sooner the better. Armansky was a realist. If the police told him that a person was suspected of murder, the chances were that it was true. So Salander was guilty.
But the police weren't taking into account whether she might have felt that her actions were justified - or whether there might be some mitigating circumstance or a reasonable explanation for her having gone berserk. The police were required to catch her and prove that she had fired the shots, not dig into her psyche. They would be satisfied if they could find a motive, but failing that, they were ready to call it an act of insanity. He shook his head. He could not accept that she was an insane mass murderer. Salander never did anything against her will or without thinking through the consequences.
Peculiar - yes. Insane - no.
So there had to be an explanation, no matter how obscure it might appear to anyone who did not know her.
At around 2:00 in the morning he made a decision.
CHAPTER 17
Easter Sunday, March 27 - Tuesday, March 29
Armansky got up early on Sunday after hours of worrying. He padded downstairs without waking Ritva and made coffee and a sandwich. Then he opened his laptop.
He opened the report form that Milton Security used for personal investigations. He typed in as many facts as he could think of about Salander's personality.
At 9:00 Ritva came down and poured herself coffee. She wondered what he was doing. He gave a noncommittal answer and kept writing. He was going to be a lost cause all day.
Blomkvist turned out to be wrong, probably because it was Easter weekend and police headquarters was still relatively empty. It took until Sunday morning before the media discovered that he was the one who had found Svensson and Johansson. The first to call was a reporter from Aftonbladet, an old friend.
"Hello, Blomkvist. It's Nicklasson."
"Hello, Nicklasson."
"So you were the one who found the couple in Enskede."
Blomkvist confirmed that was true.
"My source tells me they worked for Millennium."
"Your source is part right and part wrong. Dag Svensson was doing a freelance report for Millennium. Mia Johansson wasn't working for us."
"Oh boy. This is a hell of a story, you've got to admit."
"I know," Blomkvist said wearily.
"Why haven't you released a statement?"
"Dag was a colleague and a friend. We thought it would be best at least to tell his and Mia's relatives what happened before we put out any story."
Blomkvist knew that he wouldn't be quoted on that point.
"That makes sense. What was Dag working on?"
"A story we commissioned."
"What about?"
"What sort of scoop are you planning at Aftonbladet?"
"So it was a scoop."
"Screw you, Nicklasson."
"Oh, come on, Blomman. You think the murders had anything to do with the story Dag Svensson was working on?"
"You call me Blomman one more time, and I'm hanging up and not talking to you for the rest of the year."
"All right, I'm sorry. Do you think Dag was murdered because of his work as an investigative journalist?"
"I have no idea why Dag was murdered."
"Did the story he was working on have anything to do with Lisbeth Salander?"
"No. Nothing whatsoever."
"Did Dag know that nutcase?"
"I have no idea."
"Dag wrote a bunch of articles on computer crime recently. Was that the type of story he was writing for Millennium?"
You just won't give up, will you? Blomkvist thought. He was about to tell Nicklasson to piss off when he sat bolt upright in bed. He had just had two great ideas. Nicklasson started to say something else.
"Hold on, Nicklasson. Don't move. I'll be right back."
Blomkvist got up and held his hand over the mouthpiece. He was suddenly on a completely different planet.
Ever since the murders, he had been racking his brains about how he could find a way to get in touch with Salander. There was a chance - a rather good chance - that she would read what he said to the newspapers, wherever she was. If he denied that he knew her, she might interpret that to mean that he had abandoned her or betrayed her. If he defended her, then other people would interpret it as meaning that he knew more about the murders than he had said. But if he made a statement in just the right way, it might give Salander an impulse to reach him.
"Sorry, I'm back. What did you say?"
"Was Dag writing about computer crime?"
"If you want a sound bite from me, I'll give you one."