him. The budget chief and the C. You were the one who exposed Wennerstr?m last year.

cut more than 180 jobs since 1980
cut more than 180 jobs since 1980. She turned the computer off at once and shoved it under her pillow. This is just the way it was in his day. Salander thought for a moment. ??Would he. He gripped the base of the bullet. colliding with the second nurse. Trinity??s parabolic antenna captured the search for Ekstr?m??s mobile number as it was sent through the ether. whatever it said. First. but he had been told to go to the passport police and immediately to ask for political asylum. At first he had been almost hostile. First. including bow and arrow. Malm raised his Nikon in the shadows of Caf?? Rosso??s awning across the street and took a series of twelve photographs of the two men who followed Blomkvist out of the caf?? and past the Kvarter cinema. Let me put it on record that you do not have to say anything at all. I was vaguely aware of him for just a few seconds. ??I??ll call her and arrange to meet. ??He??s driving me nuts. She could go back to Stockholm knowing that she might have to take the train to G?teborg again as soon as the following day. But do you want me to represent you??? Salander gave a curt nod. He??s a prick who plays people off against each other.?? ??No friend of yours. The national vehicle register had just informed him that the car he had seen at the top of Bellmansgatan with the blonde woman inside was owned by Monica Figuerola.

but I think he went to the reception desk too. and she had severe headaches. If the worst came to the worst. ??Thanks for coming in.?? ??Until then I??d rather you didn??t stay here. who was at his home in Liding?. including the distribution of methamphetamine. of whom four were female. Salander was lying on her back on the floor when Nurse Marianne came in. The storm that had ravaged G?teborg earlier in the night had obviously passed to the south of the Nossebro area.O.?? She smiled sweetly. Blomkvist nodded. no question. She had a brace on her neck.?? ??There??s quite a bit of budget work to check up on. The face was grotesquely swollen. That??s the only reasonable explanation. The person responsible in such a case is the criminal civil servant ?C or civil servants ?C who overstepped his authority.H. If she wrote the wrong password three times in a row the site would shut down and the name Wasp would be struck from the membership list. At 2. She should have dealt with Teleborian years ago. ??And how would that work??? asked the Minister of Justice.

?? ??Of course. It was the most horrendous thing I??ve ever experienced. a mass murderer. It was a pleasant feeling to know that her reactions were up to an emergency. I take it that you will plead self-defence??? ??Maybe.?? ??I don??t like the sound of this. It was his last editorial and it would be a crying shame not to print it. but he walked briskly from the Academic bookshop to the side entrance of N. She felt sick. If something went wrong. His spectators vanished as if by magic. ??Richard ?? this is how it is.O. I won??t make any record of your answer and I won??t discuss it with anyone else.B. The first had been extraordinary ?C Counter-Espionage had identified a Russian informer inside the Swedish telecom industry. But I do know that no psychiatric evaluations have been done. which Armansky hesitantly put on. Not being able to remember something was a phenomenon unknown to Salander. Blomkvist hesitated. Fredriksson was the acting news editor.?? She took Salander??s hand and helped her into the bed. when relations would once again worsen ?C which according to Gullberg was inevitable ?C absurd demands would be made on the Security Police and the military intelligence service; they would be expected to wave their magic wand and summon up well-placed agents out of a bottle. 22.

has really fouled his nest this time. He turned on his mobile and saw that the battery was low. you listen here???? ??Imbecile. I can only see Jonas?? back and that bloody psychoanalyst mumbles when he speaks. He has a slipped disc. V. I checked with the embassy. He liked being a taxi driver except for two things. The chief of S. in H?rn?sand. She estimated the length of a step at 60 centimetres. but it??s almost unusable. The person responsible in such a case is the criminal civil servant ?C or civil servants ?C who overstepped his authority. He had also gathered that she was polite to the rest of the staff but never said a word when the police came to see her.?? ??It??s her.?? Gullberg said. the investigation carried out in 1991 that led to Lisbeth Salander being locked away was illegal. She pulled open a drawer in the hall where she kept scarves.?? He walked away down Hantverkargatan.?? ??And she??s alive??? ??Weak but regular pulse. At morning rounds. One of the big costs is building materials. rattling off the number. But this is going to take some legwork.

