she could not identify. She reached for a notebook, given to her by Giannini and hardly used. She turned to the first page, where she had written:
She had spent several weeks in the Caribbean last winter working herself into a frenzy over Fermat's theorem. When she came back to Sweden, before she got mixed up in the hunt for Zalachenko, she had kept on playing with the equations. What was maddening was that she had the feeling she had seen a solution... that she had discovered a solution.
But she could not remember what it was.
Not being able to remember something was a phenomenon unknown to Salander. She had tested herself by going on the Net and picking out random H.T.M.L. codes that she glanced at, memorized, and reproduced exactly.
She had not lost her photographic memory, which she had always considered a curse.
Everything was running as usual in her head.
Save for the fact that she thought she recalled seeing a solution to Fermat's theorem, but she could not remember how, when, or where.
The worst thing was that she did not have the least interest in it. Fermat's theorem no longer fascinated her. That was ominous. That was just the way she usually functioned. She would be fascinated by a problem, but as soon as she had solved it, she lost interest.
That was how she felt about Fermat. He was no longer a demon riding on her shoulder, demanding her attention and vexing her intellect. It was an ordinary formula, some squiggles on a piece of paper, and she felt no desire at all to engage with it.
This bothered her. She put down the notebook.
She should get some sleep.
Instead she took out her Palm again and went on the Net. She thought for a moment and then went into Armansky's hard drive, which she had not done since she got the hand-held. Armansky was working with Blomkvist, but she had not had any particular need to read what he was up to.
Absentmindedly she read his email.
She found the assessment Rosin had carried out of Berger's house. She could scarcely believe what she was reading.
Erika Berger has a stalker.
She found a message from Susanne Linder, who had evidently stayed at Berger's house the night before and who had emailed a report late that night. She looked at the time of the message. It had been sent just before 3.00 in the morning and reported Berger's discovery that diaries, letters and photographs, along with a video of a personal nature, had been stolen from a chest of drawers in her bedroom.
After discussing the matter with Fru Berger, we determined that the theft must have occurred during the time she was at Nacka hospital. That left a period of c. 2.5 hours when the house was empty, and the defective alarm from N.I.P. was not switched on. At all other times either Berger or David were in the house until the theft was discovered.
Conclusion: Berger's stalker remained in her area and was able to observe that she was picked up by a taxi, also possibly that she was injured. The stalker then took the opportunity to get into the house.
Salander updated her download of Armansky's hard drive and then switched off the Palm, lost in thought. She had mixed feelings.
She had no reason to love Berger. She remembered still the humiliation she had felt when she saw her walk off down Hornsgatan with Blomkvist the day before New Year's Eve a year and a half ago.
It had been the stupidest moment of her life and she would never again allow herself those sorts of feelings.
She remembered the terrible hatred she had felt, and her desire to run after them and hurt Berger.
Embarrassing.
She was cured.
But she had no reason to sympathize with Berger.
She wondered what the video "of a personal nature" contained. She had her own film of a personal nature which showed how Advokat Bastard Bjurman had raped her. And it was now in Blomkvist's keeping. She wondered how she would have reacted if someone had broken into her place and stolen the D.V.D. Which Blomkvist by definition had actually done, even though his motives were not to harm her.
Hmm. An awkward situation.
Berger had not been able to sleep on Thursday night. She hobbled restlessly back and forth while Linder kept a watchful eye on her. Her anxiety lay like a heavy fog over the house.
At 2.30 Linder managed to talk Berger into getting into bed to rest, even if she did not sleep. She