“idon’tgetit.”

blokvistsighed.itwasawhilebeforehespokeagain.

“ihadadanedgoodstory.istillhadn’tconfrontedwennerstr？hiself,butthestorywasairtight；ifihadpublisheditatthatoentireallywouldhaveshookhiup.itightnothaveledtoanindictentforfraud—thedealhadalreadybeenapprovedbytheauditors—butiwouldhavedaagedhisreputation.”

“whatwentwrong？”

“soewherealongthewaysoebodyheardaboutwhatiwaspokingynoseinto,andwennerstr？wasadeawareofyexistence.andallofasuddenawholebunchofstrangethingsstartedhappening.firstiwasthreatened.anonyouscallsfrocardtelephonesthatwereipossibletotrace.erikawasalsothreatened.itwastheusualnonsense:liedownorelsewe’regoingtonailyoutoabarndoor,andsoon.she,ofcourse,wasadasahellcat.”

hetookacigarettefrosalander.

“thensoethingextreelyunpleasanthappened.lateonenightwhenilefttheofficeiwasattackedbytwoenwhojustwalkeduptoeandgaveeacoupleofpunches.igotafatlipandfelldowninthestreet.icouldn’tidentifythe,butoneofthelookedlikeanoldbiker.”

“so,next…”

“allthesegoings-on,ofcourse,onlyhadtheeffectofakingerikaverycrossindeed,andigotstubborn.webeefedupsecurityatmillenniu.theproblewasthattheharassentwasoutofallproportiontothecontentofthestory.wecouldn’tfathowhyallthiswashappening.”

“butthestoryyoupublishedwassoethingquitedifferent.”

“exactly.suddenlyweadeabreakthrough.wefoundasource,adeepthroatinwennerstr？’scircle.thissourcewasliterallyscaredtodeath,andwewereonlyallowedtoeethiinhotelroos.hetoldusthattheoneyfrotheminosaffairhadbeenusedforweaponsdealsinthewarinyugoslavia.wennerstr？hadbeenakingdealswiththeright-wingustasheincroatia.notonlythat,thesourcewasabletogiveuscopiesofdocuentstobackitup.”

“youbelievedhi？”

“hewasclever.heonlyevergaveusenoughrationtoleadustothenextsource,whowouldconfirthestory.wewereevengivenaphotographofoneofwennerstr？’sclosestcolleaguesshakinghandswiththebuyer.itwasdetailedblockbusteraterial,andeverythingseeedverifiable.sowepublished.”

“anditwasafake.”

“itwasallafakefrobeginningtoend.thedocuentswereskilfulferies.wennerstr？’slawyerwasabl. comrovethatthephotographofwennerstr？’ssubordinateandtheustasheleaderwasaontageoftwodifferentiages.”

“fascinating,”salandersaid.

“inhindsightitwasveryeasytoseehoehadbeenanipulated.ouroriginalstoryreallyhaddaagedwennerstr？.nowthatstorywasdrownedinacleverfery.wepublishedastorythatwennerstr？couldpickapartpointbypointandprovehisinnocence.”

“youcouldn’tbackdownandtellthetruth？youhadabsolutelynoproofthatwennerstr？hadittedthefalsification？”

“ifwehadtriedtotellthetruthandausedwennerstr？ofbeingbehindthewholething,nobodywouldhavebelievedus.itwouldhavelookedlikeadesperateattepttoshifttheblaefroourstupidityontoaninnocentleaderofindustry.”

“isee.”

“wennerstr？hadtwolayersofprotection.ifthefakehadbeenrevealed,hewouldhavebeenabletoclaithatitwasoneofhiseneiestryingtoslanderhi.andweatmillenniuwouldonceagainhavelostallcredibility,sincewefellforsoethingthatturnedouttobefalse.”

“soyouchosenottodefendyourselfandtaketheprisonsentence.”

“ideservedit,”blokvistsaid.“ihadittedlibel.nowyouknow.canigobacktosleepnow？”

heturnedoffthelapandshuthiseyes.salanderlaydownnexttohi.

“wennerstr？isagangster.”

“iknow.”

“no,iean,iknowthathe’sagangster.heworkswitheverybodyfrotherussianafiatothecolobiandrugcartels.”

“whatdoyouean？”

“wheniturnedinyreporttofrodehegaveeanextraassignent.heaskedetotrytofindoutwhatreallyhappenedatthetrial.ihadjuststartedworkingonitwhenhecalledaranskyandcancelledthejob.”

“iwonderwhy.”

“iassuethattheyscrappedtheinvestigationassoonasyouaeptedhenrikvanger’sassignent.itwouldnolongerhavebeenofiediateinterest.”

“and？”

“well,idon’tlikeleavingthingsunresolved.ihadafeeeks…freelastspringwhenaranskydidn’thaveanyjobsfore,soididsoediggingintowennerstr？forfun.”

blokvistsatupandturnedonthelapandlookedatsalander.heethereyes.sheactuallylookedguilty.

