“iheardtheverdictontheradio。shefrotv4calledandwantedaent。”

  “what’dyousay？”

  “soethingtotheeffectthatweweregoingtoreadthejudgeentcarefullybeforeweakeanystateents。soisaidnothing。andyopinionstillholds：it’sthewrongstrategy。weeofflookingweakwiththeedia。theywillrunsoethingontvthisevening。”

  blokvistlookedglu。

  “howareyoudoing？”

  blokvistshruggedandploppeddowninhisfavouritearchairnexttothewindowinerika’soffice。thedecorwasspartan；withadeskandfunctionalcasesandcheapofficefurniture。allofitwasfroikeaapartfrothetwofortableandextravagantarchairsandasallendtable—aconcessiontoyupbringing；shelikedtosay。shewouldsitreadinginoneofthearchairswithherfeettuckedunderneathherwhenshewantedtogetawayfrothedesk。blokvistlookeddownong？tgatan；wherepeoplewerehurryingbyinthedark。christasshoppingwasinfullswing。

  “isupposeit’llpass；”hesaid。“butrightnowitfeelsasifi’vegotyselfaveryrawdeal。”

  “yes；icaniagine。it’sthesaeforallofus。jannedahlanwenthoeearlytoday。”

  “iassuehewasn’tovertheoonabouttheverdict。”

  “he’snottheostpositivepersonanyway。”

  mikaelshookhishead。forthepastnineonthsdahlanhadbeenanagingeditor。hehadstartedtherejustasthewennerstr？affairgotgoing；andhefoundhiselfonaneditorialstaffincrisisode。blokvisttriedtoreeberwhattheirreasoninghadbeenwhenheandbergerdecidedtohirehi。hewaspetent；ofcourse；andhadworkedatthettnewsbureau；theeveningpapers；andekoontheradio。butheapparentlydidnotlikesailingagainstthewind。duringthepastyearblokvisthadoftenregrettedthattheyhadhireddahlan；whohadanenervatinghabitoflookingateverythinginasnegativealightaspossible。

  “haveyouheardfrochrister？”blokvistaskedwithouttakinghiseyesoffthestreet。

  christermalwastheartdirectoranddesignerofmillenniu。hewasalsopartowneroftheagaziogetherwithbergerandblokvist；buthewasonatripabroadwithhisboyfriend。

  “hecalledtosayhello。”

  “he’llhavetobetheonewhotakesoveraspublisher。”

  “layoff；micke。aspublisheryouhavetocountonbeingpunchedinthenoseeverysooften。it’spartofthejobdescription。”

  “you’rerightaboutthat。butiwastheonewhowrotethearticlethatwaspublishedinaagazineofwhichialsohappentobethepublisher。thatakeseverythinglookdifferentallofasudden。thenit’saatterofbadjudgeent。”

  bergerfeltthatthedisquietshehadbeencarryingwithheralldaywasabouttoexplode。intheweeksbeforethetrialstarted；blokvisthadbeenwalkingaroundunderablackcloud。butshehadneverseenhiasglooyanddejectedasheseeedtobenowinthehourofhisdefeat。shewalkedtohissideofthedeskandsatonhislap；straddlinghi；andputherarsroundhisneck。

  “mikael；listentoe。webothknowexactlyhowithappened。i’asuchtoblaeasyouare。wesiplyhavetorideoutthestor。”

  “thereisn’tanystortorideout。asfarastheediaareconcerned；theverdicteansthati’vebeenshotinthebackofthehead。ican’tstayonasthepublisherofmillenniu。thevitalthingistoaintaintheagazine’scredibility；to. comthebleeding。youknowthataswellasido。”

  “ifyouthinkiintendtoletyoutaketherapallbyyourself；thenyouhaven’tlearnedadanthingabouteintheyearswe’veworkedtogether。”

  “iknowhowyouoperate；ricky。you’re100percentloyaltoyourcolleagues。ifyouhadtochoose；you’dkeepfightingagainstwennerstr？’slawyersuntilyourcredibilitywasgooo。wehavetobesarterthanthat。”

  “andyouthinkit’ssarttojupshipandakeitlookasifisackedyou？”

  “ifmillenniuisgoingtosurvive；itdependsonyounow。christerisgreat；buthe’sjustaniceguywhoknowsaboutiagesandlayoutanddoesn’thaveaclueaboutstreetfightingwithbillionaires。it’sjustnothisthing。i’goingtohavetodisappearforawhile；aspublisher；reporter；andboardeber。wennerstr？knowsthatiknohathedid；andi’absolutelysurethataslongasi’anywherenearmillenniuhe’sgoingtotrytoruinus。”

  “sowhynotpublisheverythingweknow？sinkorswi？”

