“gettothepoint。”

  “but；ydearblokvist；thatisthepoint。aiawassatisfiedwithwennerstr？’sreport。itwasaninvestentthatwenttohell；buttherewasnocriticisofthewayithadbeenanaged。welookedatinvoicesandtransfersandallthedocuents。everythingwaseticulouslyaountedfor。ibelievedit。mybossbelievedit。aiabelievedit；andthegovernenthadnothingtosay。”

  “where’sthehook？”

  “thisiswherethestorygetsticklish；”lindbergsaid；lookingsurprisinglysober。“andsinceyou’reajournalist；thisisofftherecord。”

  “eoffit。youcan’tsittheretellingeallthisstuffandthensayican’tuseit。”

  “icertainlycan。whati’vetoldyousofarisinthepublicrecord。youcanlookupthereportifyouwant。therestofthestory—whatihaven’ttoldyou—youcanwriteabout；butyou’llhavetotreateasananonyoussource。”

  “ok；but‘offtherecord’incurrentterinologyeansthati’vebeentoldsoethinginconfidenceandcan’twriteaboutit。”

  “screwtheterinology。writewhateverthehellyouwant；buti’youranonyoussource。areweagreed？”

  “ofcourse；”blokvistsaid。

  inhindsight；thiswasaistake。

  “allrightthen。theminosstorytookplaceorethanadecadeago；justafterthewallcaedownandthebolsheviksstartingactinglikedecentcapitalists。iwasoneofthepeoplewhoinvestigatedwennerstr？；andthewholetieithoughttherewassoethingdanedoddabouthisstory。”

  “whydidn’tyousaysowhenyousignedoffonhisreport？”

  “idiscusseditwithyboss。buttheproblewasthattherewasn’tanythin. cominpoint。thedocuentswereallok；ihadonlytosignthereport。everytiei’veseenwennerstr？’snaeinthepresssincethenithinkaboutminos；andnotleastbecausesoeyearslater；intheid…niies；ybankwasdoingsoebusinesswithwennerstr？。prettybigbusiness；actually；anditdidn’tturnoutsowell。”

  “hecheatedyou？”

  “no；nothingthatobvious。webothadeoneyonthedeals。itwasorethat…idon’tknowquitehowtoexplainit；andnowi’talkingaboutyowneployer；andidon’twanttodothat。butwhatstrucke—thelastingandoverallipression；astheysay—wasnotpositive。wennerstr？ispresentedintheediaasatreendousfinancialoracle。hethrivesonthat。it’shis‘trustcapital。’”

  “iknohatyouean。”

  “myipressionwasthattheanwasallbluff。hewasn’tevenparticularlybrightasafinancier。infact；ithoughthewasdanedignorantaboutcertainsubjectsalthoughhehadsoereallysharpyoungwarriorsforadvisers。aboveall；ireallydidn’tcareforhipersonally。”

  “so？”

  “afewyearsagoiwentdowntopolandonsoeotheratter。ourgrouphaddinnerwithsoeinvestorsinlodz；andifoundyselfatthesaetableastheayor。wetalkedaboutthedifficultyofgettingpoland’seconoyonitsfeetandallthat；andsoehoworotherientionedtheminosproject。theayorlookedquiteastonishedforaoent—asifhehadneverheardofminos。hetoldeitwassoecruylittlebusinessandnothingevercaeofit。helaughedandsaid—i’quotingwordforword—thatifthatwasthebestourinvestorscouldanage；thenswedenwasn’tlongforthislife。areyoufollowinge？”

  “thatayoroflodzisobviouslyasharpfellow；butgoon。”

  “thenextdayihadaeetingintheorning；buttherestofydaywasfree。forthehellofitidroveouttolookattheshut…downminosfactoryinasalltownoutsideoflodz。thegiantminosfactorywasara…shacklestructure。acorrugatedironstoragebuildingthattheredaryhadbuiltinthefifties。ifoundawatchanonthepropertywhocouldspeakalittlegerananddiscoveredthatoneofhiscousinshadworkedatminosandwewentovertohishousenearby。thewatchaninterpreted。areyouinterestedinhearingwhathehadtosay？”

  “icanhardlywait。”

  “minosopenedintheautunof1992。therewereatostfifteeneployees；theajorityoftheoldwoen。theirpaywasaroundonehundredfiftykronoraonth。atfirsttherewerenoachines；sotheworkforcespenttheirtiecleaninguptheplace。inearlyoctoberthreecardboardboxachinesarrivedfroportugal。theywereoldandpletelyobsolete。thescrapvaluecouldn’thavebeenorethanafewthousandkronor。theachinesdidwork；buttheykeptbreakingdown。naturallytherewerenospareparts；sominossufferedendless. compages。”

