The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest Page 0,105

I'm not going to quote you or mention you even in anything I write. And as far as I'm concerned this conversation never took place. Which said, I am here to ask you a favour. But I have to explain why, so that you can decide whether you can or you can't."

"I don't like the sound of this."

"All I ask is that you hear me out. It's your job to take care of Lisbeth's physical and mental health. As her friend, it's my job to do the same. I can't poke around in her skull and extract bullets, but I have another skill that is as crucial to her welfare."

"Which is?"

"I'm an investigative journalist, and I've found out the truth about what happened to her."

"O.K."

"I can tell you in general terms what it's about and you can come to your own conclusions."

"Alright."

"I should also say that Annika Giannini, Lisbeth's lawyer - you've met her I think - is my sister, and I'm the one paying her to defend Salander."

"I see."

"I can't, obviously, ask Annika to do this favour. She doesn't discuss Lisbeth with me. She has to keep her conversations with Lisbeth confidential. I assume you've read about Lisbeth in the newspapers."

Jonasson nodded.

"She's been described as a psychotic, and a mentally ill lesbian mass murderer. All that is nonsense. Lisbeth Salander is not psychotic. She may be as sane as you and me. And her sexual preferences are nobody's business."

"If I've understood the matter correctly, there's been some reassessment of the case. Now it's this German who's being sought in connection with the murders."

"To my certain knowledge, Niedermann is a murderer who has no grain of conscience. But Lisbeth has enemies. Big and nasty enemies. Some of these are in the Security Police."

Jonasson looked at Blomkvist in astonishment.

"When Lisbeth was twelve, she was put in a children's psychiatric clinic in Uppsala. Why? Because she had stirred up a secret that Sapo was trying at any price to keep a lid on. Her father, Alexander Zalachenko - otherwise known as Karl Axel Bodin, who was murdered in your hospital - was a Soviet defector, a spy, a relic from the Cold War. He also beat up Lisbeth's mother year after year. When Lisbeth was twelve, she hit back and threw a Molotov cocktail at him as he sat in his car. That was why she was locked up."

"I don't understand. If she tried to kill her father, then surely there was good reason to take her in for psychiatric treatment."

"My story - which I am going to publish - is that Sapo knew about Zalachenko the wife beater, they knew what had provoked Lisbeth to do what she did, but they chose to protect Zalachenko because he was a source of valuable information. So they faked a diagnosis to make sure that Lisbeth was committed."

Jonasson looked so sceptical that Blomkvist had to laugh.

"I can document every detail. And I'm going to write a full account in time for Lisbeth's trial. Believe me - it's going to cause uproar. You might bear in mind that the beating that provoked Lisbeth's attack put her mother in hospital for the rest of her life."

"O.K. Go on."

"I'm going to expose two doctors who were errand boys for Sapo, and who helped bury Lisbeth in the asylum. I'm going to hang them out to dry. One of these is a well-known and respected person. But, as I said, I have all the documentation."

"If a doctor were mixed up in something like this, it's a blot on the entire profession."

"I don't believe in collective guilt. It concerns only those directly involved. The same is true of Sapo. I don't doubt that there are excellent people working in Sapo. This is about a small group of conspirators. When Lisbeth was eighteen they tried to institutionalize her again. This time they failed, and she was instead put under guardianship. In the trial, whenever it is, they're once again going to try to throw as much shit at her as they can. I - or rather, my sister Annika - will fight to see that she is acquitted, and that her still-extant declaration of incompetence is revoked."

"I see."

"But she needs ammunition. So that's the background for this tactic. I should probably also mention that there are some individuals in the police force who are actually on Lisbeth's side in all this. But