Chapter 4 third chapter

Salander woke up at seven, showered, and went down to the counter to find McBain and asked him if he had beach buggies he could rent for the day.Ten minutes later, she paid the deposit, adjusted the seat and rearview mirror, tested the engine, and finally checked whether there was oil in the fuel tank.She went into the bar, ordered a latte and cheese sandwich for breakfast, and bought a bottle of mineral water to take with her.Over breakfast, she scribbles on a napkin, thinking about Fermat's (x3+y3=z3). Just after eight o'clock, Dr. Forbes arrived at the bar, freshly shaved, wearing a black suit, white shirt, and blue tie.He ordered eggs, bread, orange juice and black coffee.At half past eight, he got up and went outside to wait for a taxi.

Salander followed behind, keeping a proper distance.Forbes got off the car under the "seascape painting" at the starting point of Carinegi, and walked along the seashore.She drove past him, parked near the middle of the harbor promenade, and waited patiently for him to pass before resuming her pursuit.By one o'clock in the afternoon, Salander was sweating profusely and her feet were swollen.For four hours she walked up and down the streets of St. George's, at a leisurely pace, without stopping for a moment.The steep slopes were starting to take a toll on her muscles.When she drank the last drop of mineral water, she couldn't help but be amazed at Forbes' physical strength. Just as she was thinking of giving up the plan, he suddenly turned and walked towards "Tortoiseshell".She waited for ten minutes, then walked into the restaurant and sat on the patio.They were both sitting in the same seats as the day before, and he too was sipping his Coca-Cola and gazing out at the port.

Forbes is one of very few people in Grenada who wears a suit and tie.He didn't seem to feel the heat. At three o'clock, he paid and left the restaurant, interrupting Salander's thoughts.He walked unhurriedly along Karinegi, then hopped on a minibus bound for Gran Anse.Five minutes after Salander parked the car outside the Keys Hotel, he got off the bus.She went back to her room and took a cold shower.When the whole body was stretched out in the bathtub, his brows were tightly frowned.The hard day -- her feet still ache -- had sent her a clear message.Forbes leaves the hotel every morning armed and briefcase in hand, but spends the day doing nothing.Whatever he's doing in Grenada, it's definitely not planning to build a new school, but he wants to make it look like he's here on business.So why bother with it?

The only person he might want to hide from in this regard is his wife, who probably thinks her husband has his hands full during the day.But why?Could it be that the deal was not negotiated and he was too arrogant to admit it?Or came to the island this time for another purpose?Waiting for something, someone? Salander received four e-mails.The first was from Plague, an hour after she had written him.The email was encrypted, and a question was asked: "Are you really still alive?" Plague didn't like to write that kind of gossip, sentimental letters, and in this regard, Salander was the same.The other two were sent around two o'clock in the morning.One from the plague, still in encrypted form, told her that an online friend named Bibo—who seemed to live in Texas—was immediately accepting her request for an investigation.The plague attached Bibo's mailbox account and PGP key.A few minutes later, Bi Bo sent her a letter using a hotmail account. The letter only said that information about the Forbes couple would be sent within 24 hours.

The fourth letter was still from Bi Bo, and it was sent in the evening of the same day.The letter contained an encrypted bank account number and an FTP address.Salander opened the website and found a 390KB compressed file, which she decompressed and stored.It was a folder containing four low-res photos and five Word documents. There are two photos of Dr. Forbes alone, one is a photo of Forbes and his wife at the premiere of a certain stage play, and the fourth photo is of Forbes standing on the pulpit of a church.The first document contains seven pages and is Bi Bo's report.The second document has eighty-four pages and is downloaded from the Internet.The next two documents are scanned text-recognition documents from the Austin American-Statesman newspaper clippings, and the final document describes the South Austin Presbyterian Church to which Dr. Forbes belongs.

