Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest, The - Stieg Larsson [58]
“In what way?”
“Faste appears to have become obsessed by one newspaper story about a lesbian Satanist gang. He really doesn’t like Salander and seems to regard her existence as a personal insult. He may himself be behind half of the rumours. I was told by a former colleague that he has difficulty working with women.”
“Interesting,” Gullberg said slowly. “Since the newspapers have already written about a lesbian gang, it would make sense to continue promoting that story. It won’t exactly bolster Salander’s credibility.”
“But the officers who’ve read Björck’s report are a big problem,” Sandberg said. “Is there any way we can isolate them?”
Wadensjöö lit another cigarillo. “Well, Ekström is the head of the preliminary investigation …”
“But Bublanski’s leading it,” Nyström said.
“Yes, but he can’t go against an administrative decision.” Wadensjöö turned to Gullberg. “You have more experience than I do, but this whole story has so many different threads and connections … It seems to me that it would be wise to get Bublanski and Modig away from Salander.”
“That’s good, Wadensjöö,” Gullberg said. “And that’s exactly what we’re going to do. Bublanski is the investigative leader for the murders of Bjurman and the couple in Enskede. Salander is no longer a suspect. Now it’s all about this German, Ronald Niedermann. Bublanski and his team have to focus on Niedermann. Salander is not their assignment any more. Then there’s the investigation at Nykvarn … three cold-case killings. And there’s a connection to Niedermann there too. That investigation is presently allocated to Södertälje, but it ought to be brought into a single investigation. That way Bublanski would have his hands full for a while. And who knows? Maybe he’ll catch Niedermann. Meanwhile, Hans Faste … do you think he might come back on duty? He sounds like the right man to investigate the allegations against Salander.”
“I see what you’re thinking,” Wadensjöö said. “It’s all about getting Ekström to split the two cases. But that’s only if we can control Ekström.”
“That shouldn’t be such a big problem,” Gullberg said. He glanced at Nyström, who nodded.
“I can take care of Ekström,” he said. “I’m guessing that he’s sitting there wishing he’d never heard of Zalachenko. He turned over Björck’s report as soon as S.I.S. asked him for it, and he’s agreed to comply with every request that may have a bearing on national security.”
“What do you have in mind?” Wadensjöö said.
“Allow me to manufacture a scenario,” Nyström said. “I assume that we’re going to tell him in a subtle way what he has to do to avoid an abrupt end to his career.”
“The most serious problem is going to be the third part,” Gullberg said. “The police didn’t get hold of Björck’s report by themselves … they got it from a journalist. And the press, as you are all aware, is a real problem here. Millennium.”
Nyström turned a page his notebook. “Mikael Blomkvist.”
Everyone around the table had heard of the Wennerström affair and knew the name.
“Svensson, the journalist who was murdered, was freelancing at Millennium. He was working on a story about sex trafficking. That was how he lit upon Zalachenko. It was Blomkvist who found Svensson and his girlfriend’s bodies. In addition, Blomkvist knows Salander and has always believed in her innocence.”
“How the hell can he know Zalachenko’s daughter … that sounds like too big a coincidence.”
“We don’t think it is a coincidence,” Wadensjöö said. “We believe that Salander is in some way the link between all of them, but we don’t yet know how.”
Gullberg drew a series of concentric circles on his notepad. At last he looked up.
“I have to think about this for a while. I’m going for a walk. We’ll meet again in an hour.”
Gullberg’s excursion lasted nearly three hours. He had walked for only about ten minutes before he found a café that served many unfamiliar types of coffee. He ordered a cup of black coffee and sat at