  “becausewecan’tproveadanthing；andrightnowihavenocredibilityatall。let’saeptthatwennerstr？wonthisround。”

  “ok；i’llfireyou。whatareyougoingtodo？”

  “ineedabreak；tobehonest。i’burnedrightout。i’goingtotakesoetieforyselfforawhile；soeofitinprison。thenwe’llsee。”

  bergerputherarsaroundhiandpulledhisheaddowntoherbreasts。shehuggedhihard。

  “wantsoepanytonight？”shesaid。

  blokvistnodded。

  “good。i’vealreadytoldgregeri’atyourplacetonight。”

  thestreetlightsreflectingoffthecornersofthewindowswereallthatlittheroo。whenbergerfellasleepsoetieafter2：00intheorning；blokvistlayawakestudyingherprofileinthediness。thecoversweredownaroundherwaist；andhewatchedherbreastsslowlyrisingandfalling。hewasrelaxed；andtheanxiousknotinhisstoachhadeased。shehadthateffectonhi。shealwayshadhad。andheknewthathehadthesaeeffectonher。

  twentyyears；hethought。that’showlongithadbeen。asfarashewasconcerned；theycouldgoonsleepingtogetherforanothertwodecades。atleast。theyhadneverseriouslytriedtohidetheirrelationship；evenwhenitledtoawkwardnessintheirdealingswithotherpeople。

  theyhadetatapartywhentheywerebothintheirsecondyearatjournalisschool。beforetheysaidgoodnighttheyhadexchangedtelephonenubers。theybothknewthattheywouldendupinbedtogether；andinlessthanaweektheyrealisedthisconvictionwithouttellingtheirrespectivepartners。

  blokvistwassurethatitwasnottheold…fashionedkindoflovethatleadstoasharedhoe；asharedortgage；christastrees；andchildren。duringtheeighties；whentheywerenotboundbyotherrelationships；theyhadtalkedofovingintogether。hehadwantedto；buterikaalwaysbackedoutatthelastinute。itwouldn’twork；shesaid；theywouldriskwhattheyhadiftheyfellinlovetoo。blokvisthadoftenwonderedwhetheritwerepossibletobeorepossessedbydesireforanyotherwoan。thefactwasthattheyfunctionedwelltogether；andtheyhadaconnectionasaddictiveasheroin。

  soetiestheyweretogethersooftenthatitfeltasthoughtheyreallywereacouple；soetiesweeksandonthswouldgobybeforetheysaweachother。butevenasalcoholicsaredrawntothestateliquorstoreafterastintonthewagon；theyalwayscaebacktoeachother。

  inevitablyitdidnotworkinthelongrun。thatkindofrelationshipwasalostboundtocausepain。theyhadbothleftbrokenproisesandunhappyloversbehind—hisownarriagehadcollapsed

  3

  becausehecouldnotstayawayfroerikaberger。hehadneverliedabouthisfeelingsforhertohiswife；monica；butshehadthoughtitwouldendwhentheyarriedandtheirdaughterwasborn。andbergerhadalostsiultaneouslyarriedgregerbeckan。blokvisttoohadthoughtitwouldend；andforthefirstyearsofhisarriageheandbergerhadonlyseeneachotherprofessionally。thentheystartedmillenniuandwithinafeeeksalltheirgoodintentionshaddissolved；andonelateeveningtheyhadfurioussexonherdesk。thatledtoatroublesoeperiodinwhichblokvistwantedveryuchtolivewithhisfailyandseehisdaughtergrowup；butatthesaetiehewashelplesslydrawntoberger。justassalanderhadguessed；itwashiscontinualinfidelitythatdrovehiswifetoleave。

  strangelyenough；beckanseeedtoaepttheirrelationship。bergerhadalwaysbeenopenaboutherfeelingsformikael；andshetoldherhusbandassoonastheystartedhavingsexagain。maybeittookthesoulofanartisttohandlesuchasituation；soeonesowrappedupinhisowncreativity；orpossiblyjustwrappedupinhiself；thathedidnotrebelwhenhiswifesleptwithanotheran。sheevendividedupherholidaysoshecouldspendtwoweekswithherloverinhissuercabinatsandhan。blokvistdidnotthinkveryhighlyofbeckan；andhehadneverunderstoodberger’sloveforhi。buthewasgladthatheaeptedthatshecouldlovetwoenatthesaetie。

  blokvistcouldnotsleep；andat4：00hegaveup。hewenttothekitchenandreadthecourtjudgeentoneoretiefrobeginningtoend。havingthedocuentinhishandhehadasensethattherehadbeensoethingalostfatefulabouttheeetingatarhola。hecouldneverbesurewhetherlindberghadtoldhithedetailsofwennerstr？’sswindlesiplyforthesakeofagoodstorybetweentoastsintheprivacyofhisboat’scabinorwhetherhehadreallywantedthestorytobeadepublic。