  “thisisstartingtosoundlikeastory；”blokvistsaid。“whatdidtheyakeatminos？”

  “throughout1992andhalfof1993theyproducedsiplecardboardboxesforwashingpowdersandeggcartonsandthelike。thentheystartedakingpaperbags。butthefactorycouldnevergetenoughrawaterials；sotherewasneveraquestionofuchvolueofproduction。”

  “thisdoesn’tsoundlikeagiganticinvestent。”

  “iranthenubers。thetotalrentusthavebeenaround15；000kronorfortwoyears。wagesayhaveaountedto150；000sekatost—andi’beinggeneroushere。costofachinesandcostoffreight…avantodelivertheeggcartons…i’guessing250；000。addfeesforperits；alittletravellingbackandforth—apparentlyonepersonfroswedendidvisitthesiteafewties。itlooksasthoughthewholeoperationranforundertwoillion。onedayinthesuerof1993theforeancaedowntothefactoryandsaiditwasshutdown；andawhilelaterahungarianlorryappearedandcarriedofftheachinery。bye…bye；minos。”

  inthecourseofthetrialblokvisthadoftenthoughtofthatmidsuereve。forlargepartsoftheeveningthetoneoftheconversationadeitfeelasiftheywerebackatschool；havingafriendlyarguent。asteenagerstheyhadsharedtheburdensontothatstageinlife。asgrown…upstheywereeffectivelystrangers；bynowquitedifferentsortsofpeople。duringtheirtalkblokvisthadthoughtthathereallycouldnotrecallwhatitwasthathadadethesuchfriendsatschool。hereeberedlindbergasareservedboy；incrediblyshywithgirls。asanadulthewasasuessful…well；cliberinthebankingworld。

  herarelygotdrunk；butthatchanceeetinghadtransforedadisastroussailingtripintoapleasantevening。andbecausetheconversationhadsouchanechoofaschoolboytone；hedidnotatfirsttakelindberg’sstoryaboutwennerstr？seriously。graduallyhisprofessionalinstinctswerearoused。eventuallyhewaslisteningattentively；andthelogicalobjectionssurfaced。

  “waitasecond；”hesaid。“wennerstr？is. comnaeaongarketspeculators。he’sadehiselfabillion；hashenot？”

  “thewennerstr？groupissittingonsoewhereclosetotwohundredbillion。you’regoingtoaskwhyabillionaireshouldgotothetroubleofswindlingatriflingfiftyillion。”

  “well；putitthisway：whywouldheriskhisownandhispany’sgoodnaeonsuchablatantswindle？”

  “itwasn’tsoobviouslyaswindlegiventhattheaiaboard；thebankers；thegovernent；andparliaent’sauditorsallapprovedwennerstr？’saountingwithoutasingledissentingvote。”

  “it’sstillaridiculouslysallsuforsovastarisk。”

  “certainly。butjustthink：thewennerstr？groupisaninvestentpanythatdealswithproperty；securities；options；foreignexchange…younaeit。wennerstr？contactedaiain1992justasthebottowasabouttodropoutofthearket。doyoureebertheautunof1992？”

  “doi？ihadavariable…rateortgageonyapartentwhentheinterestrateshotupfivehundredpercentinoctober。iwasstuckwithnieenpercentinterestforayear。”

  “thosewereindeedthedays；”lindbergsaid。“ilostabundlethatyearyself。andhans…erikwennerstr？—likeeveryotherplayerinthearket—waswrestlingwiththesaeproble。thepanyhadbillionstiedupinpaperofvarioustypes；butnotsouchcash。allofasuddentheycouldnolongerborrowanyaounttheyliked。theusualthinginsuchasituationistounloadafewpropertiesandlickyourwounds；butin1992nobodywantedtobuyrealestate。”

  “cash…flowprobles。”

  “exactly。andwennerstr？wasn’ttheonlyone。everybusinessan…”

  “don’tsaybusinessan。callthewhatyoulike；butcallingthebusinessenisaninsulttoaseriousprofession。”

