thensheontv4adetheistakeofaskingexactlythequestionthatblokvisthadhopedfor。
“andsoyouthinkthattheediadon’thaveanyresponsibility？”
“ohyes；theediadohaveanenorousresponsibility。foratleasttwentyyearsanyfinancialreportershaverefrainedfroscrutinisinghans…erikwennerstr？。onthecontrary；theyhaveactuallyhelpedtobuilduphisprestigebypublishingbrainless；idolatrousportraits。iftheyhadbeendoingtheirworkproperly；wewouldnotfindourselvesinthissituationtoday。”
blokvist’sappearancearkedaturningpoint。inhindsight；bergerwasconvincedthatitwasonlywhenblokvistwentontvandcallydefendedhisclaisthattheswedishedia；inspiteofthefactthatmillenniuhadbeenallovertheheadlinesforaweek；recognisedthatthestoryreallydidholdup。hisattitudesetthecourseforthestory。
aftertheinterviewthewennerstr？affairiperceptiblyslippedfrothefinancialsectionovertothedesksofthecriereporters。inthepast；ordinarycriereportershadseldoorneverwrittenaboutfinancialcrie；exceptifithadtodowiththerussianoboryugoslavcigarettesugglers。criereporterswerenotexpectedtoinvestigateintricatedealingsonthestockexchange。oneeveningpapereventookblokvistathiswordandfilledtwospreadswithportraitsofseveralofthebrokeragehouses’ostiportantplayers；whowereintheprocessofbuyingupgeransecurities。thepaper’sheadlinereadsellingouttheircountry。allthebrokerswereinvitedtoentontheallegations。everyoneofthedeclined。butthetradingofsharesdecreasedsignificantlythatday；andsoebrokerswhowantedtolooklikeprogressivepatriotsstartedgoingagainstthestrea。blokvistburstoutlaughing。
thepressuregottobesogreatthatsobreenindarksuitsputonaconcernedexpressionandbrokewiththeostiportantruleoftheexclusiveclubthatadeuptheinnerostcirclesofswedishfinance—theyentedonacolleague。allofasuddenretiredindustrialleadersandbankpresidentswereappearingontvandansweringquestionsinanatteptatdaagecontrol。everyonerealisedtheseriousnessofthesituation；anditwasaatterofdistancingtheselvesasquicklyaspossiblefrothewennerstr？groupandsheddinganysharestheyighthold。wennerstr？wasnot；afterall；arealindustrialist；andhehadneverbeentrulyaeptedinto“theclub。”soepointedoutthathewasjustasipleworking…classboyfronorrlandwhosesuessayhavegoohishead。soedescribedhisactionsasapersonaltragedy。othersdiscoveredthattheyhadhadtheirdoubtsaboutwennerstr？foryears—hewastooboastfulandheputonairs。
duringthefollowingweeks；asmillenniu’sdocuentationwasscrutinised；pulledapart；andpiecedtogetheragain；thewennerstr？epireofobscurepanieswaslinkedtotheheartoftheinternationalmafia；includingeverythingfroillegalarsdealingandoneylaunderingforsouthaericandrugcartel. rostitutioninnewyork；andevenindirectlytothechildsextradeinmexico。onewennerstr？panyregisteredincypruscausedadraaticstirwhenitwasrevealedthatithadatteptedtobuyenricheduraniuontheblackarketinukraine。wennerstr？’sapparentlyinexhaustiblesupplyofobscurepost…office…boxpaniesseeedtobecroppingupeverywhere；linkedtoallannerofshadyenterprises。
bergerthoughtthatthewasthebestthingblokvisthadeverwritten。itwasunevenstylistically；andinplacesthewritingwasactuallyratherpoor—therehadbeennotieforanyfinepolishing—butthewasaniatedbyafurythatnoreadercouldhelpbutnotice。
bychanceblokvistranintohisoldadversary；theforerfinancialreporterwilliab；infrontofkvarnenwhenblokvist；berger；andmaltooktheeveningofftocelebratethesantaluciaholidayalongwiththeagazine’sothereployees；goingouttodrinktheselvessenselessatthepany’sexpense。b’spanionwasaverydrunkgirlaboutsalander’sage。
