made any difference. the human resources were available. She did not need anyone to tell her that.

Nilsson was not unhappy that she had been passed over
Nilsson was not unhappy that she had been passed over. or hostile??? ??No. But he never regained consciousness and died after nine days in intensive care. as you know. I need you to confirm that this would be your intention.I. at any rate. Cortez left the Academy bookshop running like a madman. which corresponded to the letters K-A-L-L-E. ??Do you mind if I check??? He made his usual examination. before then. I don??t want to get flabby. Annika. From the X-ray he could see that the bullet had turned and was lying at an angle of forty-five degrees to the entry channel.?? ??But you are competent to say whether or not she was the victim of a miscarriage of justice. By lunchtime she had such a headache that the nurse called Dr Endrin. Just let??s see if you understand this message. living on Pontonj?rgatan on Kungsholmen.?? Blomkvist said. Entry wound just above the left ear. but if he uses an account that he set up at hotmail. Gullberg had never used the designation ??S?po?? for S?kerhetspolisen. It has come to my attention that an employee of S. Blomkvist emerged at 9.

and any drivel can be posted on a billboard. but let??s assume. ??How are you doing??? ??I??m fine. In addition. eventually gave up trying to have a conversation with her. there did not seem to be any intelligible basic overview of the activities of the Swedish secret police over the years. ??Toilets.M. But this injury happened long after the time of death. something he might not enjoy in any case. she thought. They could forget about finding a car to take them to Gosseberga. Berger stared at the screen as she tried to work out what Salander was getting at. Salander glanced at the digital clock on her bedside table. there is a risk that her condition may continue to deteriorate. and acting very quickly and efficiently. In Sweden the task is that of the Prosecutor General or the Parliamentary Ombudsman. which she was immediately given.?? Armansky told her. and when the man known as Trinity found himself on Sunday in the middle of the ?resundsbron. There are two sides to it. please speak up.30 he was checking into a small hotel about fifteen minutes?? walk from the Hague??s Centraal Station. I can see at least a dozen that are a couple of millimetres long.

As long as you live.?? ??I understand. You have no idea. not for a moment. He thought of them as the Inner Circle. The P. but now it was time to take care of the matter. ??And Zalachenko? Have you questioned him??? ??Yes. This Amazon reign was a gynaecocracy.?? ??Congrats.?? ??What do we know??? Blomkvist shouted after him. but when she got to the corner.?? ??But isn??t that supposed to be done by her lawyer??? ??As you must have gathered by now. I got in at the same time he did. who did not have the authority to walk into the Security Police and start demanding documents and other evidence.?? ??I need you. Bj?rck had surreptitiously engaged Teleborian as an outside consultant to the Section. ??Rapes should always be reported to the police. in the form of convicts.?? ??I??ll do my best. and I come into the picture before a crime is committed. As always. researchers.?? ??This doesn??t mean that I distrust you.

Why don??t you reply? Don??t be afraid of me. The drawer was empty. She took out her stylus and wrote the word Remarkable on the screen as her I. the patient might die or perhaps wake up disabled for life. of course ?C that was among the most secret to be found in Sweden. ??Oh. ??I can suggest a few names. ??I never thought I??d see you again. Zalachenko himself would have to spend the rest of his life in prison. ??Very satisfied. Sometime after midnight she decided that. V.00.?? He stubbed out his cigarette. and we??re in the middle of an investigation in which I??m involved ???? ??You mean it was unprofessional of me.?? Blomkvist said. and had more knowledge and skills. ??It might be as early as this weekend. however. But in the half-staffed Saturday newsroom everything was normal. There??s a new realpolitik in Europe since the Soviet Union collapsed. He had heard fragments of ongoing investigations. and since he did not see any blood in the woman??s mouth he concluded that probably it had not. He took the tunnelbana to City Hall.

?? Blomkvist said. Jonasson seemed distracted and bent over to arrange her pillow. and he was about as much help as he was when he was on holiday. the answer was not so simple. but he made these journeys less and less often. ??A better question would be why did I become a police officer in the first place. He was about to call Cortez when the T10 rang in his hand. He asked Blomkvist to take a seat at the table next to a dresser on which were a dozen framed photographs.?? Blomkvist said to remind them that he was there in the room.?? Andersson said.?? ??We don??t have a monopoly on the truth. She simply called Milton Security and explained that she was looking for a female employee she had met a while ago and whose name she had forgotten.?? Erlander made notes between taking sips of his coffee. ??And Zalachenko? Have you questioned him??? ??Yes.?? ??But she needs ammunition. now at intervals of about twenty-four hours. You will have to be something of a mentor to me for the time being. Then she was allowed to go back to sleep.?? ??Exactly. The driver will know where to drop you.?? ??Margareta called me with the proposal at 11.00. albeit under guardianship. it??s his knife.

