what she has to say, there's no knowing what might happen. But the trial starts in a few days and then it'll be over. This time we have to bury her so deep that she'll never come back to haunt us."
Wadensjoo shook his head.
"I don't understand your attitude," Clinton said.
"I can see that. You're sixty-eight years old. You're dying. Your decisions are not rational, and yet you seem to have bewitched Nystrom and Sandberg. They obey you as if you were God the Father."
"I am God the Father in everything that has to do with the Section. We're working according to a plan. Our decision to act has given the Section a chance. And it is with the utmost conviction that I say that the Section will never find itself in such an exposed position again. When all this is over, we're going to put in hand a complete overhaul of our activities."
"I see."
"Nystrom will be the new director. He's really too old, but he's the only choice we have, and he's promised to stay on for six years at least. Sandberg is too young and - as a direct result of your management policies - too inexperienced. He should have been fully trained by now."
"Clinton, don't you see what you've done? You've murdered a man. Bjorck worked for the Section for thirty-five years, and you ordered his death. Do you not understand - "
"You know quite well that it was necessary. He betrayed us, and he would never have withstood the pressure when the police closed in."
Wadensjoo stood up.
"I'm not finished."
"Then we'll have to take it up later. I have a job to do while you lie here fantasizing that you're the Almighty."
"If you're so morally indignant, why don't you go to Bublanski and confess your crimes?"
"Believe me, I've considered it. But whatever you may think, I'm doing everything in my power to protect the Section."
He opened the door and met Nystrom and Sandberg on their way in.
"Hello, Fredrik," Nystrom said. "We have to talk."
"Wadensjoo was just leaving."
Nystrom waited until the door had closed. "Fredrik, I'm seriously worried."
"What's going on?"
"Sandberg and I have been thinking. Things are happening that we don't understand. This morning Salander's lawyer lodged her autobiographical statement with the prosecutor."
"What?"
Inspector Faste scrutinized Advokat Giannini as Ekstrom poured coffee from a thermos jug. The document Ekstrom had been handed when he arrived at work that morning had taken both of them by surprise. He and Faste had read the forty pages of Salander's story and discussed the extraordinary document at length. Finally he felt compelled to ask Giannini to come in for an informal chat.
They were sitting at the small conference table in Ekstrom's office.
"Thank you for agreeing to come in," Ekstrom said. "I have read this... hmm, account that arrived this morning, and there are a few matters I'd like to clarify."
"I'll do what I can to help" Giannini said.
"I don't know exactly where to start. Let me say from the outset that both Inspector Faste and I are profoundly astonished."
"Indeed?"
"I'm trying to understand what your objective is."
"How do you mean?"
"This autobiography, or whatever you want to call it... What's the point of it?"
"The point is perfectly clear. My client wants to set down her version of what has happened to her."
Ekstrom gave a good-natured laugh. He stroked his goatee, an oft-repeated gesture that was beginning to irritate Giannini.
"Yes, but your client has had several months to explain herself. She hasn't said a word in all her interviews with Faste."
"As far as I know there is no law that forces my client to talk simply when it suits Inspector Faste."
"No, but I mean... Salander's trial will begin in four days' time, and at the eleventh hour she comes up with this. To tell the truth, I feel a responsibility here which is beyond my duties as prosecutor."
"You do?"
"I do not in the very least wish to sound offensive. That is not my intention. But we have a procedure for trials in this country. You, Fru Giannini, are a lawyer specialising in women's rights, and you have never before represented a client in a criminal case. I did not charge Lisbeth Salander because she is a woman, but on a charge of grievous bodily harm. Even you, I believe, must have realized that she suffers from a serious mental illness and needs the protection and assistance of the state."
"You're afraid that I won't be able to provide Lisbeth Salander with an adequate