She had tried friendly reasoning and direct orders.?? ??Alright. ??See you. She mainly just lies there staring at the ceiling. also to coincide with the trial. We??ll meet again in an hour. H?kan Morander.?? Edklinth said.?? ??But if the story is true ?? if even a fraction of it is true.VI Blomkvist had no warning that someone was in the stairwell when he reached the landing outside his top-floor apartment at Bellmansgatan 1. After discussing the matter with Fru Berger.?? ??Yes.?? he said. and he began to make a list of headings on Armansky??s whiteboard. but it was not. ??My dear Mikael. so to speak. ??Twenty-two what??? said Holm.?? He grunted. The magazine will be printed by then. has. I??m in. ??That would probably be me. no exit.

The difficulty is that this report does not correspond with other reports that we have in our archives. The P. Can you tell me your name??? ??Pshalandr. Gunnar Bj?rck. ??Ouch. ??In that case I suggest that you ?C in your capacity as Prime Minister ?C instruct Constitutional Protection to investigate this mess with the utmost urgency. As far as he could see she had no complications in the form of memory lapses.?? Berger thanked him. But let??s not lose hope altogether. but it would be done without her being consulted. Baksi had been caught in the act by Per-Erik ?str?m ?C the same man who went on to be the paedophile hunter at Save the Children ?C who in the ??80s was the research secretary at the Trades Union Federation. HOW DOES YOUR FOOT FEEL? She raised her eyes involuntarily and looked out across the newsroom. She was afraid that it was a moral issue. Henry. He called Karim in. Instead of turning down towards S?dermalm she kept going straight to Kungsholmen. Then a crooked grin spread across her face. apart from Gunnar Bj?rck.P. Zalachenko laboriously got up and fumbled for his crutches. Figuerola escorted Blomkvist out of police headquarters at 10. We??ll have to keep an eye on both of them.?? ??So you??ve discovered Salander??s hideout??? Modig said.?? Blomkvist said.

??As far as the Security Police are concerned. I can document every one of my claims. ??I was hired to turn this downward trend around. He isn??t one of us. The roster included himself. All four of her tyres had been slashed when she spent the night with Blomkvist at the Slussen Hilton. finally. Not even the head of S.P.?? The Security Police did not normally spend time investigating robberies of groceries. but that??s almost a month away. Inspector Erlander woke at 7. The dental surgery is about 150 metres from the spot where the patrol car was found. Zalachenko had gone and fucked that stupid whore Agneta Sofia Salander.?? He nodded curtly once before he went out and locked the door. Your supervisor must approve the consultation and make a formal request for you to be allowed to approach Dr Teleborian. As a prosecutor I would be uneasy about the lack of unassailable evidence. Half were graphic artists and so on.P.?? ??Where??? ??Outside Seglora. Finally she turned off the computer and went out to find a caf?? where she could sit and think.3. Armansky??s first thought was that the man was paranoid. Henry.

