鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovered over the hill. 一只鹰在小山的上空翱翔。
• A hawk hovered in the blue sky. 一只老鹰在蓝色的天空中翱翔。

91 fugitive   

adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者

参考例句：

• The police were able to deduce where the fugitive was hiding.警方成功地推断出那逃亡者躲藏的地方。
• The fugitive is believed to be headed for the border.逃犯被认为在向国境线逃窜。

92 horrendous   

adj.可怕的，令人惊惧的

参考例句：

• He described it as the most horrendous experience of his life.他形容这是自己一生中最可怕的经历。
• The mining industry in China has a horrendous safety record.中国的煤矿工业具有令人不安的安全记录。

93 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

94 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

95 evacuating   

撤离，疏散( evacuate的现在分词 )； 排空（胃肠），排泄（粪便）； （从危险的地方）撤出，搬出，撤空

参考例句：

• The solution is degassed by alternately freezing, evacuating and thawing. 通过交替的冻结、抽空和溶化来使溶液除气。
• Are we evacuating these potential targets? 能够在这些目标地域内进行疏散吗？

96 resuscitation   

n.复活

参考例句：

• Despite attempts at resuscitation,Mr Lynch died a week later in hospital.虽经全力抢救，但林奇先生一周以后还是在医院去世了。
• We gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and heart massage.我们对他进行了口对口复苏救治和心脏按摩。

97 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

98 fanatic   

n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的

参考例句：

• Alexander is a football fanatic.亚历山大是个足球迷。
• I am not a religious fanatic but I am a Christian.我不是宗教狂热分子，但我是基督徒。

99 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

100 shrieked   

v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She shrieked in fright. 她吓得尖叫起来。
• Li Mei-t'ing gave a shout, and Lu Tzu-hsiao shrieked, "Tell what? 李梅亭大声叫，陆子潇尖声叫：“告诉什么？ 来自汉英文学 - 围城

101 colon   

n.冒号，结肠，直肠

参考例句：

• Here,too,the colon must be followed by a dash.这里也是一样，应当在冒号后加破折号。
• The colon is the locus of a large concentration of bacteria.结肠是大浓度的细菌所在地。

102 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

103 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

104 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

105 laboriously   

adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地

参考例句：

• She is tracing laboriously now. 她正在费力地写。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She is laboriously copying out an old manuscript. 她正在费劲地抄出一份旧的手稿。 来自辞典例句

106 illegible   

adj.难以辨认的，字迹模糊的

参考例句：

• It is impossible to deliver this letter because the address is illegible.由于地址字迹不清，致使信件无法投递。
• Can you see what this note says—his writing is almost illegible!你能看出这个便条上写些什么吗？他的笔迹几乎无法辨认。

107 exclamation   

n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词

参考例句：

• He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
• The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号，以引起读者的注意。

108 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

109 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

110 pensioner   

n.领养老金的人

参考例句：

• The tax threshold for a single pensioner is$ 445.单身领退休年金者的纳税起点为445英镑。
• It was the pensioner's vote late in the day that influenced the election of Mr.Sweet.最后是领取养老金者的选票影响了斯威特先生的当选。

111 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

112 feverishly   

adv. 兴奋地

参考例句：

• Feverishly he collected his data. 他拼命收集资料。
• The company is having to cast around feverishly for ways to cut its costs. 公司迫切须要想出各种降低成本的办法。

113 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

114 rumours   

n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传

参考例句：

• The rumours were completely baseless. 那些谣传毫无根据。
• Rumours of job losses were later confirmed. 裁员的传言后来得到了证实。

115 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

116 delusions   

n.欺骗( delusion的名词复数 )；谬见；错觉；妄想

参考例句：

• the delusions of the mentally ill 精神病患者的妄想
• She wants to travel first-class: she must have delusions of grandeur. 她想坐头等舱旅行，她一定自以为很了不起。 来自辞典例句

117 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

118 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

119 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

120 forensic   

adj.法庭的，雄辩的

参考例句：

• The report included his interpretation of the forensic evidence.该报告包括他对法庭证据的诠释。
• The judge concluded the proceeding on 10:30 Am after one hour of forensic debate.经过近一个小时的法庭辩论后，法官于10时30分宣布休庭。

121 antagonism   

n.对抗，敌对，对立

参考例句：

• People did not feel a strong antagonism for established policy.人们没有对既定方针产生强烈反应。
• There is still much antagonism between trades unions and the oil companies.工会和石油公司之间仍然存在着相当大的敌意。