“didyoufindoutanything？”

“ihavehisentireharddiskonyputer.youcanhaveasuchproofasyouneedthathe’sagangster.”

chapter28

tuesday,july29–friday,october24

blokvisthadbeenporingoversalander’sputerprintoutsforthreedays—boxesfullofpapers.theproblewasthatthesubjectskeptchangingallthetie.anoptiondealinlondon.acurrencydealinparisthroughanagent.apanywithapost-officeboxingibraltar.asuddendoublingoffundsinanaountatthechasemanhattanbankinnewyork.

andthenallthosepuzzlingquestionarks:atradingpanywith200,000kronorinanuntouchedaountregisteredfiveyearsearlierinsantiago,chile—oneofnearlythirtysuchpaniesintwelvedifferentcountries—andnotahintofwhattypeofactivitywasinvolved.adorantpany？waitingforwhat？afrontforsoeotherkindofactivity？theputergavenoclueastowhatwasgoingoninwennerstr？’sindorwhatayhavebeenperfectlyobvioustohiandsowasneverforulatedinanelectronicdocuent.

salanderwaspersuadedthatostofthesequestionswouldneverbeanswered.theycouldseetheessage,butwithoutakeytheywouldneverbeabletointerprettheeaning.wennerstr？’sepirewaslikeanonionfrowhichonelayerafteranothercouldbereoved；alabyrinthofenterprisesownedbyoneanother.panies,aounts,funds,securities.theyreckonedthatnobody—perhapsnotevenwennerstr？hiself—couldhaveapleteoverview.wennerstr？’sepirehadalifeofitsown.

buttherewasapattern,oratleastahintofapattern.alabyrinthofenterprisesownedbyeachother.wennerstr？’sepirewasvariouslyvaluedatbetween100and400billionkronor,dependingonwhoyouaskedandhowitwascalculated.butifpaniesowneachother’sassets—whatthenwouldbetheirvalue？

theyhadlefthedebyislandingreathasteearlyintheorningaftersalanderdroppedthebobthatwasnowoupyingeverywakingoentofblokvist’slife.theydrovetosalander’splaceandspenttwodaysinfrontofherputerwhilesheguidedhithroughwennerstr？’suniverse.hehadplentyofquestions.oneofthewaspurecuriosity.

“lisbeth,howareyouabletooperatehisputer,froapurelypracticalpointofview？”

“it’salittleinventionthatyfriendplaguecaeupwith.wennerstr？hasanibmla. comthatheworkson,bothathoeandattheoffice.thateansthatalltherationisonasingleharddrive.hehasabroadbandconnectiontohispropertyathoe.plagueinventedatypeofcuffthatyoufastenaroundthebroadbandcable,andi’testingitoutforhi.everythingthatwennerstr？seesisregisteredbythecuff,whichforwardsthedatatoaserversoewhereelse.”

“doesn’thehaveafirewall？”

salandersiled.

“ofcoursehehasafirewall.butthepointisthatthecuffalsofunctionsasatypeoffirewall.ittakesawhiletohacktheputerthisway.let’ssaythatwennerstr？getsaneail；itgoesfirsttoplague’scuffandwecanreaditbeforeitevenpassesthroughhisfirewall.buttheingeniouspartisthattheeailisrewrittenandafewbytesofsourcecodeareadded.thisisrepeatedeverytiehedownloadsanythingtohisputer.picturesareevenbetter.hedoesalotofsurfingonthe.eachtiehepicksupapornpictureoropensanewhoepage,weaddseveralrowsofsourcecode.afterawhile,inseveralhoursorseveraldays,dependingonhowuchheusestheputer,wennerstr？hasdownloadedanentireprograeofapproxiatelythreeegabytesinwhicheachbitislinkedtothenextbit.”

“and？”

“whenthelastbitsareinplace,theprograeisintegratedwithhisinterbrowser.tohiitwilllookasthoughhisputerhaslockedup,andhehastorestartit.duringtherestartawholenewsoftwareprograeisinstalled.heusesinterexplorer.thenexttiehestartsexplorer,he’sreallystartingawholedifferentprograethat’sinvisibleonhisdes. comandlooksandfunctionsjustlikeexplorer,butitalsodoesalotofotherthings.firstittakescontrolofhisfirewallandakessurethateverythingisworking.thenitstartstoscantheputerandtransitsbitsofrationeverytieheclickstheousewhilehe’ssurfing.afterawhile,againdependingonhowuchhesurfs,we’veauulatedapleteirroriageofthecontentsofhisharddriveonaserversoewhere.andthenit’stiefortheht.”

“ht？”

“sorry.plaguecallsittheht.hostiletakeover.”

“isee.”

“thereallysubtlethingiswhathappensnext.whenthestructureisready,wennerstr？hastwopleteharddrives,oneonhisownachineandoneonourserver.thenexttiehebootsuphisputer,it’sactuallytheirroredputerthat’sstarting.he’snolongerworkingonhisownputer；inrealityhe’sworkingonourserver.hisputerwillrunalittleslower,butit’svirtuallynotnoticeable.andwheni’connectedtotheserver,icantaphisputerinrealtie.eachtiewennerstr？pressesakeyonhisputeriseeitonine.”

“yourfriendisalsoahacker？”

“hewastheonewhoarrangedthetelephoapinlondon.he’salittleoutofitsocially,butonthehe’salegend.”

“ok,”blokvistsaid,givingheraresignedsile.“questionnubertwo:whydidn’tyoutelleaboutwennerstr？earlier？”

“youneveraskede.”