?? ??I promise. ??Salander is still suspected of G.?? ??What ?? huh??? He sat up and looked around in bewilderment. ??It??s Anders. She scrolled down to image 167 and clicked to enlarge it. so he limped to the telephone booth at the grocer??s to call Landsort and book himself a room in the old ships?? pilot lookout. but she had very straightforwardly conceded that she had no authority to interview him and that naturally he was perfectly free to tell her nothing at all if he did not want to. grey-haired man in a hound??s-tooth jacket walk into the corridor. studied to become a police officer at twenty. but the minister here said that you were a prudent person.K. Stage two is Millennium and Mikael Blomkvist. it??s Berger. and she realized to her dismay that she had not even thought about him for several weeks and that she missed him terribly.?? ??Which is what ????? ??Lisbeth Salander suffers from a serious mental disorder. but what is new is that the construction industry is a couple of light-years ahead of all other Swedish industries when it comes to competition and efficiency.?? ??I can tell you in general terms what it??s about and you can come to your own conclusions. In both latter instances. All manner of investigations loomed. May I come in??? Holmberg sat at the kitchen table while F?lldin poured them some coffee.K. She discovered that they got along famously.?? ??Lisbeth is my friend. Do we know who the killer was??? ??Not yet.

for instance.?? ??It??s in the daily memo. Jonas parked a block away from the Arm??museum. not to mention their years of investigations of Palme and other prominent Social Democrats. Are you in pain??? ??Yes. Dragan Armansky. The next morning. When he had finished he took off his hat. I wrote it all by myself and sent it to everyone in the company. I had a late lunch and was going to make a pasta when I got home. He was not going to make it. Bonuses should be paid to people who do something to strengthen S. this is a fine mess we??ve landed in. He opened his eyes in bewilderment. probably just after 3. we do have Modig and Holmberg on the scene in G?teborg. you have to admit.?? ??He??s dying. Adam Security in Fisks?tra. ??Yes. there is no ??we?? about it. S. dollars.?? ??What about Gullberg.

Modig went back to Bublanski??s office and knocked on the door jamb. The time and place for each meeting was set at the preceding one.?? he explained. later this morning. the present S. since he??s still alive. and that there was good reason to offer him a false identity and anonymity.?? Three inspectors gave Holmberg an astonished look.?? Holmberg said. where Figuerola had parked. For all practical purposes.P. Save for the fact that she thought she recalled seeing a solution to Fermat??s theorem. he took a zigzag route through the narrow streets of the old city until he reached the right address and knocked at the door of Black/White Publishing. inducing decision-making political entities or authorities to take decisions in a certain direction. ??I??m sorry.?? ??And she lived to tell the tale??? ??Obviously her condition was critical. was involved in tax fraud ?C were gleefully posted on the Net. Sorry. She had told Giannini everything that had happened in Gosseberga. Edklinth had worked as a prosecutor and then twenty-one years ago joined the Security Police. yes. I thought he looked rather bewildered. Even if we count you in.

?? ??Let??s see ?? it must be someone with administrative authority. So let??s move on. She went downstairs to put on some coffee and for the first time since she had started at S.?? ??That??s true. In other words. by a single blow to the neck. On the other hand. he had helped in the attempt to murder and bury her. Zalachenko had been shot by a 78-year-old tax specialist. She put the Palm in the recess behind the bedside table and waited while two Eritrean women vacuumed the room and changed her bedlinen.?? ??Perfectly understood. She held her breath until they were some distance from the conference room in which she was trapped. Ekstr?m is the head of the preliminary investigation ???? ??But Bublanski??s leading it. He??s not married.?? the Minister of Justice said. Seeing her with both feet planted firmly as she stood by the window of the kiosk.K??. suffering from cancer. For a moment there was only silence. but my source believes there to be a connection between him and the Security Police. ??Imbecile. to determine whether Gullberg. or a teenage girl who had taken ecstasy and danced for eighteen hours straight before collapsing.?? was Paulsson??s immediate response.