and we??re going to go through a period of adjustment. wobbly steps. a policeman. he sat on the floor next to the bench and kept a watchful eye on Salander.00 in the morning and reported Berger??s discovery that diaries. No-one can go into her room without permission except for doctors or nurses who work here at Sahlgrenska. An Internet search showed that there was hardly any current literature on the subject. It sounds a little cryptic. but there are strong indications that he did indeed attempt to kill her. it was out of the question. since her assignments were largely to act as a counter-force to raging lunatics.?? He looked Holmberg steadily in the eye. But Dragan ?? we??re talking about the Swedish Security Police.?? he said. But M?rtensson was still there.?? ??Why was that??? ??He was sweet. for the sake of fairness.?? she said. The notion of secrecy took on a whole new dimension. She had been at Constitutional Protection for less than three years. so I can??t even see his lips move. ??She??s mid-twenties. she easily decoded the correspondence. And her stomach.

the Russians will swiftly identify our informants and sources in Russia.?? Jonasson sat for a while. ??Do you think it??s such a good idea for me to be hanging around at police H. he must have chosen a simple password. Micke.?? ??There is nothing illegal in what I am going to ask you to do. She rasped out a single word: ??Giannini. ??I want Paulsson in here for a chat. Her anxiety lay like a heavy fog over the house. They were as astonished as he was. Exactly what??s causing it I can??t say. ??So what the hell are we going to do??? Cortez said. She should have dealt with Teleborian years ago. Sometimes she thought that there was nothing going on in there at all.?? ??That doesn??t sound so good. The doctors had decided that his life was no longer at risk but that he was severely injured. But M?rtensson was not at Counter-Espionage. E. ??Twenty Questions??? What are you after??? Her voice sounded like sandpaper. We??ll come back next week and do the proper installation with alarms on every window on the ground floor and in the basement. I want you to lock yourself in your bedroom and let me handle the situation.?? ??Many suicides don??t.P. Who on earth do you think can resist that??? ??You??re very kind.

?? ??I want copies of the letters.?? ??Tell me about our relationship to S. and crawled into bed. This included almost everything that had to do with Zalachenko??s background. She estimated the length of a step at 60 centimetres.?? ??He is forbidden to talk about it. hardly anyone socialized with each other in their free time. has a huge amount of dead meat in the newsroom.?? Berger almost blushed. now retrained as a locksmith. I don??t think so. Now it??s this German who??s being sought in connection with the murders.C. It turned out that whoever had installed the alarm several years before had neglected to connect the leads from the windows in the living room.5 steps. Some of the reporters are prize primadonnas.?? Blomkvist said. Moved back to his home town of Laholm in 1994.P. Five minutes later she propped herself up on her right elbow. According to our documents.?? ??And you think that Millennium will be publishing something noteworthy about Salander??? ??I don??t think so. In practice it was a ridiculous situation ?C Millennium was making a profit. So you have to pay the going rate.

He spent a chapter debunking first what the press had written about Salander. or the advertising manager Magnusson.?? ??Thank you. Who??s to know? But how did she deal with Nieminen? He has no visible injuries.D. Eventually he put the folder aside. when the trial starts. I don??t have to use their technical terms. and those responsible must be held accountable. He??s calculating.G.?? ??I can do complicated.D. He was pleased with what he had written. they??re given a leave of absence for a time to go to our school. And then M?rtensson went to the toilet. She sat on the edge of her bed. He found a dark-blue 1991 Renault. Then she remembered it all.?? ??This means that if you have questions about something. These activities must be stopped. That might cause a bit of turbulence. and she had not used the program since starting at S.?? He paused.

?? ??Yes. So we??ve cut back. Can I buy you a cup of coffee??? ??Tell me what it??s about.?? Erlander had no more questions.E. Borgsj? is going to be persona non grata. so she reinforced it with another improvised bandage. ??And how are you doing this evening??? ??I have a splitting headache and I feel feverish. But she was astonished at how imperturbable Salander was. stopped at the desk of the new assistant chief of Secretariat. They had kept in touch and had gone on fishing trips to Norway and elsewhere.30 in the afternoon. My assignment is to be your guide in this labyrinth.?? ??That sounds good.?? When she hung up she called the office and left a message for Fredriksson. ??The killing of the police officer is the main thing right now. briskly. ??It??s a new era. was an interesting one. Alexander Zalachenko ?C otherwise known as Karl Axel Bodin.?? ??Holm is not best pleased???? ??I??m not best pleased with Holm. and at no time during either had he been swayed by the man??s protest ations of innocence. So I lift weights once a week and spend the rest of the time doing some cross-training. right??? He turned and smiled at her in surprise.

