He bought both the evening papers and the morning ones too and then went over to a cafeteria. He read the articles with growing astonishment.
When Blomkvist came home to Bellmansgatan at 11:00 on Thursday night he was tired and depressed. He had planned to make it an early night to catch up on his sleep, but he couldn't resist the temptation to switch on his iBook and check his email. Nothing of great interest there, but he opened the folder. His pulse quickened when he discovered a new document entitled [MB2]. He double-clicked.
Prosecutor E. is leaking information to the media. Ask him why he didn't leak the old police report.
Blomkvist pondered the message, baffled. What old police report? Why did she have to write every message like a riddle? He created a new document that he called [Cryptic].
Hi, Sally. I'm tired as hell and I've been on the go nonstop since the murders. I don't feel like playing guessing games. Maybe you don't give a damn, but I want to know who killed my friends. M.
He waited at his desk. The reply [Cryptic 2] came a minute later.
What would you do if it was me?
He replied with [Cryptic 3].
Lisbeth, if it's true that you've really gone over the edge, then maybe you can ask Peter Teleborian to help you. But I don't believe you murdered Dag and Mia. I hope and pray that I'm right.
Dag and Mia were going to publish their exposes of the sex trade. My theory is that could have been the reason for the murders. But I have nothing to go on.
I don't know what went wrong between us, but you and I discussed friendship once. I said that friendship is built on two things - respect and trust. Even if you don't like me, you can still depend on me and trust me. I've never shared your secrets with anyone. Not even what happened to Wennerstrom's billions. Trust me. I'm not your enemy. M.
Blomkvist had almost given up hope when, nearly fifty minutes later, the file [Cryptic 4] materialized.
I'll think about it.
Blomkvist sighed with relief. He felt a little ray of hope. The reply meant exactly what it said. She was going to think about it. It was the first time since, without a word of explanation, she had vanished from his life that she had held out the prospect of communicating with him at all. He wrote [Cryptic 5].
OK, I'll wait. But please don't take too long.
Inspector Faste got the call when he was on Långholmsgatan near Vasterbron on his way to work on Friday morning. The police did not have the resources to put the apartment on Lundagatan under twenty-four-hour surveillance, so they had arranged for a neighbour, a retired policeman, to keep an eye on it.
"The Chinese girl just came in," the neighbour said.
Faste could hardly have been in a more convenient place. He made an illegal turn past the bus shelter on to Heleneborgsgatan just before Vasterbron and drove down Hogalidsgatan to Lundagatan. He was there less than two minutes after he got the call and jogged across the street and through to the back building.
Miriam Wu was still standing at the door of her apartment staring at the drilled-out lock and the police tape across the door when she heard footsteps on the stairs behind her. She turned and saw a powerfully built man looking intently at her. She felt he was hostile and dropped her bag on the floor and prepared to resort to Thai boxing if necessary. "Are you Miriam Wu?" he said. To her surprise he held up a police ID. "Yes," she said. "What's going on here?"
"Where have you been staying the past week?"
"I've been away. What happened? Was there a break-in?"
"I'm going to have to ask you to come with me to Kungsholmen," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Bublanski and Mo dig watched as Miriam Wu was escorted by Faste into the interview room. She was plainly angry.
"Please have a seat. My name is Criminal Inspector Jan Bublanski, and this is my colleague Inspector Sonja Modig. I'm sorry we've had to bring you in like this, but we have a number of questions we need answered."
"OK. But why? That guy isn't very talkative." She jerked a thumb at Faste.
"We've been looking for you for some time. Can you tell us where you've been?"