D. Even so.?? ??Who??? Frisk hesitated. He??s not married. Most of them never come here. He lowered his gaze and pretended that he had not been looking at her.?? ??It was my uncle Mahmut. That the Salander girl would go so far as to make a Molotov cocktail Gullberg had not foreseen. no.O.15.?? ??Right. She wondered whether she was mad. The stalker then took the opportunity to get into the house. and she felt no desire at all to engage with it. and we??re in the middle of an investigation in which I??m involved ???? ??You mean it was unprofessional of me. Hans Faste is one of the key sources for the claims that Salander is a paranoid and violence-prone lesbian devoted to Satanism and S.?? ??It??s up to Salander to decide. that is. nodded. In Sweden you have to do it through a constitutional committee.B. I was the victim of attempted murder myself last night. But he had not anticipated Armansky lobbing a bomb with a sizzling fuse into his lap.

after all. Blomkvist must have blackmailed Bj?rck. She was healthy enough to be moved to a normal rehabilitation ward. They sat in the living room for a private conversation. ??You know who I am ?C so you don??t have to be afraid of me. ??And how did you know that this meeting was going to take place??? ??I have to protect my source. almost made it on to the Swedish Olympic team. ??On your way home??? ??You too.B. angular face about a foot from hers. Vinge (Wahlstr?m & Widstrand. It sounds a little cryptic. It contained the draft of her strategy in the Salander case. He rubbed his eyes. In this expanding organization ??the Enemy?? were presented with dramatically improved opportunities to place agents within the division. with the result that Zalachenko was alive and tucked up in bed barely ten metres from where she was.?? ??So you think there??s a single hand behind all this? I know Inspector Erlander. You??re right about that.?? said Bublanski.?? ??Yes.?? Edklinth frowned.?? ??The reason I work out is that it feels great. had nothing to do with this morning??s events. They tell us in advance the days they aren??t available because of holidays or something else.

fucking airhead or fucking cunt.?? she added. and I can??t tell the others before I tell him. She had knickers.?? ??If I??m going to survive. starting from now. For the Section. even though according to Personal Protection that??s where he is. Unfortunately there was not much he could help with. but the news that she had been injured had spread fast from the second she appeared in the newsroom on crutches. The head of Secretariat sat on the news for several days before he explained to Gullberg that the defection was so big that the chief of S. ??I hope all??s well with your father. ??I??m not quite sure. was involved in tax fraud ?C were gleefully posted on the Net. But she had repressed the memory of him. But there??s no proof yet.?? She fell silent and stared at Annika.?? ??And when would you like me to publish? After the next election.R. ??I got it for reasons that I don??t want to discuss. She looked at the time of the message. When it came to Agneta Sofia Salander. It??s possible that you??ll need another operation ?C on your shoulder ?C if we can??t arrest the infection with antibiotics.?? ??Anything new on Svavelsj? M.

M. When he had finished he took off his hat. He could not stay in the borrowed summer cabin in Sm?dalar?. ??I hear what you??re saying. He put these swiftly into a side pocket of his laptop case. He was recruited by S. not through official channels and bureaucratic regulations.?? ??I did not say there was no rush. Waltari may be an idiot. ??I??m fearing the worst.?? ??The chief of Secretariat is the only person who could make this sort of arrangement. ??Yes. Faste is grossly unsuited to investigate anything at all to do with Salander. Her longest had been with a colleague in Uppsala ?C they had shared an apartment for two years.?? ??O. She seemed lost in thought. He also recommends that Salander should be offered the best conceivable psychiatric care. but it came in waves instead of being constant. In the late morning it dawned on Blomkvist that his rental car was still at the Gosseberga farm.?? Salander gave Jonasson a lopsided smile. You??ve told me. That Millennium had leaked the story to her in advance was nothing but a courtesy ?C they wanted to reduce the damage to her personally. Gullberg blames Zalachenko for everything from the Palme assassination to trying to poison the Swedish people with chlorine. forty-three years old.

he did a brief examination of her.A. I start at S. and the press would have uncovered the Salander affair several years earlier. She was given a pack of nicotine gum.?? She nodded. and this paper will come out tomorrow too. and he was taken aback by the sarcastic tone combined with razor-sharp observations. Lisbeth. Gullberg blames Zalachenko for everything from the Palme assassination to trying to poison the Swedish people with chlorine. It??s not a wholly inaccurate description.M. Nothing out of the ordinary there. She got a dialog box with the text [ERROR ?C you have the wrong password] and a button that said [OK ?C Try again]. but he made a note of every deviation from the norm in his working day. and until we??re able to identify the remains. Erika. My sense is that he??s more a useful fool being used by the Section.?? ??Annika ?? this isn??t the way I had planned to end my time at Millennium. She woke up to find Linder sleeping in a recliner on the other side of the living room.?? he said. You should be able to call for help. On the right.M.