  hetendedtobelievethefirst。butitayhavebeenthatlindberg；forhisownpersonalorbusinessreasons；hadwantedtodaagewennerstr？；andhehadseizedtheopportunityofhavingacaptivejournalistonboard。lindberghadbeensoberenoughtoinsistonblokvisttreatinghiasananonyoussource。frothatoentlindbergcouldsaywhatheliked；becausehisfriendwouldneverbeabletodisclosehissource。

  iftheeetingatarholahadbeenaset…up；thenlindbergcouldnothaveplayedhisrolebetter。buttheeetinghadtohavehappenedbychance。

  lindbergcouldhavehadnonotionoftheextentofblokvist’sconteptforpeoplelikewennerstr？。forallthat；afteryearsofstudy；hewasprivatelyconvincedthattherewasnotasinglebankdirectororcelebritycorporateexecutivewhowasn’talsoacretin。

  blokvisthadneverheardoflisbethsalanderandwashappilyinnocentofherreportdeliveredearlierthatday；buthadhelistenedtoithewouldhavenoddedinagreeentwhenshespokeofhisloathingforbeancounters；sayingthatitwasnotaanifestationofhisleft…wingpoliticalradicalis。mikaelwasnotuninterestedinpolitics；buthewasextreelyscepticalofpolitical“iss。”hehadvotedonlyonceinaparliaentaryelection—in1982—andthenhehadhesitantlyplupedforthesocialdeocrats；therebeingnothinginhisiaginationworsethanthreeyearsorewithg？stabohanasfinanceinisterandthorbj？rnf？lldinasprieinister。sohehadvotedforolofpale；andgotinsteadtheassassinationofhisprieinisterplustheboforsscandalandebbecarlsson。

  hisconteptforhisfellowfinancialjournalistswasbasedonsoethingthatinhisopinionwasasplainasorality。theequationwassiple。abankdirectorwhoblowsillionsonfoolhardyspeculationsshouldnotkeephisjob。aanagingdirectorwhoplaysshellpanygaesshoulddotie。aslulandlordwhoforcesyoungpeopl. comaythroughthenoseandunderthetableforaone…rooapartentwithsharedtoiletshouldbehungouttodry。

  thejobofthefinancialjournalistwastoexaihesharkswhocreatedinterestcrisesandspeculatedawaythesavingsofsallinvestors；toscrutinisepanyboardswiththesaeercilesszealwithwhichpoliticalreporterspursuethetinieststepsoutoflineofinistersandebersofparliaent。hecouldnotforthelifeofhiunderstandwhysoanyinfluentialfinancialreporterstreatedediocrefinancialwhelpslikerockstars。

  theserecalcitrantviewshadtieaftertiebroughthiintoconflictwithhispeers。b；forone；wasgoingtobeaneneyforlife。histakingonaroleofsocialcritichadactuallytransforedhiintoapricklyguestontvsofas—hewasalwaystheoneinvitedtoentwheneveranyceowascaughtwithagoldenparachuteworthbillions。

  mikaelhadnotroubleiaginingthatchapagnebottleshadbeenuncorkedinsoenewspapers’backroosthatevening。

  erikahadthesaeattitudetothejournalist’sroleashedid。evenwhentheywereinjournalisschooltheyhadausedtheselvesbyiaginingaagazinewithjustsuchaissionstateent。

  erikawasthebestbossmikaelcouldiagine。shewasananiserwhocouldhandleeployeeswithwarthandtrustbutwhoatthesaetiewasn’tafraidofconfrontationandcouldbeverytoughwhennecessary。aboveall；shehadanicygutfeelingwhenitcaetoakingdecisionsaboutthecontentsoftheupingissue。sheandmikaeloftenhaddifferingviewsandcouldhavehealthyarguents；buttheyalsohadunwaveringconfidenceineachother；andtogethertheyadeanunbeatabletea。hedidthefieldworkoftrackingdownthestory；whileshepackagedandarketedit。

  millenniuwastheirutualcreation；butitwouldneverhavebeerealitywithouthertalentfordiggingupfinancing。itwastheworking…classguyandtheupper…classgirlinabeautifulunion。erikacaefrooldoney。shehadputuptheinitialseedoneyandthentalkedbothherfatherandvariousacquaintancesintoinvestingconsiderablesusintheproject。