  “allright；everyspeculatorhadcash…flowprobles。lookatitthisway：wennerstr？gotsixtyillionkronor。hepaidbacksixil；butonlyafterthreeyears。therealcostofminosdidn’tetoorethantwoillion。theinterestaloneonsixtyillionforthreeyears；that’squiteabit。dependingonhowheinvestedtheoney；heighthavedoubledtheaiaoney；oraybegrownittentiesover。thenwe’renolongertalkingaboutcatshit。sk？l；bytheway。”

  chapter2

  friday；deceber20

  draganaranskywasbornincroatiafifty…sixyearsago。hisfatherwasanarenianjewfrobelorussia。hisotherwasabosnianmusliofgreekextraction。shehadtakenchargeofhisupbringingandhiseducation；whicheantthatasanadulthewaslupedtogetherwiththatlarge；heterogeneousgroupdefinedbytheediaasmuslis。theswedishiigrationauthoritieshadregisteredhi；strangelyenough；asaserb。hispassportconfiredthathewasaswedishcitizen；andhispassportphotographshowedasquarishface；astrongjaw；five…o’clockshadow；andgreyingteples。hewasoftenreferredtoas“thearab；”althoughhedidnothaveadropofarabblood。

  helookedalittlelikethestereotypicallocalbossinanaericangangsterovie；butinfacthewasatalentedfinancialdirectorwhohadbegunhiscareerasajunioraountantatmiltonsecurityintheearlyseventies。threedecadeslaterhehadadvancedtoceoandcooofthepany。

  hehadbeefascinatedwiththesecuritybusiness。itwaslikewargaes—toidentifythreats；developcounter…strategies；andallthetiestayonestepaheadoftheindustrialspies；blackailersandthieves。itbeganforhiwhenhediscoveredhowtheswindlingofaclienthadbeenacplishedthroughcreativekeeping。hewasabl. comrovewho；froagroupofadozenpeople；wasbehindit。hehadbeenprootedandplayedakeyroleinthefir’sdevelopentandwasanexpertinfinancialfraud。fifteenyearslaterhebecaeceo。hehadtransforedmiltonsecurityintooneofsweden’sostpetentandtrustedsecurityfirs。

  thepanyhad380full…tieeployeesandanother300freelancers。itwassallparedtofalckorswedishguardservice。whenaranskyfirstjoined；thepanywascalledjohanfredrikmilton’sgeneralsecurityab；andithadaclientlistconsistingofshoppingcentresthatneededfloorwalkersanduscularguards。underhisleadershipthefirwasnowtheinternationallyrecognisedmiltonsecurityandhadinvestedincutting…edgetechnology。nightwatchenwellpasttheirprie；uniforfetishists；andoonlightinguniversitystudentshadbeenreplacedbypeoplewithrealprofessionalskills。aranskyhiredatureex…policeenasoperationschiefs；politicalscientistsspecialisingininternationalterroris；andexpertsinpersonalprotectionandindustrialespionage。mostiportantly；hehiredthebestteleunicationstechniciansanditexperts。thepanyovedfrosolnatostate…of…the…artofficesnearslussen；intheheartofstockhol。

  bythestartoftheniies；miltonsecuritywasequippedtoofferanewlevelofsecuritytoanexclusivegroupofclients；priarilyediu…sizedcorporationsandwell…to…doprivateindividuals—nouveau…richerockstars；stock…arketspeculators；anddot…highflyers。apartofthepany’sactivitywasprovidingbodyguardprotectionandsecuritysolutionstoswedishfirsabroad；especiallyinthemiddleeast。thisareaoftheirbusinessnowaountedfor70percentofthepany’sturnover。underaransky；saleshadincreasedfroaboutfortyillionsekannuallytoalosttwobillion。providingsecuritywasalucrativebusiness。

  operationsweredividedaongthreeainareas：securityconsultations；whichconsistedofidentifyingconceivableoriaginedthreats；counter…easures；whichusuallyinvolvedtheinstallationofsecuritycaeras；burglarandfirealars；electroniclockingechanissanditsystes；andpersonalprotectionforprivateindividualsorpanies。thislastarkethadgrownforty

  2

  tiesoverintenyears。latelyanewclientgrouphadarisen：affluentwoenseekingprotectionfroforerboyfriendsorhusbandsorfrostalkers。inaddition；miltonsecurityhadacooperativearrangeentwithsiilarfirsofgoodreputeineuropeandtheunitedstates。thepanyalsohandledsecurityforanyinternationalvisitorstosweden；includinganaericanactresswhowasshootingafilfortwoonthsintrollh？ttan。heragentfeltthatherstatuswarrantedhavingbodyguardsacpanyherwhenevershetookherinfrequentwalksnearthehotel。

  afourth；considerablysallerareathatoupiedonlyafeweployeeswaswhatwascalledpiorp…in；ininternaljargonpinders；whichstoodforpersonalinvestigations。