In addition to memorizing the book of Leviticus—she happened to have the opportunity to study the chapters about punishment in the Bible the year before—I am afraid that Salander’s knowledge of religious history is not even superficial, and she only knows a little bit about Judaism. , the difference between the Presbyterian Church and the Catholic Church without knowing that a Jewish meeting place is called a synagogue.For a moment she worried that she would have to delve into theological details, but then she thought it was none of her business what religious order Dr. Forbes belonged to.Dr. Richard Forbes, also known as Rev. Richard Forbes, is forty-two years old.The homepage of South Austin Church shows that there are seven employees in the church. The first person on the list is Pastor Duncan Craig.

Forbes ranked No. 3, responsible for education matters, and marked "Holy Water Foundation" in brackets next to his name. Salander read the church's mission statement. "We will serve the people of South Austin with prayer and thanksgiving, providing them with the stability, theology, and hope that the Presbyterian Church of America defends. As servants of Christ, we provide people with a necessary refuge, And enable them to atone for their sins through prayer and baptism. Let us be filled with joy in the love of God. Our responsibility is to remove the barriers between people and remove barriers so that people can understand the message of God's love." Bottom of the introduction There are church bank accounts and statements pleading for people to act out of their love for God.

From Bi Bo's concise biography, Salander learned that Forbes was born in Pine Bluff, Nevada. Manager, then entered the South Austin Church at the age of thirty-one.He is a qualified accountant and has also studied archaeology.Bi Bo failed to find out where he got his Ph.D. At church, Forbes met Geraldine Knight, the only daughter of farmer William Knight and a member of the South Austin Church.The two married in 1997, after which Forbes began to shine in the church.He became director of the Santa Maria Foundation, whose goal is "to invest God's funds in educational programs to help those in need".Forbes was arrested twice.In 1987, at the age of twenty-five, he was charged with aggravated injury in a car accident, but the court found him not guilty.According to Salander, from the clips reported by the media, he was indeed innocent.In 1995, he was accused of embezzling money from the Christian rock band he managed.He was also acquitted that time.

In Austin, he became a well-known public figure and a member of the city's school board.He is a member of the Democratic Party and is very enthusiastic about public welfare. He also raises funds to support the education of poor students.The South Austin Church mainly helps Spanish-speaking families. In 2001, Forbes was in charge of the financial work of the Santa Maria Foundation, and was questioned about illegal operations.According to a newspaper report, Forbes is suspected of putting too much foundation assets in the investment fund, which is not in compliance with the law.The church has come forward to refute the accusation, and Pastor Craig has stood firm for Forbes in this debate.He was not prosecuted, and there was nothing wrong with the audit results.

Salander pored over Bipple's summary of Forbes' own financial situation.He earns $60,000 a year, which is considered a high salary, but he has no assets of his own.They are financially stable thanks to Geraldine.Her father died in 2002, and her daughter alone inherited at least $40 million.The couple have no children. So Forbes had to rely on his wife.It seemed, Salander thought, a disadvantageous position for a man who was used to beating his wife. She logged on to the Internet and sent Bi Bo an encrypted message, thanking him for his report and transferring $500 to his account. She went to the balcony and leaned on the railing.The sun was going down, and a breeze rustled the tops of the palm trees along the jetty.Grenada is already starting to feel the effects of Matilda's outer circulation.Following Ella's suggestion, Salander put the computer, "Mathematical Dimensions", a toiletry bag and a change of clothes into a shoulder bag, and put them on the floor next to the bed. Then she went to the bar downstairs and ordered a dish of fish and a Bottle of Caribbean beer for dinner.

