“And you think that’s what you will find in Hedestad?”

“I checked the cuttings. Wennerström did work at the Vanger company from 1969 to 1972. He was in management and was responsible for strategic placements. He left in a hurry. Why should we rule out the possibility that Henrik Vanger does have something on him?”

“But if what he did happened thirty years ago, it’s going to be hard to prove it today.”

“Vanger promised to set out in detail what he knows. He’s obsessed with this missing girl-it seems to be the only thing he’s interested in, and if this means he has to burn Wennerström then I think there’s a good chance he’ll do it. We certainly can’t ignore the opportunity-he’s the first person who’s said he’s willing to go on record with evidence against Wennerström.”

“We couldn’t use it even if you came back with incontrovertible proof that it was Wennerström who strangled the girl. Not after so many years. He’d massacre us in court.”

“The thought had crossed my mind, but it’s no good: he was plugging away at the Stockholm School of Economics and had no connection with the Vanger companies at the time she disappeared.” Blomkvist paused. “Erika, I’m not going to leave Millennium, but it’s important for it to look as if I have. You and Christer have to go on running the magazine. If you can…if you have a chance to…arrange a cease-fire with Wennerström, then do it. You can’t do that if I’m still on the editorial board.”

“OK, but it’s a rotten situation, and I think you’re grasping at straws going to Hedestad.”

“Have you a better idea?”

Berger shrugged. “We ought to start chasing down sources right now. Build up the story from the beginning. And do it right this time.”

“Ricky-that story is dead as a doornail.”

Dejected, Berger rested her head on her hands. When she spoke, at first she did not want to meet Blomkvist’s eyes.

“I’m so fucking angry with you. Not because the story you wrote was baseless-I was in on it as much as you were. And not because you’re leaving your job as publisher-that’s a smart decision in this situation. I can go along with making it look like a schism or a power struggle between you and me-I understand the logic when it’s a matter of making Wennerström believe I’m a harmless bimbo and you’re the real threat.” She paused and now looked him resolutely in the eye. “But I think you’re making a mistake. Wennerström isn’t going to fall for it. He’s going to keep on destroying Millennium. The only difference is that starting from today, I have to fight him alone, and you know that you’re needed more than ever on the editorial board. OK, I’d love to wage war against Wennerström, but what makes me so cross is that you’re abandoning ship all of a sudden. You’re leaving me in the lurch when things are absolutely at their worst ever.”

Blomkvist reached across and stroked her hair.

“You’re not alone. You’ve got Christer and the rest of the staff behind you.”

“Not Janne Dahlman. By the way, I think you made a mistake hiring him. He’s competent, but he does more harm than good. I don’t trust him. He went around looking gleeful about your troubles all autumn. I don’t know if he hopes he can take over your role or whether it’s just personal chemistry between him and the rest of the staff.”

“I’m afraid you’re right,” Blomkvist said.

“So what should I do? Fire him?”

“Erika, you’re editor in chief and the senior shareholder of Millennium. If you have to, fire him.”

“We’ve never fired anyone, Micke. And now you’re dumping this decision on me too. It’s no fun any more going to the office in the morning.”

At that point Malm surprised them by standing up.

“If you’re going to catch that train we’ve got to get moving.” Berger began to protest, but he held up a hand. “Wait, Erika, you asked me what I thought. Well, I think the situation is shitty. But if things are the way Mikael says-that he’s about to hit the wall-then he really does have to leave for his own sake. We owe him that much.”

They stared at Malm in astonishment and he gave Blomkvist an embarrassed look.

“You both know that it’s you two who are Millennium. I’m a partner and you’ve always been fair with me and I love the magazine and all that, but you could easily replace me with some other art director. But since you asked for my opinion, there you have it. As far as Dahlman is concerned, I agree with you. And if you want to fire him, Erika, then I’ll do it for you. As long as we have a credible reason. Obviously it’s extremely unfortunate that Mikael’s leaving right now, but I don’t think we have a choice. Mikael, I’ll drive you to the station. Erika and I will hold the fort until you get back.”

“What I’m afraid of is that Mikael won’t ever come back,” Berger said quietly.

Armansky woke up Salander when he called her at 1:30 in the afternoon.

“What’s this about?” she said, drunk with sleep. Her mouth tasted like tar.

“Mikael Blomkvist. I just talked to our client, the lawyer, Frode.”

“So?”

“He called to say that we can drop the investigation of Wennerström.”

“Drop it? But I’ve just started working on it.”

“Frode isn’t interested any more.”

“Just like that?”

“He’s the one who decides.”

“We agreed on a fee.”

“How much time have you put in?”

Salander thought about it. “Three full days.”

“We agreed on a ceiling of forty thousand kronor. I’ll write an invoice for ten thousand; you’ll get half, which is acceptable for three days of time wasted. He’ll have to pay because he’s the one who initiated the whole thing.”

“What should I do with the material I’ve gathered?”

“Is there anything dramatic?”

“No.”

“Frode didn’t ask for a report. Put it on the shelf in case he comes back. Otherwise you can shred it. I’ll have a new job for you next week.”

Salander sat for a while holding the telephone after Armansky hung up. She went to her work corner in the living room and looked at the notes she had pinned up on the wall and the papers she had stacked on the desk. What she had managed to collect was mostly press cuttings and articles downloaded from the Internet. She took the papers and dropped them in a desk drawer.

She frowned. Blomkvist’s strange behaviour in the courtroom had presented an interesting challenge, and Salander did not like aborting an assignment once she had started. People always have secrets. It’s just a matter of finding out what they are.

PART 2. Consequence Analyses

CHAPTER 8. Friday, January 3-Sunday, January 5

When Blomkvist alighted from his train in Hedestad for the second time, the sky was a pastel blue and the air icy cold. The thermometer on the wall of the station said 0°F. He was wearing unsuitable walking shoes. Unlike on his previous visit, there was no Herr Frode waiting with a warm car. Blomkvist had told them which day he would arrive, but not on which train. He assumed there was a bus to Hedeby, but he did not feel like struggling with two heavy suitcases and a shoulder bag, so he crossed the square to the taxi stand.

It had snowed massively all along the Norrland coast between Christmas and New Year’s, and judging by the ridges and piles of snow thrown up by the ploughs, the road teams had been out in full force in Hedestad. The taxi driver, whose name, according to his ID posted on the window, was Hussein, nodded when Blomkvist asked whether they had been having rough weather. In the broadest Norrland accent, he reported that it had been the worst snowstorm in decades, and he bitterly regretted not taking his holiday in Greece over the Christmas period.