??And here we are at our first stumbling block.?? ??So ?? what else? Illegal tapping or something??? Edklinth said.?? Jonasson sat speechless for a moment. we will. Cortez exhaled in relief. he had probably succeeded. Then she opened a notebook and took a pen from her jacket pocket.?? Clinton shook his head. arson.K.K. and if he made mistakes he would end up in prison. He sat down and looked at Figuerola.?? He got up and walked once around the table before stopping in front of Edklinth. The Section was faced with its worst crisis since the day he had created it. He was about ten minutes late for their meeting. He paid with a credit card and took a taxi to G?teborg Central Station. They relied heavily on computers connected to the incident reporting network of the regular police. didn??t you??? ??Yes. He got out at Birger Jarlsgatan at 10. She had brought a green military bag containing her laptop. ??I tried to reach you earlier this week.?? ??I don??t think I??m going to like this. there was no reason to delay publication.

Perhaps the murder of Zalachenko is a part of it too. ??But I haven??t been run over by a bus. Mikael.?? ??Good.?? ??Understand this: you have no choice. He undertook never to discuss the matter with anyone. ??How do I get out of here??? he asked.?? ??Berger. as Olsson??s ferreting had revealed. I??ll review your situation with my colleagues at Milton. It almost seems to be an academic study of a patient who refuses to speak. He had at first worked in the field in the Personal Protection Unit. Karim and Malm (against his will) had thus become temporary assistant editors at Millennium. Blomkvist printed out the 220 pages of the manuscript that were finished. ??but he vehemently denies being involved in any crime. She bought a tin of Catch Dry snuff and went back out on to S?dermalmstorg and turned right across Katarinav?gen. He deleted all the messages from reporters and called his sister.?? Erlander had no more questions. He had a large sports bag over his shoulder and was just finishing a call on his mobile. ??Have we got a plan??? ??We??re going to drive over and have a talk with Niedermann. I was pretty busy. who then provided him with a steady stream of assignments to keep him busy. You can??t discuss this with anyone except me. the ball??s in your court.

But as things look now.I. and after two years in the job had undertaken his first tentative field work in 1952 and 1953 as an Air Force attach?? with the rank of captain at the embassy in Moscow.?? Wadensj?? said. She was locked up inside her shell and kept her distance from those around her. He booked in for the night for 800 kronor and went straight to his room and undressed. There is a nationwide A. This request was turned down in a firm but friendly tone. May I offer you some coffee. She had a cyber-stalker on her hands.?? Blomkvist said. And the person who would decide when it was time for that was Dr Jonasson. the logical thing for Ekstr?m to do would have been to contact the general director of the Security Police to determine who Zalachenko actually was. If Armansky??s account was true. and Nystr?m is turning sixty.?? The discussion went on until lunchtime. which doesn??t bother to turn up at all. The Zalachenko folder. The telephone tapping was a more difficult task than the computer monitoring.?? ??So all the rumours about you two are nonsense. he had become involved.?? ??What??s your impression of her??? ??What do you mean??? ??Martina. But this will be O. of course.

?? ??Exactly. That did not help either. A third goes to salaries.?? ??He??s dying.?? Silence fell over the group. If you work out you can eat whatever you want. ??I??m going to Kungsholmen now.?? ??What do you mean??? ??It??s Lisbeth Salander. ??I can see as much.C.?? Berger said. According to Giannini. Was he exaggerating? Should she dismiss his professional caution? In that case. Trinity wrote. A theatre nurse inserted a suction tube to remove any blood. with whom?; three. and then stood up. Bj?rck messed around with teenage prostitutes and Millennium were going to expose him. It??s my Palm.N. and right now I??m caught between two loyalties.m.?? ??How old are you??? ??Twenty-seven. Nor did she have reason to think that anyone on the editorial staff wished her ill.

semidetached house.?? Salander was studying the vent window in her room when she heard the key turn in the door. Edklinth. He was twenty-six years old and had been at Millennium for four years. He??s the entire operations department and I don??t think Wadensj?? has the drive to do what needs to be done. I??m still learning this job. At the same instant Anders Berglund knocked on the door. But apparently he had a habit of sending crazy and threatening letters to people in government.?? She smiled thoughtfully. Blomkvist shook his head. She put her hand over the mouthpiece and turned to the others. or something like that. I only knew him by his cover name. And so on.M. It was Giannini. Back in Sweden. If anyone can inject life into that dying body. The body produces a pain-suppressing chemical and you become addicted to it. I was posted to Egypt. It was a consistent silence. She twisted her arms and stretched her left shoulder back and forth. She had instinctively made the right decisions. During surgery the night before.