122 tragically   

adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地

参考例句：

• Their daughter was tragically killed in a road accident. 他们的女儿不幸死于车祸。
• Her father died tragically in a car crash. 她父亲在一场车祸中惨死。

123 lookout   

n.注意，前途，瞭望台

参考例句：

• You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
• It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来，公司的前景可就不妙了。

124 noose   

n.绳套，绞索（刑）；v.用套索捉；使落入圈套；处以绞刑

参考例句：

• They tied a noose round her neck.他们在她脖子上系了一个活扣。
• A hangman's noose had already been placed around his neck.一个绞刑的绳圈已经套在他的脖子上。

125 buckle   

n.扣子，带扣；v.把...扣住，由于压力而弯曲

参考例句：

• The two ends buckle at the back.带子两端在背后扣起来。
• She found it hard to buckle down.她很难专心做一件事情。

126 anarchist   

n.无政府主义者

参考例句：

• You must be an anarchist at heart.你在心底肯定是个无政府主义者。
• I did my best to comfort them and assure them I was not an anarchist.我尽量安抚他们并让它们明白我并不是一个无政府主义者。

127 alcove   

n.凹室

参考例句：

• The bookcase fits neatly into the alcove.书架正好放得进壁凹。
• In the alcoves on either side of the fire were bookshelves.火炉两边的凹室里是书架。

128 folder   

n.纸夹，文件夹

参考例句：

• Peter returned the plan and charts to their folder.彼得把这份计划和表格放回文件夹中。
• He draws the document from its folder.他把文件从硬纸夹里抽出来。

129 memoirs   

n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数)

参考例句：

• Her memoirs were ghostwritten. 她的回忆录是由别人代写的。
• I watched a trailer for the screenplay of his memoirs. 我看过以他的回忆录改编成电影的预告片。 来自《简明英汉词典》

130 barricaded   

设路障于，以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 )； 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守

参考例句：

• The police barricaded the entrance. 警方在入口处设置了路障。
• The doors had been barricaded. 门都被堵住了。

131 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

132 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

133 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

134 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

135 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

136 gnawing   

a.痛苦的，折磨人的

参考例句：

• The dog was gnawing a bone. 那狗在啃骨头。
• These doubts had been gnawing at him for some time. 这些疑虑已经折磨他一段时间了。

137 eluding   

v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的现在分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到

参考例句：

• He saw no way of eluding Featherstone's stupid demand. 费瑟斯通的愚蠢要求使他走投无路。 来自辞典例句
• The fox succeeded in eluding the hunters. 这狐狸成功地避过了猎手。 来自辞典例句

138 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

139 nutter   

n.疯子

参考例句：

• Don't call him nutter because it is such a bad term.别叫他“疯子”，这不是个好词。
• But it's awfully ruthless and cold-blooded for a nutter from the other side.但是对那边的疯子们来说，却也实在太冷血无情了。

140 nutters   

n.拾坚果的人，疯狂的人( nutter的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In my job I get a lot of e-mails from nutters. 我在工作中总能收到不少怪人发来的邮件。 来自互联网

141 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

142 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

143 villas   

别墅，公馆( villa的名词复数 )； （城郊）住宅

参考例句：

• Magnificent villas are found throughout Italy. 在意大利到处可看到豪华的别墅。
• Rich men came down from wealthy Rome to build sea-side villas. 有钱人从富有的罗马来到这儿建造海滨别墅。

144 reciprocated   

v.报答，酬答( reciprocate的过去式和过去分词 )；（机器的部件）直线往复运动

参考例句：

• Her passion for him was not reciprocated. 她对他的热情没有得到回应。
• Their attraction to each other as friends is reciprocated. 作为朋友，他们相互吸引着对方。 来自辞典例句

145 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

146 harped   

vi.弹竖琴（harp的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The teacher harped on at the student for being late. 老师因学生迟到而喋喋不休。 来自互联网
• She harped the Saint-Saens beautifully. 她用竖琴很完美地演奏圣桑的作品。 来自互联网

147 injustices   

不公平( injustice的名词复数 )； 非正义； 待…不公正； 冤枉

参考例句：

• One who committed many injustices is doomed to failure. 多行不义必自毙。
• He felt confident that his injustices would be righted. 他相信他的冤屈会受到昭雪的。

