Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The - Stieg Larsson [198]
“Harriet must be the big sensation. How many of them know about Martin?”
“So far it’s just me, Henrik, and Harriet. We had a long talk together. Martin and…your uncovering of his unspeakable life, it’s overshadowing just about everything for us at the moment. It has brought an enormous crisis for the company to a head.”
“I can understand that.”
“There is no natural heir, but Harriet is staying in Hedestad for a while. The family will work out who owns what, how the inheritance is to be divided and so on. She actually has a share of it that would have been quite large if she had been here the whole time. It’s a nightmare.”
Mikael laughed. Frode was not laughing at all.
“Isabella had a collapse at the funeral. She’s in the hospital now. Henrik says he won’t visit her.”
“Good for Henrik.”
“However, Anita is coming over from London. I am to call a family meeting for next week. It will be the first time in twenty-five years that she’s participated.”
“Who will be the new CEO?”
“Birger is after the job, but he’s out of the question. What’s going to happen is that Henrik will step in as CEO pro tem from his sickbed until we hire either someone from outside or someone from within the family…”
Blomkvist raised his eyebrows.
“Harriet? You can’t be serious.”
“Why not? We’re talking about an exceptionally competent and respected businesswoman.”
“She has a company in Australia to look after.”
“True, but her son Jeff Cochran is minding the store in her absence.”
“He’s the studs manager on a sheep ranch. If I understood the matter correctly, he sees to it that the correct sheep mate with each other.”
“He also has a degree in economics from Oxford and a law degree from Melbourne.”
Blomkvist thought about the sweaty, muscular man with his shirt off who had driven him into and through the ravine; he tried to imagine him in a pinstripe suit. Why not?
“All of this will take time to work out,” Frode said. “But she would be a perfect CEO. With the right support team she could represent a whole new deal for the company.”
“She doesn’t have the experience…”
“That’s true. She can’t just pop up out of more or less nowhere and start micro-managing the company. But the Vanger Corporation is international, and we could certainly have an American CEO who doesn’t speak a word of Swedish…it’s only business, when all’s said and done.”
“Sooner or later you’re going to have to face up to the problem of Martin’s basement.”
“I know. But we can’t say anything without destroying Harriet…I’m glad I’m not the one who has to make the decision about this.”
“Damn it, Dirch, you won’t be able to bury the fact that Martin was a serial killer.”
“Mikael, I’m in a…very uncomfortable position.”
“Tell me.”
“I have a message from Henrik. He thanks you for the outstanding work you did and says that he considers the contract fulfilled. That means he is releasing you from any further obligations and that you no longer have to live or work here in Hedestad, etc. So, taking effect immediately, you can move back to Stockholm and devote yourself to your other pursuits.”
“He wants me to vanish from the scene, is that the gist of it?”
“Absolutely not. He wants you to visit him for a conversation about the future. He says he hopes that his involvement on the board of Millennium can proceed without restrictions. But…”
Frode looked even more uncomfortable, if that was possible.
“Don’t tell me, Dirch…he no longer wants me to write a history of the Vanger family.”
Dirch Frode nodded. He picked up a notebook, opened it, and pushed it over to Mikael.
“He wrote you this letter.”
Dear Mikael,
I have nothing but respect for your integrity, and I don’t intend to insult you by trying to tell you what to write. You may write and publish whatever you like, and I won’t exert any pressure on you whatsoever.
Our contract remains valid, if you want to continue. You have enough material to finish the chronicle of the Vanger family.
Mikael, I’ve never begged anyone for anything in my entire life.