blokvist’sloathingforbwaspalpable。bergerinterruptedtheachoposturingbytakingblokvistbythearandleadinghiintothebar。
blokvistdecidedthatwhentheopportunityarose；hewouldasksalandertodooneofherpersonalinvestigationsofb。justforfor’ssake。
duringthewholeediastortheaincharacterinthedraa；thefinancierwennerstr？；wasfortheostpartinvisible。onthedaythatmillenniupublisheditsarticle；thefinancierwasforcedtoentonthetextatapressconferencethathadbeencalledforadifferentpurpose。hedeclaredtheallegationsunfoundedandsaidthatthedocuentationreferredtowasfabricated。hereindedeveryohatthesaereporterhadbeenconvictedoflibelonlyoneyearbefore。
afterthatonlywennerstr？’slawyerswouldanswerquestionsfrotheedia。twodaysafterblokvist’scaeout；apersistentruourbegancirculatingthatwennerstr？hadleftsweden。theeveningpapersusedtheword“fled。”duringthesecondweek；whenthesecuritiesfraudpolicetriedtocontactwennerstr？；hewasnowheretobefound。inid…deceberthepoliceconfiredthatwennerstr？wasforallysought；andonthedaybeforenewyear’seve；anall…pointsbulletinwassentoutviatheinternationalpoliceanisations。theverysaedayoneofwennerstr？’sadviserswasseizedatarlandaashewasboardingaplaneforlondon。
severalweekslateraswedishtouristreportedthathehadseenwennerstr？getintoacarinbridgetown；thecapitalofbarbados。asproofofhisclai；thetouristsubittedaphotograph；takenfroquiteadistanceaway；showingawhiteanwearingsunglasses；anopenwhiteshirt；andlight…colouredslacks。hecouldnotbeidentifiedwithcertainty；buttheeveningpaperscontactedstringerswhotriedwithoutsuesstotrackdownthefugitivebillionaire。
aftersixonthsthehuntwascalledoff。thenwennerstr？wasfounddeadinanapartentinmarbella；spain；wherehehadbeenlivingunderthenaeofvictorfleing。hehadbeenshotthreetiesintheheadatcloserange。thespanishpolicewereworkingonthetheory；theirstateentsaid；thathehadsurprisedaburglar。
wennerstr？’sdeathcaeasnosurprisetosalander。shesuspected；withgoodreason；thathisdeisehadtodowiththefactthathenolongerhadaesstotheoneyinacertainbankinthecayanislands；whichheayhaveneede. ayoffcertaindebtsincolobia。
ifanyonehadaskedforsalander’shelpintrackingwennerstr？；shecouldhavetoldthealostonadailybasiswherehewas。viatheintershehadfollowedhisflightthroughadozencountriesandrearkedagrowingdesperationinhiseails。notevenblokvistwouldhavethoughtthatthefugitiveex…billionairewouldbestupidenoughtotakealongtheputerthathadbeensothoroughlyperated。
aftersixonthssalandergrewtiredoftrackingwennerstr？。thequestionthatreainedtobeansweredwashowfarherowninvolveentshouldreach。wennerstr？waswithoutadoubtanolypic…classcreep；buthewasnotherpersonaleney；andshehadnointerestininvolvingherselfagainsthi。shecouldtipoffblokvist；buthewouldprobablyjustpublishastory。shecouldtipoffthepolice；buttherewasquiteachancethatwennerstr？wouldbeforewarnedandagaindisappear。besides；onprinciple；shedidnottalktothepolice。
buttherewereotherdebtsthathadtobepaid。shethoughtabouttheonce…pregnantwaitresswhoseheadhadbeenshovedunderwaterinherownbath。
fourdaysbeforewennerstr？’sbodywasfound；sheadeupherind。sheswitchedonherobileandcalledalawyerinmiai；whoseeedtobeoneofthepeoplewennerstr？wasakingabigefforttohidefro。shetalkedtoasecretaryandaskedhe. assonacrypticessage。thenaewennerstr？andanaddressinmarbella。thatwasall。
sheturnedoffthetvnewshalfwaythroughadraaticreportaboutwennerstr？’sdeise。sheputonsoecoffeeandfixedherselfaliverpatéandcucubersandwich。
bergerandmalweretakingcareoftheannualchristasarrangeentswhileblokvistsatinerika’schair；drinkinggl？ggandlookingon