Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest, The - Stieg Larsson [248]
Teleborian’s eyes widened.
“Stop … this is classified information. Where did you get that from?”
“I got it from a reporter at Millennium magazine. It can hardly be classified if it’s lying around a newspaper’s offices. Perhaps I should add that extracts from these medical records were published today in Millennium. I believe, therefore, that even this district court should have the opportunity to look at the records themselves.”
“This is illegal—”
“No, it isn’t. Lisbeth Salander has given her permission for the extracts to be published. My client has nothing to hide.”
“Your client has been declared incompetent and has no right to make any such decision for herself.”
“We’ll come back to her declaration of incompetence. But first we need to examine what happened to her at St Stefan’s.”
Judge Iversen frowned as he accepted the papers that Giannini handed to him.
“I haven’t made a copy for the prosecutor. On the other hand, he received a copy of this privacy-invading document more than a month ago.”
“How did that happen?” the judge said.
“Prosecutor Ekström got a copy of these classified records from Teleborian at a meeting which took place in his office at 5.00 p.m. on Saturday, June 4 this year.”
“Is that correct?” Judge Iversen said.
Ekström’s first impulse was to deny it. Then he realized that Giannini might somehow have evidence.
“I requested permission to read parts of the records if I signed a confidentiality agreement,” Ekström said. “I had to make sure that Salander had the history she was alleged to have.”
“Thank you,” Giannini said. “This means that we now have confirmation that Dr Teleborian not only tells lies but also broke the law by disseminating records that he himself claims are classified.”
“Duly noted,” said the judge.
Judge Iversen was suddenly very alert. In a most unorthodox way, Giannini had launched a serious attack on a witness, and she already made mincemeat of an important part of his testimony. And she claims that she can document everything she says. Judge Iversen adjusted his glasses.
“Dr Teleborian, based on these records which you yourself wrote … could you now tell me how many days Lisbeth Salander was kept in restraints?”
“I have no recollection that it could have been so extensive, but if that’s what the records say, then I have to believe it.”
“A total of 381 days and nights. Does that not strike you as excessive?”
“It is unusually long … yes.”
“How would you perceive it if you were thirteen years old and someone strapped you to a steel-framed bed for more than a year? Would it feel like torture?”
“You have to understand that the patient was dangerous to herself as well as to others—”
“O.K. Let’s look at dangerous to herself. Has Lisbeth Salander ever injured herself?”
“There were such misgivings—”
“I’ll repeat the question: has Lisbeth Salander ever injured herself? Yes or no?”
“As psychiatrists we must teach ourselves to interpret the overall picture. With regard to Lisbeth Salander, you can see on her body, for example, a multitude of tattoos and piercings, which are also a form of self-destructive behaviour and a way of damaging one’s own body. We can interpret that as a manifestation of self-hate.”
Giannini turned to Salander.
“Are your tattoos a manifestation of self-hate?” she said.
“No,” Salander said.
Giannini turned back to Teleborian. “So you believe that I am also dangerous to myself because I wear earrings and actually have a tattoo in a private place?”
Palmgren sniggered, but he managed to transform the snigger into a clearing of his throat.
“No, not at all … tattoos can also be part of a social ritual.”
“Are you saying that Lisbeth Salander is not part of this social ritual?”
“You can see for yourself that her tattoos are grotesque and extend over large parts of her body. That is no normal measure of fetishism