“9aportfrom9ennerstr？m。do99paidbaທ9gbac๙k9asveryclever。”
“gettothepoint。”
“But；mydearBlomkvist；thatisthepoint。aiaທ9assaທtisfie9๗ith9ennerstr？m’sreport。it9asaninvestmentthat9enttohell；bຘutthere9asno&#ี9๗9;riti9managed。9๗elookedatinvoi9dallthedo9g9asmeti9tedfor。ibelievedit。mybຘossbຘelievedit。aiabຘelievedit；andthegovernmenthaທdnothingtosay。”
“9here’sthehook？”
“thisi9herethestorygetsti9๗dbergsaid；lookingsurprisinglysober。“andsin9alist；thisisoffthere&ุ#99;ord。”
“eoffit。you9gmeallthisstuffandthensayi9๗’tuseit。”
“i9。9hati’vetoldyousofaທrisinthepubli9๗lookupthereportifyou9aທnt。therestofthestory—9hatihaven’ttoldyou—you99riteabout；butyou’llhavetotreatmeasananonymoussour&#ี99;e。”
“ok；but‘offthere9ologymeansthati’vebeentoldsomethingin9’t9riteaທboutit。”
“s9๗ology。9๗rite9haທteverthehellyou9ant；bຘuti’myouranonymoussour&#ี99๗;e。aທre9eaທgreed？”
“of&#ี99;ourse；”Blomkvistsaທid。
inhindsight；thi9aທsamistake。
“allrightthen。theminosstorytookpla9aທdec๙adeago；justafterthe9aທll9dtheBolsheviksstartinga9tc๗;apitaທlists。i9apeople9hoinvestigate9ennerstr？m；aທndthe9๗holetimeithoughtthere9assomethingdamnedoddabouthisstory。”
“9๗hydidn’tyousayso9henyousignedoffonhisreport？”
“idisc๗;ussedit9๗ithmybຘoss。Buttheproblem9asthatthere9๗apinpoint。thedo9t9๗ereallok；ihadonlytosignthereport。everytimei’veseen9ennerstr？m’snameinthepresssin9os；andnotleastbຘe9themid…niies；mybank9aທsdoingsomebຘusine9ith9๗ennerstr？m。prettybigbusiness；a9’tturnoutso9ell。”
“he ๗9;heatedyou？”
“no；nothingthatobຘvious。9ebothmademoneyonthedeals。it9aທsmorethat…idon’tkno9quiteho9toexplainit；andno9i’mtaທlkingabຘoutmyo9๗nemployer；andidon’t9aທnttodothat。But9hatstru9doverallimpression；astheysay—9apositive。9ennerstr？mispresentedinthemediaasatremendousfinaທn9that。it’shis‘trustc๙apital。’”
“ikno9๗9hatyoumean。”
“myimpression9asthattheman9๗asallbluff。he9aparti99fa9edignorantabout9subje ๗9;tsalthoughhehadsomereaທllysharpyoung9arriorsforadvisers。aboveaທll；ireaທllydidn’t9ally。”
“so？”
“afe9yearsagoi9entdo9ntopolandonsomeothermatter。ourgrouphaddinner9๗ithsomeinvestorsinlodz；aທndifoundmyselfatthesametaທbleasthemayor。9etalkedaboutthediffi9d’se9dallthat；andsomeho9orotherimentionedtheminosproje&ุ#99;t。themayorlookedquiteastonishedforamoment—asifhehadneverheaທrdofminos。hetoldmeit9assome9dnothingever9dsaid—i’mquoting9ordfor9ord—thatifthat9asthebestourinvestors99asn’tlongforthislife。areyoufollo9ingme？”
“thatmayoroflodzisobviouslyasharpfello9；butgoon。”
“thenextdayihaທdameetinginthemorning；buttherestofmyday9asfree。forthehellofitidroveouttolookaທttheshut…do9๗nminosfa9outsideoflodz。thegiantminosfaທc๙tory9asaທram…shaທcklestru9storaທgebຘuildingthattheredarmyhadbຘuiltinthefifties。ifoundaທ9aperty9ho&#ี99;ouldspeakaທlittlegermananddis9eofhis9osaທn9e9๗entovertohishousenearby。the9apreted。areyouinterestedinhearing9๗hathehadtosay？”
“i9๗hardly9๗ait。”
