The Girl Who Lived Twice (Millennium #6) - David Lagercrantz Page 0,59
of that, and of cardiac arrest, osmotic pulmonary edema and hypothermia, as well as arrhythmia. Things were not looking good.
The serious media were suggesting that it could have been a suicide attempt, which must have been leaked by some insider. It was widely known that Forsell was an excellent swimmer, in which case the most reasonable explanation would be that he had overestimated his capabilities, gone too far out and got caught in the freezing currents. But it was impossible to know for sure. There were reports that he had been saved by a man with a motorboat, and then picked up by a boat from the Sea Rescue Society. He had been taken to hospital by helicopter.
Beneath these stories were articles praising Forsell as a “strong and enterprising minister who had stood up for fundamental human values.” They sounded like obituaries. He had, they said, “battled intolerance and destructive nationalism” and been an “incurable optimist who had always sought out the middle ground.” The articles mentioned that he had been the victim of a “deeply unjust hate campaign,” which could be traced back to troll factories in Russia.
“About time someone said that,” Bublanski muttered, and nodded in agreement while reading a column by Catrin Lindås in Svenska Dagbladet, in which she argued that this was a logical consequence of the “mood in a society that encourages witch-hunts and the demonization of people.”
Then he turned to Inspector Modig, who was sitting in the worn armchair next to him, her laptop on her knee.
“Well, Sonja,” he said. “Are we getting anywhere with our story?”
Modig looked up at him, somewhat at a loss.
“I can’t say we are, really. We haven’t found Heikki Järvinen yet, but I’ve been speaking to one of the doctors who took care of Nima Rita in the mental health clinic in Kathmandu, the one Blomkvist mentioned.”
“And what did he say?”
“She said that Nima Rita had developed severe psychosis and was hearing voices and cries for help. He was desperate because he couldn’t do anything about them. Her impression was that he was constantly reliving something.”
“What sort of thing, could she say?”
“Things he had experienced on the mountain, times when he’d felt inadequate. She said that they tried to medicate him and give him electroconvulsive therapy, but it was hard.”
“Did you ask if he’d talked about Forsell?”
“She recognized the name, but that’s all. He had mostly spoken about his wife and Stan Engelman, of whom he was frightened. I think that’s something we should follow up. Apparently this Engelman’s pretty unscrupulous. But I heard something else that’s interesting too.”
“What’s that?”
“After the drama on Everest in 2008, the journalists all wanted to speak to Nima Rita. But that interest soon petered out. It became known that he was sick and confused and he was more or less forgotten. But as the tenth anniversary approached he was contacted by someone called Lilian Henderson, a journalist with The Atlantic, who was writing a book about the drama. Lilian tried to interview Nima at the hospital, by telephone.”
“What did she find out?”
“Actually nothing, from what I understand. But she and Nima Rita agreed to meet up since she was coming to Nepal to do some research. Except that, by the time she got there, he was already gone, and at the end of the day no book ever materialized. The publishers were afraid of being sued.”
“By whom?”
“By Engelman.”
“What was he so scared of?”
“That’s what I think we ought to find out.”
“So are we absolutely certain that the beggar and this Nima Rita are one and the same person?” Bublanski said.
“I’d say so. Far too many things match up, and apparently there’s a genuine physical likeness.”
“How did Blomkvist find this out?”
“All I know is what he wrote to you. I’ve tried to reach him. But no-one seems to know where he is, not even Erika Berger. She says she’s worried. They’d just been talking about doing a profile on Forsell, and ever since the accident she’s been frantically trying to get hold of him.”
“Doesn’t he have a place out on Sandön as well?”
“Yes, at Sandhamn.”
“Could Must or Säpo have got their hands on him? The whole thing seems very hush-hush.”
“It is. We’ve informed military high command, but they haven’t got back to us. And we don’t know either if Blomkvist’s told us everything. Maybe he really did find a connection between the Sherpa and Forsell.”
“Don’t you find this whole story distasteful?” Bublanski said.