at such short notice it would be impossible to arrange a suicide or an accident."
"I was afraid of that. And unexpected deaths have a tendency to invite questions. O.K., we'll have to see how the trial goes. In reality, nothing has changed. We've always anticipated that they would make some sort of counter-move, and it seems to be this so-called autobiography."
"The problem is Millennium," Sandberg said.
"Millennium and Milton Security," Clinton said pensively. "Salander has worked for Armansky, and Blomkvist once had a thing with her. Should we assume that they've joined forces?"
"It doesn't seem unreasonable that Milton Security is watching the factory where Millennium is being printed. And it can't be a coincidence."
"When are they going to publish? Sandberg, you said that they're almost two weeks behind schedule. If we assume that Milton is keeping an eye on the printer's to make sure that nobody gets hold of a copy, that means either that they're publishing something that they don't want to leak, or that the magazine has already been printed."
"To coincide with the opening of the trial," Sandberg said. "That's the only reasonable explanation."
Clinton nodded. "O.K. What's going to be in the magazine?"
They thought for a while, until Nystrom broke the silence.
"In the worst case they have a copy of the 1991 report, as we said."
Clinton and Sandberg had reached the same conclusion.
"But what can they do with it?" Sandberg said. "The report implicates Bjorck and Teleborian. Bjorck is dead. They can press hard with Teleborian, but he'll claim that he was doing a routine forensic psychiatric examination. It'll be their word against his."
"And what can we do if they publish the report?" Nystrom said.
"I think we're holding the trump card," Clinton said. "If there's a ruckus over the report, the focus will be on Sapo, not the Section. And when reporters start asking questions, Sapo will just pull it out of the archive..."
"And it won't be the same report," Sandberg said.
"Shenke has put the modified version in the archive, that is, the version Ekstrom was given to read. It was assigned a case number. So we could swiftly present a lot of disinformation to the media... We have the original, which Bjurman got hold of, and Millennium only has a copy. We could even spread information to suggest that it was Blomkvist himself who falsified the original."
"Good. What else could Millennium know?"
"They can't know anything about the Section. That wouldn't be possible. They'll have to focus on Sapo, and that would mean Blomkvist being cast as a conspiracy theorist."
"By now he's rather well known," Clinton said slowly. "Since the resolution of the Wennerstrom affair he's been taken pretty seriously."
"Could we somehow reduce his credibility?" Sandberg said.
Nystrom and Clinton exchanged glances. Clinton looked at Nystrom.
"Do you think you could put your hands on... let's say, fifty grams of cocaine?"
"Maybe from the Yugos."
"Give it a try. And get a move-on. The trial starts in three days."
"I don't get it," Sandberg said.
"It's a trick as old as the profession. But still extremely effective."
"Morgongåva?" Edklinth said with a frown. He was sitting in his dressing gown on the sofa at home, reading through Salander's autobiography for the third time, when Figuerola called. Since it was after midnight, he assumed that something was up.
"Morgongåva," Figuerola repeated. "Sandberg and Lars Faulsson were there at 8.30 this evening. They were tailed by Inspector Andersson from Bublanski's gang, and we had a radio transmitter planted in Sandberg's car. They parked near the old railway station, walked around for a while, and then returned to the car and drove back to Stockholm."
"I see. Did they meet anyone, or - "
"No. That was the strange thing. They just got out of the car and walked around a little, then drove straight back to Stockholm, so Andersson told me."
"I see. And why are you calling me at 12.30 at night to tell me this?"
"It took a little while to work it out. They walked past Hallvigs printers. I talked to Blomkvist about it. That's where Millennium's being printed."
"Oh shit," Edklinth said. He saw the implications immediately.
"Since Falun was along, I have to suppose that they were intending to pay the printer's a late-night visit, but they abandoned the expedition," Figuerola said.
"Why?"
"Because Blomkvist asked Armansky to keep an eye on the factory until the magazine was distributed. They probably saw the car from Milton Security. I thought you'd want to know straightaway."
"You're right. It means that they've begun to smell a rat."
"Alarm bells must have gone off in their