friend of Paulsson's, and he's probably been trying to protect him. With all good intentions, of course, and I don't mean to criticize him. But last night Paulsson's behaviour was so bizarre that several of his people mentioned it to me."
"In what way bizarre?"
Erlander glanced at Modig and Holmberg. He was embarrassed to be discussing flaws in their organization in front of the visitors from Stockholm.
"As far as I'm concerned, the strangest thing was that he detailed one of the techs to make an inventory of everything in the woodshed - where we found the Zalachenko guy?"
"An inventory of what in the woodshed?" Spångberg wanted to know.
"Yes... well... he said he needed to know exactly how many pieces of wood were in there. So that the report would be accurate."
There was a charged silence around the conference table before Erlander went on.
"And this morning it came out that Paulsson has been taking at least two different antidepressants. He should have been on sick leave, but no-one knew about his condition."
"What condition?" Spångberg said sharply.
"Well, obviously I don't know what's wrong with him - patient's confidentiality and all that - but the drugs he's taking are strong ataractics on the one hand, and stimulants. He was high as a kite all night."
"Good God," said Spångberg emphatically. She looked like the thundercloud that had swept over Goteborg that morning. "I want Paulsson in here for a chat. Right now."
"He collapsed this morning and was admitted to the hospital suffering from exhaustion. It was just our bad luck that he happened to be on rotation."
"May I ask... Paulsson, did he arrest Mikael Blomkvist last night?"
"He wrote a report citing offensive behaviour, aggressive resistance to police officers, and illegal possession of a weapon. That's what he put in the report."
"What does Blomkvist say?"
"He concedes that he was insulting, but he claims it was in self-defence. He says that the resistance consisted of a forceful verbal attempt to prevent Torstensson and Ingemarsson from going to pick up Niedermann alone, without back-up."
"Witnesses?"
"Well, there is Torstensson. I don't believe Paulsson's claim of aggressive resistance for a minute. It's a typical pre-emptive retaliation to undermine potential complaints from Blomkvist."
"But Blomkvist managed to overpower Niedermann all by himself, did he not?" Prosecutor Jervas said.
"By holding a gun to him."
"So Blomkvist had a gun. Then there was some basis for his arrest after all. Where did he get the weapon?"
"Blomkvist won't discuss it without his lawyer being there. And Paulsson arrested Blomkvist when he was trying to hand in the weapon to the police."
"Could I make a small, informal suggestion?" Modig said cautiously.
Everyone turned to her.
"I have met Mikael Blomkvist on several occasions in the course of this investigation. I have found him quite likeable, even though he is a journalist. I suppose you're the one who has to make the decision about charging him..." She looked at Jervas, who nodded. "All this stuff about insults and aggressive resistance is just nonsense. I assume you will ignore it."
"Probably. Illegal weapons are more serious."
"I would urge you to wait and see. Blomkvist has put the pieces of this puzzle together all by himself; he's way ahead of us on the police force. It will be to our advantage to stay on good terms with him and ensure his co-operation, rather than unleash him to condemn the entire police force in his magazine and elsewhere in the media."
After a few seconds, Erlander cleared his throat. If Modig dared to stick her neck out, he could do the same.
"I agree with Sonja. I too think Blomkvist is a man we could work with. I've apologized to him for the way he was treated last night. He seems ready to let bygones be bygones. Besides, he has integrity. He somehow tracked down where Salander was living but he won't give us the address. He's not afraid to get into a public scrap with the police... and he's most certainly in a position where his voice will carry just as much weight in the media as any report from Paulsson."
"But he refuses to give the police any information about Salander."
"He says that we'll have to ask her ourselves, if that time ever comes. He says he absolutely won't discuss a person who is not only innocent but who also has had her rights so severely violated."
"What kind of weapon is it?" Jervas said.
"It's a Colt 1911 Government. Serial number unknown. Forensics have it, and we don't know yet whether