The only thing worth mentioning is that Dr. Forbes changed into a light-colored tennis shirt, shorts, and sneakers, and came to the bar to ask Ella about Matilda's movements, but didn't seem particularly worried.He looks energetic, even glamorous, with the cross hanging around his neck by a gold chain.After a fruitless day wandering around St. George, Salander was exhausted.She went out to relax after dinner, but the wind picked up and the temperature dropped, so she went back to her room and climbed into bed before nine o'clock.The windows were rattled by the wind, and she wanted to read for a while, but fell asleep almost immediately. A loud bang woke her up, and she looked at her watch: fifteen past eleven.She staggered out of bed and opened the French windows of the balcony, but was blown back by the strong wind.She pulled the French window jamb tightly, stepped out of the balcony carefully, and looked around. A few lights hanging by the pool dangled and played wonderful shadow plays in the garden.Several tenants stood by the fence looking out to the beach through holes in the wall, while others gathered near the bar.The lights of St. George can be seen to the north.The sky was cloudy, but there was no rain.The sea could not be seen in the dark, but the roar of the waves was much louder than usual.The temperature dropped even lower.For the first time since coming to the Caribbean, she was shivering with cold. Standing on the balcony, she suddenly heard someone knocking loudly on the door, so she wrapped herself in a quilt to open the door.I saw that Maiban had a good look on his face. "Sorry to bother you, but it looks like a storm is coming." "Matilda?" "Matilda," McBain said, "earlier tonight we were on the outskirts of Tobago and we got word that the damage was serious." Salander scoured her knowledge base on geography and meteorology.Trinidad and Tobago is located two hundred kilometers southeast of Grenada.The radius of a tropical storm may be as large as 100 kilometers, and the eye of the storm may move at a speed of 30 to 40 kilometers per hour.In other words, Matilda may come to Grenada at any time.It all depends on the direction it is going. "There's no immediate danger," McBain said, "but don't take it lightly. I want you to pack your important items in a bag and come down to the lobby. The restaurant will serve coffee and sandwiches." Salander washed her face. Get yourself sober, then put on your jeans, shoes, and flannel shirt, and pack your backpack.Before leaving the room, she went to open the bathroom door and light.The green lizard is not there, it must have crawled into a hole down there somewhere.so smart. When she entered the bar, she still sat in her old seat, watching Ella direct the staff and fill hot drinks with a thermos.After a while, she came over to Salander. "Hi, you seem to have just woken up." "I took a nap. How are you doing now?" "Still waiting. There's a big storm out there and we've got a hurricane warning from Trinidad. If the wind picks up and Matilda comes this way again, we'll have to go into the cellar. Can you do me a favor? " "What do you want me to do?" "There are one hundred and sixty blankets in the lobby to be moved down, and there are many things to be brought in." Salander helped carry the blankets downstairs, and also brought in vases, tables, lounge chairs, and loose items by the pool.When Ella said with satisfaction that this was enough, Salander walked towards the hole in the wall facing the beach, and took a few steps towards the dark outside.The waves made a frightening roar, and the oncoming wind was so fierce that she had to wrap her arms around her to stand straight. The palm tree next to her was swaying. She went back indoors, ordered a latte and sat at the bar.It's past midnight.The atmosphere among the tenants and staff is full of anxiety, everyone talks in low voices, occasionally looks at the horizon, and waits.The Keys Hotel had thirty-two tenants and ten employees.Salander found Geraldine sitting at a table by the counter, sipping a drink nervously.Her husband was nowhere to be seen.When Salander drank the coffee and began to think about Fermat's theorem again, McBain walked out of the office and stood in the middle of the hall. "Attention, everyone! I just received news that a hurricane-level storm has just hit Petite Martinique, so now I want everyone to go into the cellar immediately." McBain blocked many questions and led the tenants from behind the counter. The stairs go down to the cellar.Petit Martinique is a small island in Grenada, just a few nautical miles from the main island to the south.Salander glanced at Ella, and when she saw her walking towards Maban, she immediately listened. "How bad