Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest, The - Stieg Larsson [72]
Wadensjöö read the letters with rising astonishment. He put a hand to his brow.
Clinton said: “Whatever happens, Zalachenko’s death will have nothing to do with the Section. It was just some demented pensioner who fired the shots.” He paused. “The important thing is that, starting from now, you have to get on board with the program. And don’t rock the boat.” He fixed his gaze on Wadensjöö. There was steel in the sick man’s eyes. “What you have to understand is that the Section functions as the spear head for the total defence of the nation. We’re Sweden’s last line of defence. Our job is to watch over the security of our country. Everything else is unimportant.”
Wadensjöö regarded Clinton with doubt in his eyes.
“We’re the ones who don’t exist,” Clinton went on. “We’re the ones nobody will ever thank. We’re the ones who have to make the decisions that nobody else wants to make. Least of all the politicians.” His voice quivered with contempt as he spoke those last words. “Do as I say and the Section might survive. For that to happen, we have to be decisive and resort to tough measures.”
Wadensjöö felt the panic rise.
Cortez wrote feverishly, trying to get down every word that was said from the podium at the police press office at Kungsholmen. Prosecutor Ekström had begun. He explained that it had been decided that the investigation into the police killing in Gosseberga – for which Ronald Niedermann was being sought – would be placed under the jurisdiction of a prosecutor in Göteborg. The rest of the investigation concerning Niedermann would be handled by Ekström himself. Niedermann was a suspect in the murders of Dag Svensson and Mia Johansson. No mention was made of Advokat Bjurman. Ekström had also to investigate and bring charges against Lisbeth Salander, who was under suspicion for a long list of crimes.
He explained that he had decided to go public with the information in the light of events that had occurred in Göteborg that day, including the fact that Salander’s father, Karl Axel Bodin, had been shot dead. The immediate reason for calling the press conference was that he wanted to deny the rumours already being circulated in the media. He had himself received a number of calls concerning these rumours.
“Based on current information, I am able to tell you that Karl Axel Bodin’s daughter, who is being held for the attempted murder of her father, had nothing to do with this morning’s events.”
“Then who was the murderer?” a reporter from Dagens Eko shouted.
“The man who at 1.15 today fired the fatal shots at Karl Axel Bodin before attempting to commit suicide has now been identified. He is a 78-year-old man who has been undergoing treatment for a terminal illness and the psychiatric problems associated with it.”
“Does he have any connection to Lisbeth Salander?”
“No. The man is a tragic figure who evidently acted alone, in accordance with his own paranoid delusions. The Security Police recently initiated an investigation of this man because he had written a number of apparently unstable letters to well-known politicians and the media. As recently as this morning, newspaper and government offices received letters in which he threatened to kill Karl Axel Bodin.”
“Why didn’t the police give Bodin protection?”
“The letters naming Bodin were sent only last night and thus arrived at the same time as the murder was being committed. There was no time to act.”
“What’s the killer’s name?”
“We will not give out that information until his next of kin have been notified.”
“What sort of background does he have?”
“As far as I understand, he previously worked as an accountant and tax lawyer. He has been retired for fifteen years. The