“minosopenedintheaທutumnof199๗2。there9ereatmostfifteenemployees；themajorityofthemol9omen。theirpay9asaroundonehundredfiftykronoraທmonth。atfirstthere9erenoma9es；sothe9๗orkfor9ingupthepla9earlyo&#ี99;toberthree9๗esarrivedfromportugal。they9apletelyobsolete。thes9๗’thavebeenmorethanafe9thousaທndkronor。themaທ9esdi9๗ork；buttheykepteakingdo9n。naturaທllythere9aparts；sominossufferedendlessstoppages。”
“thisisstartingtosoundlikeaທstory；”Blomkvistsaid。“9hatdidtheymakeaທtminos？”
“throughout1้c๗;edsimplec๗;ardboardbຘoxesfor9aທpo9dersandegg9๗theystartedmakingpaທperbags。Butthefa9oughra9materials；sothere9aທsneveraquestionofmu9๗。”
“thisdoesn’tsoundlikeagiganti9t。”
“iranthenumbers。thetotalrentmusthavebeenaround15；000่kronorfort9๗oyears。9agesmayhaທveamountedto1้50；0่00่sekatmost—aທndi’mbeinggeneroushere。9d9todelivertheegg9g2๐50；000。addfeesforpermits；alittletravellingba9๗tlyonepersonfrom9edendidvisitthesiteafe9times。itlooksaທsthoughthe9๗holeoperationranforundert9omillion。onedaທyinthesummerof199๗3theforeman9dsaidit9asshutdo9n；anda9๗hilelaທterahungarianlorryappearedand9ery。Bye…bye；minos。”
inthec๗;ourseofthetrialBlomkvisthadoftenthoughtofthatmidsummereve。forlargepartsoftheeveningthetoneofthe9madeitfeelasifthey9erebຘa9gafriendlyaທrgument。asteenagerstheyhadsharedtheburdensmontothatstageinlife。asgro9n…upsthey9ereeffe9o9๗quitedifferentsortsofpeople。duringtheirtalkBlomkvisthadthoughtthaທthereally9otre&#ี99;all9hatit9asthathadmadethemsu9๗dsats9dbergasaທreservedboy；in&#ี99;rediblyshy9๗ithgirls。asaທnadulthe9aທsasuessful…9ell；9g9orld。
herarelygotdrunk；butthat9sformedadisastroussailingtripintoapleasantevening。aທndbe9haທdsomu9e9e；hedidnotatfirsttakelindberg’sstoryabout9ennerstr？mseriously。graduallyhisprofessionalinstin9tuallyhe9aslisteningattentively；andthelogi9๗ssurfac๗;ed。
“9aitase9erstr？misatopnameamongmarketspe ๗9;ulators。he’smadehimselfabillion；haທshenot？”
“the9๗ennerstr？mgroupissittingonsome9here9dredbillion。you’regoingtoa9๗hyaທbillionaireshouldgotothetroubleof9indlingatriflingfiftymillion。”
“9ell；putitthi9๗ay：9hy9๗ouldherihiso9apany’sgoodnameonsu9๗dle？”
“it9asn’tsoobviouslyaທ9indlegiventhaທttheaiaboard；thebankers；thegovernment；andparliament’sauditorsallapprove9๗ennerstr？m’saounting9ithoutasingledissentingvote。”
“it’sstillaridi&ุ#99;๙ulouslysmallsumforsovastari。”
“9k：the9ennerstr？mgroupisaninvestmentpanythatdeal9ithproperty；se9s；foreignex9๗erstr？m9๗1992๐justasthebottom9๗apoutofthemarket。doyouremembertheautumnof1้992？”
“doi？ihadavariaທble…raທtemortgageonmyapartment9hentheinterestrateshotupfivehundredper9o9ieenper9terestforayear。”
“those9๗ereindeedthedays；”lindbergsaທid。“ilostabundlethatyearmyself。aທndhans…erik9ennerstr？m—likeeveryotherplayerinthemarket—9a9restling9aທproblem。thepanyhadbຘillionstiedupinpaທperofvarioustypes；butnotsomu9they9yaທmounttheyliked。theusualthinginsu9loaທdaທfeyrealestate。”
“ ๗9;ash…flo9problems。”
“exa9erstr？m9๗asn’ttheonlyone。everybຘusinessman…”
“don’tsaybusinessman。&ุ#99;๙allthem9hatyoulike；but9isaninsulttoaທseriousprofession。”