is it?" "I don't know, the phone is dead." McBan said in a low voice. Salander went down to the cellar, put the bag on a blanket in the corner, and after some thought, went back to the hall against the crowd.She went to Ella and asked if she needed help.Ella shook her head, looking worried. "Matilda is a shrew. We'll just have to wait and see." Salander watched a group of people rushing into the restaurant, five adults and about ten children.McBain took them in too, and led them to the cellar stairs.Salander was suddenly terrified. "I think everyone's going into their cellars by now," she said with mock calm.Ella watched the family descend the steps. "Unfortunately, this is one of the few cellars in Grand Anse. More people may come to take refuge later." Salander looked at her sharply. "What about the others?" "You mean people without cellars?" She smiled wryly. "Just huddle in their own homes, or find shelter in a shed. They can only trust God." Without saying a word, Salander immediately turned around and ran across the hall and out of the gate.George Bran. She heard Ella calling her after her but didn't stop to explain. The shabby house he lived in would collapse in a strong wind. When she came to the road to St. George, staggering, her body torn by the strong wind, she began to trot.The strong headwind made her almost unable to stand still, but she still moved forward tenaciously.It was only four hundred yards to the cabin, but it took nearly ten minutes.Along the way, no one was seen. Suddenly it began to rain, like icy water from a fire hose.At the same moment, she turned into the direction of the cabin and saw his kerosene lamp flickering in the window, shining brightly.In an instant she was drenched and could barely see two yards away.She knocked hard on the door.Bran's eyes widened when he opened the door. "What are you doing here?" he shouted at the top of his voice to drown out the wind. "Come on, you have to follow me to the hotel, there is a cellar there." The boy seemed frightened.The door was slammed shut by the wind, and it took him a few seconds to force it open again.Salander grabbed his T-shirt and dragged him out.She wiped the rain off her face, held his hand tightly and started running forward.He followed suit. They took the beach path, which was about a hundred yards shorter than the main road that curved inland.Halfway there, Salander realized that maybe she shouldn't go this way, because there was no shelter on the beach.The wind and rain beat on them so violently that they had to stop several times along the way.Sand and branches were flying in the air, and the howling of the wind was terrifying.After what seemed to be an endless time, Salander finally saw the wall of the hotel and quickened her pace.Just as they were at the gate, safe and sound, she turned to look at the beach and stopped abruptly. During the storm she saw two figures on the beach about fifty yards away.Bran took her arm, trying to drag her through the door.But she broke away from Bran's hand and leaned against the wall, trying to see the scene by the sea.For a second or two, the figure disappeared into the rain, but suddenly a bolt of lightning lit up the entire sky. She already knew it was the Forbes couple.They were where she had seen Forbes pacing up and down the night before. When the second lightning bolt struck, Forbes seemed to be dragging his struggling wife.All the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.Financial dependencies, accusations of illegal enrichment in Austin, his restless pacing and moments of sitting still in "Tortoiseshell." He plans to murder her.Forty million bets.The storm was his cover.This is his chance. Salander turned and pushed Bran into the door. She looked around and found that the rickety wooden chair where the night guards used to sit had not been cleared before the storm.She took the chair and slammed it against the wall with all her might, then grabbed a chair leg for self-defense, and headed for the beach, Bran screaming and screaming behind her. She was almost about to be blown down by the fierce gust of wind, but she still gritted her teeth and struggled forward step by step in the wind and rain.Just as she was about to reach the couple's place, another flash of lightning illuminated the beach, and she saw Geraldine kneeling by the sea, Forbes watching her, with one arm raised high, holding what seemed to be an iron pipe. s things.She saw his arms arc and fall on his wife's head.Geraldine stopped struggling. Forbes never saw Salander arrive. She hit him on the back of the head with the leg of the chair, and he collapsed. Salander leaned over and grabbed Geraldine, ignoring the whipping of the heavy rain, turned her body