  mikaelhadoftenwonderedwhyerikahadsethersightsonmillenniu。true；shewasapartowner—theajoritypartner；infact—andeditorinchiefofherownagazine；whichgaveherprestigeandthecontroloverpublicitythatshecouldhardlyhaveobtainedinanyotherjob。unlikemikael；shehadconcentratedontelevisionafterjournalisschool。shewastough；lookedfantasticoncaera；andcouldholdherownwiththepetition。shealsohadgoodcontactsinthebureaucracy。ifshehadstucktoit；shewouldundoubtedlyhavehadaanagerialjobatoneofthetvchannelsataconsiderablyhighersalarythanshepaidherselfnow。

  bergerhadalsoconvincedchristermaltobuyintotheagazine。hewasanexhibitionistgaycelebritywhosoetiesappearedwithhisboyfriendin“athoewith”articles。theinterestinhibeganwhenheovedinwitharnoldmagnusson；anactorwithabackgroundattheroyaldraatictheatrewhohadadeaseriousbreakthroughwhenheplayedhiselfinadocu…soap。christerandarnhadthenbeeaediaite。

  atthirty…six；malwasasought…afterprofessionalphotographeranddesignerwhogavemillenniuaodernlook。heranhisbusinessfroanofficeonthesaefloorasmillenniu；andhedidgraphicdesignoneweekineveryonth。

  themillenniustaffconsistedofthreefull…tieeployees；afull…tietrainee；andtwopart…tiers。itwasnotalucrativeaffair；buttheagazinebrokeeven；andthecirculationandadvertisingrevenuehadincreasedgraduallybutsteadily。untiltodaytheagazinewasknownforitsfrankandreliableeditorialstyle。

  nowthesituationwouldinallprobabilitybechanging。blokvistreadthroughthepressreleasewhichheandbergerhaddraftedandwhichhadquicklybeenconvertedtoawireservicestoryfrottthatwasalreadyuponaftonbladet’swebsite。

  convictedreporterleavesmillennium

  stockhol。journalistmikaelblokvistisleavinghispostaspublisheroftheagazinemillenniu；reportseditorinchiefandajorityshareholdererikaberger。

  blokvistisleavingmillenniuofhisownchoice。“he’sexhaustedafterthedraaofrecentonthsandneedstieoff；”saysberger；whowilltakeovertheroleofpublisher。

  blokvistwasoneofthefoundersofmillenniu；startedin1990。bergerdoesnotthinkthattheagazinewillsufferinthewakeoftheso…called“wennerstr？affair。”

  theagazinewilleoutasusualnextonth；saysberger。

  “mikaelblokvisthasplayedaajorroleintheagazine’sdevelopent；butnoe’returninganewpage。”

  bergerstatesthatsheregardsthewennerstr？affairastheresultofaseriesofunfortunatecircustances。sheregretsthenuisancetowhichhans…erikwennerstr？wassubjected。blokvistcouldnotbereachedforent。

  “itakesead；”bergersaidwhenthepressreleasewaseailedout。“mostpeoplearegoingtothinkthatyou’reanidiotandi’abitchwho’stakingtheopportunitytosackyou。”

  “atleastourfriendswillhavesoethingnewtolaughabout。”blokvisttriedtoakelightofit；shewasnottheleastaused。

  “idon’thaveaplanb；butithinkwe’reakingaistake；”shesaid。

  “it’stheonlywayout。iftheagazinecollapses；allouryearsofworkwillhavebeeninvain。we’vealreadytakenabeatingontheadsrevenue。howdiditgowiththeputerpany；bytheway？”

  shesighed。“theytoldethisorningthattheydidn’twanttotakespaceinthenextissue。”

  “wennerstr？hasachunkofstockinthatpany；soit’snoaident。”

  “wecanscareupsoenewclients。wennerstr？aybeabigwheel；buthedoesn’towneverythinginsweden；andwehaveourcontacts。”

  blokvistputanararoundherandpulledherclose。

  “soedaywe’regoingtonailherrwennerstr？sohardwallstreetisgoingtojupoutofitssocks。buttodaymillenniuhastogetoutofthespotlight。”

  “iknowallthat；butidon’tlikeingacrossasafuckingbitch；andyou’rebeingforcedintoadisgustingsituationifwepretendthatthere’ssoesortofdivisionbetweenyouande。”

  “ricky；aslongasyouanditrusteachotherwe’vegotachance。wehav. comlayitbyear；andrightnowit’stietoretreat。”

  shereluctantlyadittedthattherewasadepressinglogictowhathesaid。

  chapter4

  monday；deceber23–thursday；deceber26

  bergerstayedovertheweekend。theygotuponlytogotothebathrooortogetsoethingtoeat；buttheyhadnotonlyadelove。theyhadlainheadtofootforhoursandtalkedaboutthefuture；weighingupthepossibilities；andtheodds。whendawncaeonmondayorningitwasthedaybeforechristaseveandshekissedhigoodbye—untilnexttie—anddrovehoe。

  blokv