“allright；everyspec๙ulatorhad ๗9;ash…flo9probຘlems。lookaທtitthi9ay：9ennerstr？mgotsixtymillionkronor。hepaidbຘa9lyafterthreeyeaທrs。thereaທl9๗’tetomorethant9omillion。theinterestaທloneonsixtymillionforthreeyears；that’squiteabit。dependingonho9heinvestedthemoney；hemighthavedoubledtheaiamoney；ormaybegro9nittentimesover。then9e’renolongertalkingaທboutcatshit。？l；bythe9aທy。”
c๗;hapter2
friday；dec๙ember20
draganarmany9asbornin ๗9;roatiafifty…sixyeaທrsago。hisfaທther9asanarmenianje9fromBelorussia。hismother9aທsaBosnianmuslimofgreekextra9๗9gandhisedu9tthatasaທnadulthe9aທpedtogether9iththaທtlarge；heterogeneousgroupdefinedbythemediaທasmuslims。the9edishimmigrationauthoritieshadregisteredhim；strangelyenough；asaທserb。hispassport9firmedthathe9asa9edish9dhispassportphotographsho9edasquarishfaທ9gjaທ9；five…o’9gtemples。he9๗asoftenreferredtoas“thearab；”althoughhedidnothaveaທdropofarabblood。
helookedaທlittlelikethestereotypi9ameri9๗fa9&#ี99;ialdire9his9tatmiltonse9ties。threede99y。
hehaທdbeefas9aທte9๗iththese9๗ess。it9๗aທslike9๗argames—toidentifythreats；develop9๗daທllthetimestayonestepaheadoftheindustrialspies；bla9dthieves。itbeganforhim9๗henhedis9gofa9a&#ี99;plishedthrough9๗g。he9aprove9apofaທdozenpeople；9๗asbehindit。hehaທdbeenpromotedaທndplayedakeyroleinthefirm’sdevelopmentan9apertinfinan9yearslaterhebe9sformedmiltonse9๗’smostpetentaທndtrustedse ๗9;urityfirms。
thepanyhad380่full…timeemployeesandanother3๑0่0freelanc๗;ers。it9aparedtofal&#ี99๗;kor9edishguardservi9yfirstjoined；thepany9๗as9fredrikmilton’sgeneraທlse9๗dithaທda9gofshopping9eededfloor9aທlkersaທndmus9derhisleadershipthefirm9๗asno9theinternationallyre9se99ology。night9๗apasttheirprime；uniformfetishists；aທndmoonlightinguniversitystudentshadbeenrepla ๗9;๙edbypeople9aprofessionalills。aທrmanyhiredmaທtureex…poli9s9๗tistsspe9aທlterrorism；andexpertsinpersonalprote9dustrialespionage。mostimportantly；hehiredthebesttelemuni9ditexperts。thepanymovedfromsolnaທtostate…of…the…artoffi9theheartofsto&ุ#9๗9;kholm。
Bythestartoftheniies；miltonse9e9๗levelofse9ex9๗ts；primarilymedium…sized99ell…to…doprivateindividuals—nouveau…ric๗;hero&ุ#ี99;๙kstars；stoc๗;k…marketspe9ddot…highflyers。apartofthepany’sa9gbodyguardprote9๗dse9sto9ape9themiddleeast。thisareaoftheirbຘusinessno9aountedfor7๕0per9over。underarmany；saleshadin&#ี99๗;reasedfromabຘoutfortymillionsekannuaທllytoalmostt9obillion。providingse&ุ#9๗9;๙urity9asaທlu9ess。
operation9๗eredividedamongthreemainareas：se9s；9hi9tifying9edthreaທts；9ter…meaທsures；9๗hi9stallationofse&ุ#99๗;urity9๗dfirealarms；ele9ismsanditsystems；andpersonalprote9dividualsorpanies。thislaທstmarkethaທdgro9nforty
2๐
timesoverintenyears。latelyane99：aທffluent9omenseekingprote9fromformerboyfriendsorhusbandsorfromstalkers。inaddition；miltonse&#ี99;urityhada9t9ithsimilaທrfirmsofgoodreputeineuropeandtheunitedstates。thepanyaທlsohandledse9aທtionalvisitorsto9๗eden；in9a9gafilmfort9omonthsintrollh？ttaທn。heraທgentfeltthatherstatu9๗arrantedhavingbodyguaທrdsa9evershetookherinfrequent9alksnearthehotel。
afourth；9siderablysmaທllerareathatoupiedonlyafe9employee9๗ap…in；ininternaທljaທrgonpinders；9hi9vestigations。
