Merger: vesting of the control of different corporations in a single one by the issue of stock of the controlling corporation without dissolution of the consolidating companies.
merge: to cause to combine or coalesce, to lose identity by absorption or immersion in something else.
Whose identity, what identity is merged with another? The financial relationship with the Vanger family was not a merger of the magazine. Has anyone lost their identity to something? Hmmmmm.
Mikael returns from prison and begins again to research Harriet's disappearance. Just about the first thing he does is to go see his girlfriend, Henrik's niece, Cecelia, looking for a little comfort, I am sure. She does not wish to continue their sexual relationship. One wonders why but there is normal emotional reality here because it is all too complicated for Cecilia. (Thank God the author is back on earth. This improbable affair with his business partner flies in the face of emotional logic. Cecilia doesn't like it.) But Cecilia does have something to hide. In the past she consistently asked him if her answers were on or off the record.
Mikael focuses most of his renewed search reliving the day that Harriet disappeared by reviewing the photographs. This is an interesting line of approach and perhaps brilliant. It’s a time machine and he is the ghost who observes. He puzzles over the phone numbers from Harriet’s diary.
The photographs in Henrik’s album were taken by the local reporter from the small newspaper. He delves into the paper’s archives. A photographer takes hundreds of photos and prints only a few because of focus and composition. He finds three things: that Harriet looks in one direction and the change in her facial expression indicates that she sees something that upsets her. What is it? Second, it is obvious that a couple in the crowd was taking pictures of the bridge accident at the same time the local reporter was photographing the incident. Their camera was turned so that they may have snapped in the direction that Harriet looked. Third, in an archive photo, out of focus but visible, he sees a figure in Harriet’s bedroom window. It is a blonde girl wearing a light dress. The only person fitting that description is the young Cecilia. Cecilia said she never entered Harriet’s room that day.
Cecilia has left the island and rather than turn over heaven and earth, Mikael tries to contact her gently and privately to ask her why she lied to him. He doesn’t tell Henrik either. Weeell, Henrik gets sick so it makes sense that Mikael would wait for him to recover. But the rest of the family becomes aware that Mikael may have discovered new evidence.
The “phone numbers” are scripture verses. Aaahhh. Very clever. In English, the convention is Lev. 20:16 but obviously in other cultures, it is 3 20 16. and that clever Harriet pushed the numbers all together. But the female names associated with the numbers? Mikael thinks that they are murder victims because the horrid murder of one girl back in the 50’s appears to be patterned after one of the scripture verses.
Three pieces of new evidence to track down. Why did Cecilia lie to him? Can he get photos from the tourist couple? Do we have a serial murderer?
Who were the religious people at this time? Harriet had found religion. Mikael finds out from the old pastor that Harriet may have dabbled in the apocryphal texts – which could mean Roman Catholicism or satanic texts. (One and the same it would seem to some very fundamental Swedish Protestants.) The passel of nasty Nazi brothers are candidates. Although, German Nazis were not Christians per say. But I guess our Trotsky author may be blurry about that since he doesn’t like religion at all. (Obvious.) And you know religious crazies are as bad as Nazis. Ergo.
Go after the easy one, I say. Confront Cecilia first.
He doesn't.
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