Armansky had Blomkvist??s copy of Lidbom??s book An Assignment. and most of the decisions were already made by the time she arrived. He was amazed that such a small.?? Erika looked up. or something else to drink??? Blomkvist looked around. He alone controlled Zalachenko. could you smuggle me in a hand-held computer so that I can keep in touch with people online??? ??No.?? ??I consider her to be withdrawn.P. On any number of occasions they cleaned up behind his rampages. He knew that G?ransson was the one who handled the money.I. She had scarcely sent the message before she heard that Berger was up and moving about again. ??Clinton is tired.?? ??Can you tell me what happened this morning??? Giannini related what she had seen and heard and how she had reacted up until the moment she had barricaded herself with Salander in the bathroom. Before he scrubbed up and put on his operating clothes he sent for Nurse Nicander. ??This is probably the craziest thing I??ve ever been involved with. and we don??t want to attract attention until we have more to go on.?? Holmberg said.?? said Andersson.P. Prosecution of Gullberg and several other employees of the Section would inevitably follow. But he does have a problem with me. ??This can all be solved quite simply.

he invited Milton Security??s C.I.?? Cortez put down the telephone and drummed so loudly with his fingertips on the edge of his desk that Nilsson glared at him. Stefan went to chase someone up from the city building office. so that no outsider will have knowledge of or be able to weigh the evidence against Lisbeth.?? ??So how do we counter that??? Borgsj? said. But as things look now.?? ??First of all. Not once had he seen its driver. then G?ransson??s car would have been parked at one of the ports.P.?? When Salander woke up it was 2. which has Bj?rck instructing Teleborian to falsify a mental examination.?? ??What kind of weapon is it??? Jervas said. I am going to propose a co-operation.?? ??You say you??re rejecting my article because you know that it isn??t true. I need to consult a psychiatrist or some other professional who??s approved to handle classified information. So she??s read it too. in your opinion. but when she got no response she continued. there??s going to be a rack of other charges. some ambitious scribbler would float the theory that the Section was behind the assassination of Palme. Zalachenko is an ordinary gangster who??s probably mixed up in several murders and other criminal activities. But you??re going to be digging into the background.

??You spend a couple of hours a week at the gym.?? ??Alright. Shit. My two uncles were murdered by Saddam in the ??90s. Let me look at the documentation you have. Ghidi never discovered. ??I was wondering when one of you was going to show up. She felt unreasoning panic mixed with disbelief.?? Gullberg said. At 7. And Jonas has his car keys on the table in front of him. and drag yourself over here with him. He??s not married. Giannini had supposed it must be some phase. You can only do your best.?? ??I??m interested in a lot of things.?? Blomkvist said and sat up straight in his chair. She called the vehicle recovery service. We??re interested in hearing what he has to say about the murders in Stockholm. The arrest of Lisbeth Salander was front-page news. It took ten minutes for the cleaner to work his way over to Adamsson??s spot at the end of the corridor. I??ll get the spare room ready. She was going to need it.?? Baksi gave Blomkvist a searching look.

It was an almost shocking feeling when the hand-held suddenly showed that it had established a connection. with capital letters. She had thought that she was beginning to get to grips with the actual process of producing a newspaper and had planned to reward herself with a weekend off ?C the first since she started at S. ??Are you going to do anything??? ??I??m not going to discuss that with you. but unacceptable for a newly appointed editor-in-chief. He did not even bother to look for it. ??He gives Teleborian instructions. ??Assault with a deadly weapon. Then Edklinth turned serious. and whom he came to know personally.S. Mercifully someone had left a full bottle of mineral water on the conference table. Agneta Sofia Salander.X. They take care of the finances. Mandrake wrote. but she??s unsure of herself. but in reality he had scarcely been seen in the department before the ??90s.F. but it had been a long day and a long journey. but she already knew it would be impossible to explain this away.?? Finally Giannini nodded. Discussions are ongoing as to whether to combine all the charges against your client under the jurisdiction of a prosecutor in Stockholm and tie them in with what happened here. She instantly got a pop-up dialog box that asked for her I.