No. What kind of car is it??? ??A dark-blue 1991 Renault. kidneys. to change the time of a meeting or something like that??? ??I had a number to call.?? ??What had he done??? ??I think it would be best if you gave Salander a chance to explain the story herself. I assume you??ve read about Lisbeth in the newspapers. She was on the telephone and writing furiously on a yellow Post-it. slender woman with dark hair and a boyish hairstyle.?? ??The culture section has three unfilled positions. Francke was a bit of a cowboy who saw K. He hoped it had not penetrated her lung. I??ll be outside the train station in forty-five minutes. During that period the foundation was laid for the ??register of political opinions. How could I have been so bloody stupid? On the bottom of the drawer someone had spray-painted the familiar five-letter word. the woman who had been shot. But I??m not lumbered with that sort of restriction. even if that. then you should turn to me. ??No. because the vast majority of injured people had an obvious and specific problem. that answer was simple. How could I have been so bloody stupid? On the bottom of the drawer someone had spray-painted the familiar five-letter word. born in 1917. When you??ve read it I want you to come again.

The second thing was more complicated. the police will be alerted automatically. psychiatrist Lars Faulsson. Lottie will follow Teleborian.00 he ordered a cranial X-ray. ??This is a great sleazy story. I don??t want you underfoot if there??s any trouble. Last night she had a temperature of 38 and vomited on two occasions. He gave her the S.?? Gullberg leaned forward. In that case. who described her as emotional.20 in the afternoon.?? ??And what??s their stated business??? ??God only knows. PART III DISK CRASH 27. She looked about her in astonishment. regular operations. photographers. and she felt no desire at all to engage with it.?? Modig said.?? ??But here comes my point.I.

?? ??And??? ??He did his military service in Karlskrona in the ??40s. He left his coffee untouched. And I have a strategy. Two years earlier she had met him for a few hours when he helped her and Blomkvist in the hunt for Harriet Vanger by doing an illegal tapping of a landline in St Albans. Our opponents ?C who include several high-powered figures and certain psychiatrists ?C are of course also preparing for the trial together with Prosecutor Ekstr?m. She took stock of the cabbage stew with resignation. Figuerola nodded and thought for a few seconds. and you can communicate with me only via hotmail.06 in the evening. which corresponded to the letters K-A-L-L-E. Berger waited until he had finished thinking.?? Gullberg had brought the flowers with him mainly as an excuse. that would have been one thing. assistant chief of the Immigration Division of the Security Police. could present a more forceful strategy. What kind of car is it??? ??A dark-blue 1991 Renault. Zalachenko has been given crutches. and a man who could act ruthlessly when necessary.?? ??I??m beginning to have strong reservations about Ekstr?m. They waited for almost an hour before Inspector Erlander arrived from Gosseberga with Blomkvist. And governments come and go. And he did it without ever dropping a ball.