148 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

149 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

150 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

151 gangster   

n.匪徒，歹徒，暴徒

参考例句：

• The gangster's friends bought off the police witness.那匪徒的朋友买通了警察方面的证人。
• He is obviously a gangster,but he pretends to be a saint.分明是强盗，却要装圣贤。

152 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

153 attentively   

adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神

参考例句：

• She listened attentively while I poured out my problems. 我倾吐心中的烦恼时，她一直在注意听。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She listened attentively and set down every word he said. 她专心听着，把他说的话一字不漏地记下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

154 adversary   

adj.敌手，对手

参考例句：

• He saw her as his main adversary within the company.他将她视为公司中主要的对手。
• They will do anything to undermine their adversary's reputation.他们会不择手段地去损害对手的名誉。

155 lucidly   

adv.清透地，透明地

参考例句：

• This is a lucidly written book. 这是本通俗易懂的书。
• Men of great learning are frequently unable to state lucidly what they know. 大学问家往往不能清楚地表达他们所掌握的知识。

156 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

157 instinctively   

adv.本能地

参考例句：

• As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

158 prologue   

n.开场白，序言；开端，序幕

参考例句：

• A poor wedding is a prologue to misery.不幸的婚姻是痛苦的开始。
• The prologue to the novel is written in the form of a newspaper account.这本小说的序言是以报纸报道的形式写的。

159 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

160 antibiotic   

adj.抗菌的；n.抗生素

参考例句：

• The doctor said that I should take some antibiotic.医生说我应该服些用抗生素。
• Antibiotic can be used against infection.抗菌素可以用来防止感染。

161 famished   

adj.饥饿的

参考例句：

• When's lunch?I'm famished!什么时候吃午饭？我饿得要死了！
• My feet are now killing me and I'm absolutely famished.我的脚现在筋疲力尽，我绝对是极饿了。

162 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

163 gash   

v.深切，划开；n.(深长的)切(伤)口；裂缝

参考例句：

• The deep gash in his arm would take weeks to heal over.他胳膊上的割伤很深，需要几个星期的时间才能痊愈。
• After the collision,the body of the ship had a big gash.船被撞后，船身裂开了一个大口子。

164 eyebrow   

n.眉毛，眉

参考例句：

• Her eyebrow is well penciled.她的眉毛画得很好。
• With an eyebrow raised,he seemed divided between surprise and amusement.他一只眉毛扬了扬，似乎既感到吃惊，又觉有趣。

165 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

166 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

167 shred   

v.撕成碎片，变成碎片；n.碎布条，细片，些少

参考例句：

• There is not a shred of truth in what he says.他说的全是骗人的鬼话。
• The food processor can shred all kinds of vegetables.这架食品加工机可将各种蔬菜切丝切条。

168 bugged   

vt.在…装窃听器（bug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The police have bugged his office. 警察在他的办公室装了窃听器。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had bugged off before I had a chance to get a word in. 我还没来得及讲话，他已经走了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

169 shuddered   

v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车，车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

170 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

171 regiments   

（军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物

参考例句：

• The three regiments are all under the command of you. 这三个团全归你节制。
• The town was garrisoned with two regiments. 该镇有两团士兵驻守。

172 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

173 linguistic   

adj.语言的，语言学的

参考例句：

• She is pursuing her linguistic researches.她在从事语言学的研究。
• The ability to write is a supreme test of linguistic competence.写作能力是对语言能力的最高形式的测试。

174 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。

175 prefix   

n.前缀；vt.加…作为前缀；置于前面

参考例句：

• We prefix "Mr."to a man's name.我们在男士的姓名前加“先生”。
• In the word "unimportant ","un-" is a prefix.在单词“unimportant”中“un”是前缀。

176 amulet   

n.护身符

参考例句：

• We're down here investigating a stolen amulet.我们来到这里调查一个失窃的护身符。
• This amulet is exclusively made by Father Sum Lee.这个护身符是沙姆.李长老特制的。

177 motif   

n.(图案的)基本花纹，(衣服的)花边；主题

参考例句：

• Alienation is a central motif in her novels.疏离感是她小说的一个重要的主题。
• The jacket has a rose motif on the collar.这件夹克衫领子上有一朵玫瑰花的图案。

178 amputation   

n.截肢

参考例句：

• In ancient India,adultery was punished by amputation of the nose.在古代印度，通奸要受到剖鼻的处罚。
• He lived only hours after the amputation.截肢后，他只活了几个小时。