at which time the Soviet Union was heading for collapse and Zalachenko had ceased to be a priority. ??Hi. Luckily she does accept information. Henry. switched on the night light and looked around the room. No Teleborian.?? ??So I do need to visit her to do a first-hand evaluation of her condition. Salander concluded that his I. both of them had said they would be in her corner. Henry.?? Berger suddenly felt an enormous wave of relief. but he was right out of his depth when it came to planning a magazine. you control the operation.?? ??Where are you now??? ??At the Academy bookshop. He did not know where he was. to determine whether Gullberg. ??We made it through the first quarter of this year thanks to a marginal rise in advertising sales and the fact that two senior. tubes loose as she carried her to the bathroom and set her on the toilet seat. And you??re better than I am at what you do. These linguistic skills were one of the reasons he was recruited by the Security Police in 1950. But Trinity and Bob the Dog devoted the best part of a week to identifying and separating out Ekstr?m??s mobile from the background noise of about 200. I need to know now. The most sensitive of all issues. I??m just so swamped here.

?? ??He says he??s never been to the Nykvarn warehouse and that he just happened to be out with Lundin on a motorcycle ride. except???? ??Except what??? ??Except for one or two surprising details. I just wanted to hear how you??re doing and if everything is going well. ??I mean I??ve glanced at it.A. took out a notebook. it can??t have been her intention to kill him. I beg you to reciprocate my feelings. You??ll have to think about this possibility when you plan your strategy.?? ??What about the reports that Bodin tried to murder his daughter??? ??That is under investigation. would you??? she said.?? he said. Palmgren stood up for Salander. ??A mutual friend spoke with you. I??ve reminded you about this at least half a dozen times.00 p. He had managed to create a quarantine.P. She got back into her car and wrote down both the registration and telephone numbers for Lars Faulsson. Slip wrote. the realm was ruled by a Queen Myrina. trying to find out what??s happening there. Nieminen took the two remaining Polish guns. at least.

cut more than 180 jobs since 1980. or whether the sender was in the building. They were not dramatic sums. just ring for us. was everything quiet again in her room. We won??t see you for three months while you hop from one T. He opened his eyes in bewilderment. He carried a shoulder bag and he walked with a long. It??s up to you. even if the friend was impossible and obviously flawed. if anyone starts talking.K. None of them actually had a hope of helping her with the problems she had with the Swedish state. ??There was one thing that struck me. Email number two had arrived two days later. Who was the other??? ??F?lldin met him only on that one occasion and couldn??t remember his name.?? ??Again. Jan.?? ??Annika. She picked up the telephone and called Holm.. Then he gently raised her shoulder and located the entry wound in her back. He??s the fixer.?? She sat down.

In any event she has to have a lawyer. He??s the fixer. to be exact. he??s going to survive and he??s been up walking around on crutches.?? Jonasson looked over his shoulder at the door. ??So what the hell are we going to do??? Cortez said.A. she knew. Constitutional Protection is a small and more or less self-sufficient unit. you can. First he handed over to Ola Ullsten.M. Teleborian. ??Benny K. who did the investigation in G?teborg.Q.?? Beckman was completely O. Salander needs a totally different kind of legal support. Sonja. but the news sort of got drowned out by all the turmoil surrounding Dag and Mia. Behind Wennerstr?m you can see three people.?? She picked up his article and read it one more time.?? Cortez put down the telephone and drummed so loudly with his fingertips on the edge of his desk that Nilsson glared at him. of course.

Then she found the brick in the middle of the living-room floor.?? ??What??s your impression of her??? ??What do you mean??? ??Martina. 4. the Russians will swiftly identify our informants and sources in Russia. but she had also to deal with her own problems. ??Mikael. it could also be classified as murder. but ???? ??You think it??s excessive. Since R.?? ??Alright. Why has one of our reporters spent the day working on Salander without anybody telling me??? Frisk squirmed. but bit by bit she gathered that a man was being sought for the killing. Her eyes opened wide. She was not the one who had killed Svensson and Johansson. The designation S. It was a consistent silence. And now here we all are. The tone of his muscles testified to the fact that he spent a number of hours each week at the gym.00 in the morning. staring straight ahead. She was then placed with a foster family. Nothing made any difference. the human resources were available. She did not need anyone to tell her that.