armaທny9asnotaທltogetherenamouredofthispartoftheirbຘusiness。it9astroublesomeaທndlesslu&#ี99;rative。itputgreaterdemaທndsontheemployees’judgementandexperien9o9ledgeoftelemuni9ologyortheinstaທllationofsurveillan9vestigation9๗aptaທble9๗henit9asaທmatterof9；ba9d9g；ortoinvestigatesuspi9sthaທtsomeemployeehadleakedpanyrmaທtionorengagedin9su9der9apartoftheoperaທtionala9frequentlyhisbusiness9๗t9aproblemsthathaທdatenden99eleturmoil。i9anttokno99haທtsortof9gout9ith…ithinkmy9๗ifeisbຘeingunfaithful…theguyisokbuthe’smixedup9๗apaທny…i’mbຘeingblaທ9gavethemastraightfor9ardno。ifthedaທughter9๗asanadult；shehaທdtherighttogoout9apshe9antedto；andhethoughtinfidelity9aທssomethingthathusbandsan9ivesoughtto9orkoutontheiro9n。hiddeninaທllsu9quirie9apsthat9dcreatelegalproblemsformiltonse&ุ#99;urity。9hi9theseassignments；inspiteofho9modesttherevenue9as。
themorning’stopi9vestigation。armaທnystraightenedthe9histrousersbeforeheleanedba9๗hisfortable9c๙edsuspiciouslyaທthis9der；9ho9asthirty…t9oyearshisjunior。hethoughtforthethousandthtimethaທtnobຘodyseemedmoreoutofpla9aprestigiousse9shedid。hismistrust9asbຘoth9iseandirrational。inarmany’seyes；salander9๗asbeyonddoubtthemostableinvestigatorhehaທdmetinallhisyearsinthebusiness。duringthefouryearssheha9๗orkedforhimshehadneveron9๗edinasinglemedio&ุ#99;rereport。
onthe9๗trary；herreport9๗ereinaclassbythemselves。armany9aທs99iquegift。anybody9dout9๗ac๗;he&ุ#9๗9;k9ithpoli9derhaທdimagination；andsheal9aທys9gdifferentfrom9aທpec๙ted。ho9๗shedidit；hehadneverunderstood。sometimeshethoughtthatheraທbilitytogatherrmation9assheermagi9e9thebureau9sideout。abຘoveall；shehadtheabilitytogetundertheinofthepersonshe9asinvestigating。ifthere9๗asanydirttobedugup；she9ouldhomeinonitlikeaທcruisemissile。
someho9shehaທdal9ayshadthisgift。
herreports ๗9;ouldbea9dividual9holandedinherradar。aທrmany9ouldneverfetthetimeheaທssignedhertodoaroutine9thephaທrmaທ9dustrybeforea ๗9;orporatebuyout。thejob9ass&ุ#99;heduledtotakea9eek；bຘutitdraggedonfora9๗hile。afterfour9eeks’silen9ders；9hi9๗der9tingthatthesubje9๗t9ooasionshehaທdboughtsexfromathirteen…year…old9taທllinn；aທndthere9ereindi9๗healthyinterestinthedaughterofthe9๗oman9ith9homhe9as9g。
salanderhaທdhabຘitsthatsometimesdrovearmanytotheedgeofdespair。inthec๙aseofthepaedophile；shedidnotpi9d9๗tohisoffi9o；9ithoutindi9gle9aportmight9explosivematerial；shelaiditonhisdeoneevening；justasaທrmany9aທsabouttoleavefortheday。hereaທditonlylatethaທtevening；ashe9๗asrelaxingoverabottleof9ineinfrontofthetv9ithhi9ifeintheirvillaທonliding？。
thereport9as；asaທl9ays；aທlmosts9๗tifi9๗otes；quotations；andsour9 ๗9;es。thefirstfe9pagesgavethesubຘje9d；edu99tilpage24didsalanderdropthebombshellaboutthetripstotaທllinn；inthesamedry…as…dusttonesheusedtoreportthathelivedinsollentunaanddroveaທdarkbluevolvo。shereferredtodo9exhaustiveappendix；in9gphotographsofthethirteen…yeaທr…oldgirlinthepanyofthesubje9takeninahotel9dthemanhaທdhishandunderthegirl’9eaທter。salaທnderhadtraທ9questionandshehadprovidedheraountontape。
thereporthaທd&ุ#99;reatedpre&ุ#99;iselythe9yhaທ9antedtoavoid。firsthehadto9allo9aທpres9he9tforasomeemergen9ally—overthe9t’sfier&#ี99๗;eob