casual acquaintances in the early years, there are five women who have been here before you: Erika, Lisbeth and my ex-wife, who I was together with in the '80s, a woman I was in a serious relationship with in the late '90s, and someone I met two years ago, whom I still see occasionally. It's sort of special circumstances..."
"I bet it is."
"I keep this cabin so that I can get away from the city and have some quiet time. I'm mostly here on my own. I read books, I write, and I relax and sit on the wharf and look at the boats. It's not a secret love nest."
He stood up to get the bottle of wine he had put in the shade.
"I won't make any promises. My marriage broke up because Erika and I couldn't keep away from each other," he said, and then he added in English, "Been there, done that, got the T-shirt."
He filled their glasses.
"But you're the most interesting person I've met in a long time. It's as if our relationship took off at full speed from a standing start. I think I fell for you the moment you picked me up outside my apartment. The few times I've slept at my place since then, I've woken up in the middle of the night needing you. I don't know if I want a steady relationship, but I'm terrified of losing you." He looked at her. "So what do you think we should do?"
"Let's think about things," Figuerola said. "I'm badly attracted to you too."
"This is starting to get serious," Blomkvist said.
She suddenly felt a great sadness. They did not say much for a long time. When it got dark they cleared the table, went inside and closed the door.
On the Friday before the week of the trial, Blomkvist stopped at the Pressbyrån news-stand at Slussen and read the billboards for the morning papers. Svenska Morgon-Posten's C.E.O. and chairman of the board Magnus Borgsjo had capitulated and tendered his resignation. Blomkvist bought the papers and walked to Java on Hornsgatan to have a late breakfast. Borgsjo cited family reasons as the explanation for his unexpected resignation. He would not comment on claims that Berger had also resigned after he ordered her to cover up a story about his involvement in the wholesale enterprise Vitavara Inc. But in a sidebar it was reported that the chair of Svenskt Naringsliv, the confederation of Swedish enterprise, had decided to set up an ethics committee to investigate the dealings of Swedish companies with businesses in South East Asia known to exploit child labour.
Blomkvist burst out laughing, and then he folded the morning papers and flipped open his Ericsson to call the woman who presented She on T.V.4, who was in the middle of a lunchtime sandwich.
"Hello, darling," Blomkvist said. "I'm assuming you'd still like dinner sometime."
"Hi, Mikael," she laughed. "Sorry, but you couldn't be further from my type."
"Still, how about coming out with me this evening to discuss a job?"
"What have you got going?"
"Erika Berger made a deal with you two years ago about the Wennerstrom affair. I want to make a similar deal that will work just as well."
"I'm all ears."
"I can't tell you about it until we've agreed on the terms. I've got a story in the works. We're going to publish a book and a themed issue of the magazine, and it's going to be huge. I'm offering you an exclusive look at all the material, provided you don't leak anything before we publish. This time the publication is extra complicated because it has to happen on a specific day."
"How big is the story?"
"Bigger than Wennerstrom," Blomkvist said. "Are you interested?"
"Are you serious? Where shall we meet?"
"How about Samir's Cauldron? Erika's going to sit in on the meeting."
"What's going with on her? Is she back at Millennium now that she's been thrown out of S.M.P.?"
"She didn't get thrown out. She resigned because of differences of opinion with Magnus Borgsjo."
"He seems to be a real creep."
"You're not wrong there," Blomkvist said.
Clinton was listening to Verdi through his earphones. Music was pretty much the only thing left in life that could take him away from dialysis machines and the growing pain in the small of his back. He did not hum to the music. He closed his eyes and followed the notes with his right hand, which hovered and seemed to have a life of its own alongside his disintegrating body.