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