“andifineverdidaskyou—let’ssupposethatineveretyou—youwouldhavesathereknowingthatwennerstr？wasagangsterwhilemillenniuwentbankrupt？”
“nobodyaskedetoexposewennerstr？forwhatheis,”salanderrepliedinaknow-it-allvoice.
“yes,butwhatif？”
“ididtellyou,”shesaid.
blokvistdroppedthesubject.
salanderburnedthecontentsofwennerstr？’sharddrive—aboutfivegigabytes—ontotencds,andshefeltasifshehadoreorlessovedintoblokvist’sapartent.shewaitedpatiently,answeringallthequestionsheasked.
“ican’tunderstandhowhecanbesofuckingd. utallhisdirtylaundryononeharddrive,”hesaid.“ifitevergotintothehandsofthepolice…”
“peoplearen’tveryrational.hehastobelievethatthepolicewouldneverthinkofconfiscatinghisputer.”
“abovesuspicion.iagreethathe’sanarrogantbastard,butheusthavesecurityconsultantstellinghihowtohandlehisputer.there’saterialonthisachinegoingallthewaybackto1993.”
“theputeritselfisrelativelynew.itwasanufacturedayearago,butheseestohavetransferredallhisoldcorrespondenceandeverythingelseontotheharddriveinsteadofstoringitoncds.butatleasthe’susinganencryptionprograe.”
“whichistotallyuselessifyou’reinsidehisputerandreadingthepasswordseverytiehetypesthein.”
afterthey’dbeenbackinstockholforfourdays,malcalledonblokvist’sobileat3:00intheorning.
“henrycortezwasatabarwithhisgirlfriendtonight.”
“uh-huh,”blokvistsaid,sleepily.
“onthewayhoetheyendedupatcentralen’sbar.”
“notaverygoodplaceforaseduction.”
“listen.dahlanisonholiday.henrydiscoveredhisittingatatablewithsoeguy.”
“and？”
“henryrecognisedtheanfrohisbylinepic.kristers？der.”
“idon’tthinkirecognisethenae,but…”
“heworksformonopolyfinancialmagazine,whichisownedbythewennerstr？group.”
blokvistsatupstraightinbed.
“areyouthere？”
“i’here.thatightnoteananything.s？derisajournalist,andheightbeanoldfriend.”
“maybei’beingparanoid.butawhileagomillenniuboughtastoryfroafreelancer.theweekbeforeweweregoin. ublishit,s？derrananexposéthatwasalostidentical.itwasthestoryabouttheobiletelephoneanufacturerandthedefectiveponent.”
“ihearwhatyou’resaying.butthatsortofthingdoeshappen.haveyoutalkedtoerika？”
“no,she’snotbackuntilnextweek.”
“don’tdoanything.i’llcallyoubacklater,”blokvistsaid.
“probles？”salanderasked.
“millenniu,”blokvistsaid.“ihavetogothere.wanttoealong？”
theeditorialofficesweredeserted.ittooksalanderthreeinutestocrackthepasswordprotectionondahlan’sputer,andanothertwoinutestotransferitscontentstoblokvist’si.
mostofdahlan’seailswereprobablyonhisownla. ,andtheydidnothaveaesstoit.butthroughhisdes. puteratmillenniu,salanderwasabletodiscoverthatdahlanhadahotailaountinadditiontohisillenniu.seaddress.ittookhersixinutestocrackthecodeanddownloadhiscorrespondencefrothepastyear.fiveinuteslaterblokvisthadevidencethatdahlanhadleakedrationaboutthesituationatmillenniuandkepttheeditorofmonopolyfinancialmagazineupdatedonwhichstoriesbergerwasplanningforwhichissues.thespyinghadbeengoingonatleastsincethepreviousautun.
theyturnedofftheputersandwentbacktomikael’sapartenttosleepforafewhours.hecalledchristermalat10:00a..
“ihaveproofthatdahlanisworkingforwennerstr？.”
“iknewit.great,i’goingtofirethatfuckingpigtoday.”