over, and her hands were immediately covered with blood.Geraldine had a gash on his scalp.She was as heavy as lead, and Salander looked around helplessly, wondering how to drag her to the wall of the restaurant.Then Bran appeared, yelling something that Salander couldn't hear clearly in the storm.She glanced at Forbes, only to see that his back was facing her, but his hands and feet had already propped up his body.She took Geraldine's left arm around her neck and motioned for Bran to take the other, and they began to support her up the beach. Halfway through, Salander felt exhausted, as if there was no energy left in her body.Suddenly there was a hand on her shoulder, her heart skipped a beat, she quickly let go of Geraldine, turned around and kicked Forbes in the crotch.He knelt down in pain.Salander then kicked him in the face again.Seeing Bran's terrified expression, she took half a second to appease, then pulled Geraldine up and dragged forward again. She turned her head a few seconds later to find Forbes staggering ten paces behind, only swaying in the strong wind like a drunk. Another bolt of lightning struck the air, and Salander's eyes widened. A sense of dread held her back. Behind Forbes, a hundred yards out to sea, she saw the Finger of God.In the image condensed in the instant lightning, a deep black column of air towered high, and then disappeared without a trace. Matilda. impossible. Hurricanes - yes. Tornado - impossible. There are no tornadoes in this part of Grenada. A freak storm has appeared in an area where tornadoes are unlikely. Tornadoes cannot happen on the sea. It doesn't make sense scientifically. This is a unique phenomenon. It's here to take me away. Bran saw the tornado too.They yell at each other to hurry up, but they can't understand each other's words. Twenty yards to the wall.ten yards.Salander stumbled and fell to her knees.Five yards.At the wall door, she looked back again, just in time to catch a glimpse of Forbes being dragged into the sea by an invisible hand and disappearing.She and Bran dragged their bundles through the wall door and staggered across the backyard, and Salander heard the crack of broken windows in the storm and the screech of twisted metal.A board flew past the tip of her nose, and the next second there was a pain in her back, as if she had been hit by a hard object.After arriving at the hall, the wind lessened. Salander stopped Bran, grabbed him by the collar, and pulled his head toward him, yelling in his ear. "We found her on the beach and didn't see her husband, understand?" He nodded. After they carried Geraldine down the cellar stairs, Salander kicked at the door.McBain opened the door and stared at them before pulling them in and closing the door.The originally unbearable howling of the storm faded into a creaking, rumbling sound in the background.Salander took a deep breath. Ella poured some coffee out of a mug.Salander was so exhausted that she couldn't even raise her hand to pick it up.She sat limp on the floor with her back against the wall.Somebody wrapped the blankets around her and the boy.She was drenched and bleeding from a deep cut just below her knee.There was a ten-centimeter tear in the jeans, but she couldn't remember when it happened.She watched numbly as McBain and the two lodgers tended to Geraldine, bandaged her head.I also vaguely heard a sentence here and a sentence there. I knew there was a doctor here, and I also found that the cellar was full of people. Besides the hotel guests, there were also outsiders who had come to take refuge here. After a while, McBan walked up to Salander and knelt down. "Her life is not in danger." Salander said nothing. "What happened?" "We found her on the beach beyond the Wall." "I counted the tenants in the cellar, and there were three missing, you and the Forbes couple. Ella said that when the storm first arrived, you ran out like crazy." "I'm going to find my friend Bran." Salander nodded towards her friend. "He lived in a cottage over there on the main road, and it's probably blown down by now." "It's brave of you to do it, but it's also stupid." McBane gave Bran a look and said, "Did either of you see her husband?" "No." Salander said unhurriedly.Bran glanced at her and shook his head too.Ella tilted her head and stared at Salander sharply, while Salander looked back at her expressionlessly. Geraldine regained consciousness around three in the morning, when Salander was asleep with her head on Bran's shoulder. Miraculously, Grenada survived the night.At dawn, McBain let the tenants out of the cellar, and the storm died down, replaced by a torrential rain that Salander had never seen in her life.The Keys Hotel will need a major overhaul as the hotel