?? ??Have you got any idea at all??? ??Ekstr?m claims that Bj?rck??s report and the correspondence with Teleborian were falsified. Modig seemed to be weighing her words. this is not a joke. Blomkvist told him to position himself where he could photograph whoever got into the car. But it??s not good. Hans von Rottinger. I have to explain why they??re wrong. are laws. I??ve reminded you about this at least half a dozen times. a couple of days after Zalachenko and Salander had landed in Sahlgrenska hospital.?? Holmberg said at last. listened in vain to a vast number of calls to and from police headquarters and the surrounding buildings. He comes and goes as he pleases ?? I have nothing more to say about it. when she was sent to the psychiatric hospital. and at the same time he offered inducements. He explained in a low voice that. They told a fantastic story about a Russian defector who had come to Sweden.?? ??You can??t do that. He made sure he had left clear fingerprints on each sheet.W.?? ??So you think there??s a single hand behind all this? I know Inspector Erlander. And she was in hot water.

who. but Salander could hear her a long way off and even before she turned the key the computer was hidden and the patient asleep. That??s what he put in the report. starting with the Yahoo group [Idiotic_Table]. Or if he felt betrayed and wanted to get even. He heard the sound of the chopper and watched as it banked through the storm squalls down towards the helipad.?? ??Giannini works in women??s rights. There were also old love letters which she had kept from her teenage years. You??re going to be a special correspondent assigned to the Salander trial.?? ??I won??t have time to write all the missing pieces myself. Can you manage that??? Salander waited patiently for almost a minute before Annika nodded. She was no longer limping. They had had a long. The state subsidizes the cost with taxpayers?? money just so that the prices aren??t prohibitive. Berger waited until he had finished thinking. But if her car had been damaged on some random street in S?dermalm. They had crossed six national borders but they had not been stopped once. he insisted. but she had slept uninterrupted for eight hours. I??d have a heart attack on Norr M?larstrand. you tail Jonas. Herr Bodin.

So she had decided to go along with Blomkvist??s plan.?? ??No leads??? ??No. for the first time in a long time.?? ??But here comes my point. Not once had he seen its driver.?? ??If I don??t get a new kidney I??m not long for this world. E. Zalachenko came here in 1976. He did meet with the fair-haired man. 15. ??What decision do you think I should make??? ??I believe we have common interests. The Salander case demonstrated that something was out of joint inside the organization. as well as for the murders of Svensson and Johansson. Who??s going to talk next? What do we do if Bj?rck signs an affidavit confirming his story? And Clinton.?? ??And the third name??? Edklinth said.?? Blomkvist referred to M?rtensson??s C. the assistant editor. Blomkvist is not afraid to take risks. The drawer was empty. 3. she had spent her time trying to work out how to escape from this locked room at Sahlgrenska. but he??s incredibly bad at routine work.

Was it Salander who had killed a policeman? The news item was sketchy. You have a beach at the back of the house and a few large houses in the immediate vicinity. Her mother was a whore. What??s happened??? ??News. Most of all she wanted to crawl back into bed and take a month??s holiday. In any case.?? said Andersson.?? He grunted some more and promised to scold her when she got home. And as such you need help. ??I??m going to???? ??You??re not going to do anything at all. Fredriksson was the acting news editor.00 a. V. By that time you had retired. of course. ??Hello. She had no idea where she was. He explained that he had decided to go public with the information in the light of events that had occurred in G?teborg that day. Blomkvist was at the Kaffebar on Hornsgatan when he heard on the radio that a 66-year-old unnamed man. Occasionally he would jot down notes in a pocket diary.?? ??Lisbeth???? ??Wait. > Salander disconnected from Plague and accessed the server he had directed her to.

affect you or your welfare. She was starting to get restless and felt like an intruder. and in 1999 he had registered his own company. The earliest it could come out is August.?? Blomkvist said. Anything new??? You can say that again. Most of all she wanted to take him to a hole in the ground in Gosseberga and bury him. Blomkvist could not help being fascinated. but of gross falsifications.I. Kista. except for 1991 when he deliberately voted against the moderates because he believed that Carl Bildt was a realpolitik catastrophe. That gives us only two hours to make up for a whole lot of lost time. Sandberg.?? ??I??m not interrupting anything??? ??No. He smiled to himself. and who the killer was. don??t say a word. Hello. But Counter-Espionage had not ever had him. The budget chief and the C. You were the one who exposed Wennerstr?m last year.