Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest, The - Stieg Larsson [56]
“No, I mean how long before I can get up and start walking and moving around?”
“That depends on how the healing progresses. But count on two weeks before we can start you on some sort of physical therapy.”
She gave him a long look. “You wouldn’t happen to have a cigarette, would you?” she said.
Dr Jonasson burst out laughing and shook his head. “Sorry. There’s no smoking allowed in the hospital. But I can see to it that you get a nicotine patch or some gum.”
She thought for a moment before she looked at him again. “How’s the old bastard doing?”
“Who? You mean—”
“The one who came in the same time as I did.”
“No friend of yours, I presume. Well, he’s going to survive and he’s been up walking around on crutches. He’s actually in worse shape than you are, and he has a very painful facial wound. As I understood it, you slammed an axe into his head.”
“He tried to kill me,” Salander said in a low voice.
“That doesn’t sound good. I have to go. Do you want me to come back and look in on you again?”
Salander thought for a moment, then she signalled yes. When he was gone she stared at the ceiling. Zalachenko has been given crutches. That was the sound I heard last night.
Sandberg, the youngest person at the meeting, was sent out to get some food. He came back with sushi and light beer and passed the food around the conference table. Gullberg felt a thrill of nostalgia. This is just the way it was in his day, when some operation went into a critical phase and they had to work around the clock.
The difference, he observed, was possibly that in his day there was nobody who would have come up with the wild idea of ordering raw fish. He wished Sandberg had ordered Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberries. On the other hand he was not really hungry, so he pushed the sushi aside. He ate a piece of bread and drank some mineral water.
They continued the discussion over their meal. They had to decide what to do. The situation was urgent.
“I never knew Zalachenko,” Wadensjöö said. “What was he like?”
“Much as he is today, I assume,” Gullberg said. “Phenomenally intelligent, with a damn near photographic memory. But in my opinion he’s a pig. And not quite right in the head, I should think.”
“Jonas, you talked to him yesterday. What’s your take on this?” Wadensjöö said.
Sandberg put down his chopsticks.
“He’s got us over a barrel. I’ve already told you about his ultimatum. Either we make the whole thing disappear, or he cracks the Section wide open.”
“How the hell do we make something disappear that’s been plastered all over the media?” Nyström said.
“It’s not a question of what we can or can’t do. It’s a question of his need to control us,” Gullberg said.
“Would he, in your opinion, talk to the press?” Wadensjöö said.
Gullberg hesitated. “It’s almost impossible to answer that question. Zalachenko doesn’t make empty threats, and he’s going to do what’s best for him. In that respect he’s predictable. If it benefits him to talk to the media … if he thought he could get an amnesty or a reduced sentence, then he’d do it. Or if he felt betrayed and wanted to get even.”
“Regardless of the consequences?”
“Especially regardless of the consequences. For him the point is to be seen to be tougher than all of us.”
“If Zalachenko were to talk, it’s not certain that anyone would believe him. And to prove anything they’d have to get hold of our archives.”
“Do you want to take the chance? Let’s say Zalachenko talks. Who’s going to talk next? What do we do if Björck signs an affidavit confirming his story? And Clinton, sitting at his dialysis machine … what would happen if he turned religious and felt bitter about everything and everyone? What if he wanted to make a confession? Believe me, if anyone starts talking, it’s the end of the Section.”
“So … what should we do?”
Silence settled over the table. It was Gullberg who took up the thread.
“There are several parts to this problem. First of all, we can agree on what the consequences would be if Zalachenko talked. The entire legal system would