itself and along the coast are devastated.The whole of Ella's bar by the pool is gone and a patio was vandalized.All the windows on the front of the hotel were blown down, the roof of an extension part was broken in two, and the lobby was full of debris, which was horrible. Salander took Bran staggeringly upstairs and back to the room, and hung a blanket over the empty window frame to keep out the rain.Bran stared straight at her. "Just say we didn't see her husband, so there's no need to explain." Before he could ask, Salander said. He nodded.She hurriedly took off her clothes and threw them on the floor, patting the edge of the bed beside her.Bran nodded again, undressed and crawled to lie down beside her.They fell asleep almost as soon as they fell over.When she woke up at noon, the sun had pierced through the gaps in the clouds.Every muscle in her body ached and her knees were so swollen that she could barely bend them.She slipped out of bed to take a shower, and the lizard was back on the wall.She put on her shorts and top and limped out of the room without waking Bran.Ella is still busy. Although she looks exhausted, she has the bar in the lobby ready and running.Salander ordered coffee and a sandwich and saw a police car through the shattered window next to the gate.Just as the coffee was being served, McBain came out of the office next to the counter, followed by a uniformed police officer.McBain saw her, said a few words to the policeman, and walked together to Salander's table. "This is Ferguson's substitute. He wants to ask you a few questions." Salander greeted him politely.The Ferguson officer apparently had a long night, too.He took out a notepad and a pen, and wrote down Salander's name. "Miss Salander, I hear you and a friend found Mrs. Richard Forbes last night when the hurricane hit." Salander nodded. "Where did you find her?" "On the beach just under the wall gate," Salander said. "We almost tripped over her." Ferguson took her words down. "Did she say anything?" Salander shook her head. "She's unconscious?" Salander nodded as a matter of course. "She has a deep gash on her head." Salander nodded again. "Don't you know how she got hurt?" Salander shook her head.Seeing that she didn't answer, Ferguson muttered angrily. "There was a whole bunch of stuff flying around," she said helpfully. "I almost got hit on the head by a plank." "Your foot hurt?" Ferguson asked, pointing to her bandage. "What's going on?" "I didn't find out until I got into the cellar, and I didn't know what was going on." "There was a young man with you." "George Bran." "where does he live?" "A hut behind Coconut, on the way to the airport. I mean if the hut is still there." Salander did not add that Bran was sleeping on a bed in the room above her at this time. "Did you see her husband, Richard Forbes?" Salander shook her head. Officer Ferguson seemed unable to think of any other questions, so he closed his notepad. "Thank you, Miss Salander. I have to write a death report." "Is that girl dead?" "You mean Mrs. Forbes? No, she's at St. George's. She's obviously thankful to you and your friend for saving her life, but her husband is dead. His body was found in the airport parking lot two hours ago." Six hundred yards to the south. "He was smashed badly," Ferguson said. "It's too unfortunate." Salander didn't show a particularly shocked expression.After McBain and Constable Ferguson had left, Ella sat down at Salander's table with two glasses of rum.Salander looked suspiciously. "Yesterday, you tossed all night, and you need to recover your strength. I will pay for it. I will pay for all breakfasts." The two of them looked at each other, then clinked glasses and said "cheers". For a long period of time, Matilda was the focus of scientific research and discussions at meteorological research centers in the Caribbean and throughout the United States.In this area, tornadoes of Matilda's size are almost unique.Gradually, experts agreed that a "false tornado" was formed because of the extremely rare gathering of weather fronts—that is, it was not a tornado, but only appeared to be. Salander didn't care about theories.She knew what she saw, and she decided that she would never stand in the way of any of Matilda's kind again. Many people on the island were injured last night.Only one person died. No one will ever know what it was that Forbes was so obsessed with running out during the height of a powerful hurricane. Perhaps it was pure ignorance, which seems to be a common problem among American tourists.Geraldine was unable to explain anything, because of the severe concussion, only fragmentary memories of that night remained. On the other hand, she also mourns that she has become a widow.