Froken Salander's representative I request that she be acquitted of the charges brought by Prosecutor Ekstrom. I request that you release my client without restrictions, and without delay. And I request that her previous declaration of incompetence be rescinded and that her civil rights be immediately restored."
"The matter of the declaration of incompetence is a significantly longer process. I would have to get statements from psychiatric experts after she has been examined. I cannot simply make a snap decision about that."
"No," Giannini said. "We do not accept that."
"Why not?"
"Lisbeth Salander must have the same civil rights as any other citizen of Sweden. She has been the victim of a crime. She was falsely declared incompetent. We have heard evidence of that falsification. The decision to place her under guardianship therefore lacks a legal basis and must be unconditionally rescinded. There is no reason whatsoever for my client to submit to a psychiatric examination. No-one else has to prove that they are not mentally ill if they are the victim of a crime." Judge Iversen considered the matter for a moment. "Advokat Giannini, I realize that this is an exceptional situation. I'm calling a recess of fifteen minutes so that we can stretch our legs and gather our thoughts. I have no wish that your client be kept in custody tonight if she is innocent, but that means that this trial will have to continue today until we are done."
"That sounds good to me," said Giannini.
Blomkvist hugged his sister. "How did it go?"
"Mikael, I was brilliant against Teleborian. I annihilated him."
"I told you you'd be unbeatable. When it comes down to it, this story is not primarily about spies and secret government agencies; it's about violence against women, and the men who enable it. From what little I heard and saw, you were phenomenal. She's going to be acquitted."
"You're right. There's no longer any doubt"
Judge Iversen banged his gavel.
"Could you please sum up the facts from beginning to end, so that I can get a clear picture of what actually happened?"
"Let's begin," Giannini said, "with the astounding story of a group within the Security Police who call themselves 'the Section', and who got hold of a Soviet defector in the mid-'70s. The story is published today in Millennium magazine. I imagine it will be the lead story on all the news broadcasts this evening..."
At 6.00 that evening Judge Iversen decided to release Salander and to revoke her declaration of incompetence.
But the decision was made on one condition: Judge Iversen demanded that Salander submit to an interview in which she would formally testify to her knowledge of the Zalachenko affair. At first she refused. This refusal brought about a moment's wrangling until Judge Iversen raised his voice. He leaned forward and fixed his gaze on Salander.
"Froken Salander, if I rescind your declaration of incompetence, that will mean that you have exactly the same rights as all other citizens. It also means that you have the same obligations. It is therefore your duty to manage your finances, pay taxes, obey the law, and assist the police in investigations of serious crimes. So I am summoning you to be questioned like any other citizen who has information that might be vital to an investigation."
The force of this logic seemed to sink in. She pouted and looked cross, but she stopped arguing.
"When the police have interviewed you, the leader of the preliminary investigation - in this case the Prosecutor General - will decide whether you will be summoned as a witness in any future legal proceedings. Like any other Swedish citizen, you can refuse to obey such a summons. How you act is none of my concern, but you do not have carte blanche. If you refuse to appear, then like any other adult you may be charged with obstruction of justice or perjury. There are no exceptions."
Salander's expression darkened yet more.
"So, what is your decision?" Judge Iversen said.
After thinking it over for a minute, Salander gave a curt nod.
O.K. A little compromise.
During her summary of the Zalachenko affair that evening, Giannini launched a savage attack on Prosecutor Ekstrom. Eventually Ekstrom admitted that the course of events had proceeded more or less as Giannini had described them. He had been helped during the preliminary investigation by Superintendent Nystrom, and had received his information from Dr Teleborian. In Ekstrom's case there was no conspiracy. He had gone along with the Section in good faith in his capacity as leader of the preliminary