“no,don’t.don’tdoanythingatall.”
“nothing？”
“christer,truste.isdahlanstillonholiday？”
“yes,he’sbackonmonday.”
“howanyareintheofficetoday？”
“well,abouthalf.”
“canyoucallaeetingfor2:00？don’tsaywhatit’sabout.i’ingover.”
thereweresixpeoplearoundtheconferencetable.mallookedtired.cortezlookedlikesoeonenewlyinlove,thewaythatonlytwenty-four-year-oldscanlook.nilssonlookedonedge—malhadnottoldanyonewhattheeetingwasabout,butshehadbeenwiththepanylongenoughtoknowthatsoethingoutoftheordinarywasgoingon,andshewasannoyedthatshehadbeenkeptoutoftheloop.theonlyonewholookedthesaeasusualwasthepart-tieringelaoskarsson,whoworkedtwodaysaweekdealingwithsipleadinistrativetasks,thesubscriberlistandthelike；shehadnotlookedtrulyrelaxedsinceshebecaeaothertwoyearsago.theotherpart-tierwasthefreelancereporterlottakari,whohadacontractsiilartocortez’sandhadjuststartedbacktoworkafterherholiday.malhadalsoanagedtogetmagnussontoein,althoughhewasstillonholiday.
blokvistbeganbygreetingeveryonewarlyandapologisingforbeingsolongabsent.
“whatwe’regoingtodiscusstodayissoethingthatchristerandihaven’ttakenupwitherika,buticanassureyouthatinthiscaseispeakforhertoo.todaywe’regoingtodeterinemillenniu’sfuture.”
hepausedtoletthewordssinkin.no-oneaskedanyquestions.
“thepastyearhasbeenrough.i’surprisedandproudthatnoneofyouhasreconsideredandfoundajobsoewhereelse.ihavetoassuethateitheryou’restarkravingadorwonderfullyloyalandactuallyenjoyworkingonthisagazine.that’swhyi’goingtolaythecardsonthetableandaskyouforonelasteffort.”
“onelasteffort？”nilssonsaid.“thatsoundsasifyou’rethinkingofshuttingdowntheagazine.”
“exactly,monika,”blokvistsaid.“andthankyouforthat.whenshegetsbackerikaisgoingtogatherusalltogetherforaglooyeditorialeetingandtotellusthatmillenniuwillfoldatchristasandthatyou’reallfired.”
nowalarbeganspreadingthroughthegroup.evenmalthoughtforaoentthatblokvistwasserious.thentheyallnoticedhisbroadsile.
“whatyouhavetodothisautunisplayadoublegae.thedisagreeablefactisthatourdearanagingeditor,jannedahlan,isoonlightingasanrerforhans-erikwennerstr？.thiseansthattheeneyisbeingkeptredofexactlywhat’sgoingoninoureditorialoffices.thisexplainsanuberofsetbackswe’veexperienced.youespecially,sonny,whenadvertiserswhoseeedpositivepulledoutwithoutwarning.”
dahlanhadneverbeenpopularintheoffice,andtherevelationwasapparentlynotashocktoanyone.blokvistcutshorttheururingthatstartedup.
“thereasonthati’tellingyouthisisbecauseihaveabsoluteconfidenceinallofyou.iknowthatyou’veallgotyourheadsscrewedonstraight.that’swhyialsoknowthatyou’llplayalongwithwhattakesplacethisautun.it’sveryiportantthatwennerstr？believesthatmillenniuisonthevergeofcollapse.itwillbeyourjobtoakesurehedoes.”
“what’sourrealsituation？”cortezsaid.
“ok,hereitis:byallaountsmillenniushouldbeonitswaytothegrave.igiveyouywordthatthat’snotgoingtohappen.millenniuisstrongertodaythanitwasayearago.whenthiseetingisover,i’goingtodisappearagarabouttwoonths.towardstheendofoctoberi’llbeback.thenwe’regoingtoclipwennerstr？’swings.”
“howarewegoingtodothat？”nilssonsaid.
“sorry,monika.idon’twanttogiveyouthede