  aranskywasnotaltogetherenaouredofthispartoftheirbusiness。itwastroublesoeandlesslucrative。itputgreaterdeandsontheeployees’judgeentandexperiencethanontheirknowledgeofteleunicationstechnologyortheinstallationofsurveillanceapparatus。personalinvestigationswereaeptablewhenitwasaatterofcreditration；backgroundchecksbeforehiring；ortoinvestigatesuspicionsthatsoeeployeehadleakedpanyrationorengagedincriinalactivity。insuchcasesthepinderswereanintegralpartoftheoperationalactivity。butnotinfrequentlyhisbusinessclientswoulddraginprivateproblesthathadatendencytocreateunweleturoil。iwanttoknohatsortofcreepydaughterisgoingoutwith…ithinkywifeisbeingunfaithful…theguyisokbuthe’sixedupwithbadpany…i’beingblackailed…aranskyoftengavetheastraightforwardno。ifthedaughterwasanadult；shehadtherighttogooutwithanycreepshewantedto；andhethoughtinfidelitywassoethingthathusbandsandwivesoughttoworkoutontheirown。hiddeninallsuchinquiriesweretrapsthatcouldleadtoscandalandcreatelegalproblesformiltonsecurity。whichwaswhydraganaranskykeptaclosewatchontheseassignents；inspiteofhowodesttherevenuewas。

  theorning’. comicwasjustsuchapersonalinvestigation。aranskystraightenedthecreaseinhistrousersbeforeheleanedbackinhisfortablechair。heglancedsuspiciouslyathiscolleaguelisbethsalander；whowasthirty…twoyearshisjunior。hethoughtforthethousandthtiethatnobodyseeedoreoutofplaceinaprestigioussecurityfirthanshedid。hisistrustwasbothwiseandirrational。inaransky’seyes；salanderwasbeyonddoubttheostableinvestigatorhehadetinallhisyearsinthebusiness。duringthefouryearsshehadworkedforhishehadneveroncefubledajoborturnedinasingleediocrereport。

  onthecontrary；herreportswereinaclassbytheselves。aranskywasconvincedthatshepossessedauniquegift。anybodycouldfindoutcreditrationorrunacheckwithpolicerecords。butsalanderhadiagination；andshealwayscaebackwithsoethingdifferentfrowhatheexpected。howshedidit；hehadneverunderstood。soetieshethoughtthatherabilitytogatherrationwassheeragic。sheknewthebureaucraticarchivesinsideout。aboveall；shehadtheabilitytogetundertheskinofthepersonshewasinvestigating。iftherewasanydirttobedugup；shewouldhoeinonitlikeacruiseissile。

  soehowshehadalwayshadthisgift。

  herreportscouldbeacatastrophefortheindividualwholandedinherradar。aranskywouldneverfetthetieheassignedhertodoaroutinecheckonaresearcherinthepharaceuticalindustrybeforeacorporatebuyout。thejobwasscheduledtotakeaweek；butitdraggedonforawhile。afterfourweeks’silenceandseveralreinders；whichsheignored；salandercaebackwithareportdocuentingthatthesubjectinquestionwasapaedophile。ontwooasionshehadboughtsexfroathirteen…year…oldchildprostituteintallinn；andtherewereindicationsthathehadanunhealthyinterestinthedaughterofthewoanwithwhohewascurrentlyliving。

  salanderhadhabitsthatsoetiesdrovearanskytotheedgeofdespair。inthecaseofthepaedophile；shedidnotpickupthetelephoneandcallaranskyoreintohisofficewantingtotalktohi。no；withoutindicatingbyasinglewordthatthereportightcontainexplosiveaterial；shelaiditonhisdeskoneevening；justasaranskywasabouttoleavefortheday。hereaditonlylatethatevening；ashewasrelaxingoverabottleofwineinfrontofthetvwithhiswifeintheirvillaonliding？。

  thereportwas；asalways；alostscientificallyprecise；withfootnotes；quotations；andsourcereferences。thefirstfewpagesgavethesubject’sbackground；education；career；andfinancialsituation。notuntilpage24didsalanderdropthebobshellaboutthetripstotallinn；inthesaedry…as…dusttonesheusedtoreportthathelivedinsollentunaanddroveadarkbluevolvo。shereferredtodocuentationinanexhaustiveappendix；includingphotographsofthethirteen…year…oldgirlinthepanyofthesubject。thepictureshadbeentakeninahotelcorridorintallinn；andtheanhadhishandunderthegirl’ssweater。salanderhadtrackeddownthegirlinquestionandshehadprovidedheraountontape。

  thereporthadcreatedpreciselythechaosthataranskyhadwantedtoavoid。firsthehadtoswallowafewulcertabletsprescribedbyhisdoctor。thenhecalledintheclientforasobreeergencyeeting。finally—overtheclient’sfierceob