Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Page #4

The only things of any value here are her MacBook and

several external hard drives.

NOTE:
Changes below are INSERTS only:

Dragon Tattoo Final 9/1/11 SZ 18.

18.18.

She types Dirch Frode in the search window. Clicks on

the top result which takes her to Frode’s bio on Vanger

Industries’ site with its distinctive V.I. logo.

His official company photo accompanies his profile:

Uppsala University Law School ... Assistant Counsel,

Vanger Industries, 1965-1972 ... Head Counsel, 1972present.

She types in another search -Hans-Erik Wennerstrom.

Clicks on his Wikipedia page, which shows a photo of him

alongside his bio. She skims it

President of the investment firm, Wennerstrom-gruppen ...

personal wealth of 12 billion dollars (80 billion kronor)

... 82-foot yacht, villa on the island of Varmdo ...

She does a third search, types:

Wennerstrom+Vanger Industries -and hits the ‘cached’

option

There are only a couple of results that include both

terms. She goes to one of them, a body of text of some

old page with the cached terms highlighted in yellow and

blue, and reads

... Hans-Erik Wennerstrom, CPA, Vanger Industries

Accounting Dept., 1971-1972 ...

Hmmm.

EXT. HEDEBY ISLAND - DAY - 1960

31

The children of the “thieves, misers, bullies and

incompetents” play on a beach. A shutter blinks freezing

a 12-year-old girl in foreground in black and white

VANGER V/O

This is Harriet. The granddaughter

of my brother Richard.

INT. VANGER’S STUDY - DAY

32

The same photograph of Harriet in a photo album Vanger

shows Blomkvist.

VANGER:

Richard, who I may as well start

with to get it out of the way, was a

Nazi of the first order - joining the

Nationalist Socialist Freedom League

when he was 17.

Dragon Tattoo Final 9/1/11 SZ 19.

19.19.

A page in the album turns to reveal a photo of a young

man in a uniform with a Nazi pin.

VANGER:

Isn’t it interesting how fascists

always steal the word freedom.

(Blomkvist checks his watch)

The 4:
30. Yes. Okay. Anyway,

Richard died a martyr to the Nazi

cause in 1940 - missed all the real

excitement - but not the opportunity

to regularly beat his wife Margareta

and their son, Gottfried.

We see photos of Gottfried, a handsome young man.

VANGER:

Now, Gottfried - Harriet’s father -

was what people used to call a Good-

Time-Charlie.

BLOMKVIST:

They’re still called that.

VANGER:

Are they? Okay.

INSERT:
Close on a photo of Gottfried.

VANGER:

He was a charmer, a ladies man, a

drunk. In other words, a born

salesman - which is what he did for

the company - traveling around,

taking clients out to dinner and so

on.

BLOMKVIST:

Someone has to do it.

VANGER:

That’s right. Anyway, he died in

1965. Drowned. Drunk. Here on the

island.

A studio photo:
Gottfried with his wife and two children.

VANGER:

His wife Isabella - who was pretty

much useless before as a parent -

became even more so after his death -

which is when I began looking after

their children - Martin - who runs

Vanger Industries now that I’m

retired - and Harriet.

Dragon Tattoo Final 9/1/11 SZ 20.

20.20.

A photo of a much younger Vanger and 15-year-old Harriet.

VANGER:

She was bright and curious, a

winning combination in any person.

BLOMKVIST:

And beautiful.

Vanger nods as he regards the photo ...

BLOMKVIST:

Something happened to her?

Vanger nods again; is silent for several moments ...

VANGER:

Someone in the family murdered

Harriet and for the last forty years

has been trying to drive me insane.

OMIT:
INT. SALANDER’S APARTMENT - STOCKHOLM - DAY

33

EXT. TRAIN STATION - HEDESTAD - DUSK

34

The 4:
30 train leaves the station without Blomkvist.

INT. VANGER’S STUDY - DUSK

35

Anna gathers the cups and leaves with the tea tray.

VANGER:

It was September 21st, 1966.

Saturday. Harriet was 16.

A:

EXT. VANGER ESTATE - DAY - 1966

36

Three generations of Vangers dot the grounds.

VANGER V/O

My brothers - along with their

wives, children and grandchildren -

had gathered here for our loathsome

annual board meeting and dinner. It

was also the day the Yacht Club held

its Autumn parade.

EXT. HEDESTAD - DAY - 1966

37

And we see the parade, and, among the spectators lining

the town’s main street, Harriet with other teenage girls.

Dragon Tattoo Final 9/1/11 SZ 21.

21.21.

VANGER V/O

Harriet and a couple of school

friends had gone into town to watch

it. She returned a little after two

o’clock.

INT. VANGER’S PARLOR - DAY - 1966

38

A clock in the room reads, 2:10. Vanger and a few family

members sip afternoon cocktails. Harriet appears.

VANGER V/O

She came to the parlor. She asked

if she could talk to me. I honestly

don’t remember what I was doing that

I thought was more important, but I

told her to give me a few minutes.

She leaves. He returns to the others in the room.

VANGER V/O

But in a few minutes, before I could

go upstairs to talk to her, something

else occurred.

EXT. HEDEBY ISLAND - DAY - 1966

39

A car and a fuel truck, both going too fast, collide on

the bridge. The truck rolls onto its side crushing the

car and spewing gasoline.

VANGER V/O

The accident had nothing to do with

Harriet - and everything.

INT. VANGER’S FAMILY ROOM - DAY - 1966

40

Vanger and the others react to the noise of the crash.

Out the large window they can see the bridge and many of

those on the grounds trotting down to get a closer look.

VANGER V/O

It was chaos as everyone dropped what

they were doing.

EXT. THE BRIDGE - DAY - 1966

41

People and vehicles converge on both sides of the bridge.

VANGER V/O

Police, an ambulance, fire brigade,

reporter, photographer and onlookers

quickly arrived from town, as those

of us on the island - the family -

hurried to the bridge from our side.

Dragon Tattoo Final 9/1/11 SZ 22.

22.22.

The truck driver has managed to climb out of his cab, but

the other motorist is trapped.

VANGER V/O

The driver of the car - a Mr.

Aronsson - was pinned and severely

injured. All we could do was try to

pry him out with our hands - since

metal tools could spark.

A local newspaper photographer and another man, snap

pictures as Vanger and others try without success to pry

the injured driver from his car. As the chaos ensues

VANGER V/O

About twenty minutes after the crash,

Harriet was in the kitchen. Anna

herself saw her.

INT. KITCHEN - VANGER MANOR - DAY - 1966

42

Anna glances to Harriet as she comes in, then back out

the window to the bridge. Harriet passes a clock that

reads 2:
35, steps outside, walks toward the woods ...

EXT. THE BRIDGE - DUSK - 1966

43

As the sun sets, Vanger and the others on the bridge make

progress extracting the driver from the car. A young man

coming from the town side takes off his jacket to help.

VANGER V/O

We finally got poor Aronsson out of

his car and off to the hospital, and

those of us on our side drifted back

to the house.

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