Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The - Stieg Larsson [47]
Blomkvist sighed. He was feeling more and more uncomfortable and wanted to end this visit to Hedeby, but he relented.
“All right, let’s hear it.”
“I want you to live and work here in Hedeby for a year. I want you to go through the investigative report on Harriet’s disappearance one page at a time. I want you to examine everything with new eyes. I want you to question all the old conclusions exactly the way an investigative reporter would. I want you to look for something that I and the police and other investigators may have missed.”
“You’re asking me to set aside my life and career to devote myself for a whole year to something that’s a complete waste of time.”
Vanger smiled. “As to your career, we might agree that for the moment it’s somewhat on hold.”
Blomkvist had no answer to that.
“I want to buy a year of your life. Give you a job. The salary is better than any offer you’ll ever get in your life. I will pay you 200,000 kronor a month—that’s 2.4 million kronor if you accept and stay the whole year.”
Blomkvist was astonished.
“I have no illusions. The possibility you will succeed is minimal, but if against all odds you should crack the mystery then I’m offering a bonus of double payment, or 4.8 million kronor. Let’s be generous and round it off to five million.”
Vanger leaned back and cocked his head.
“I can pay the money into any bank account you wish, anywhere in the world. You can also take the money in cash in a suitcase, so it’s up to you whether you want to report the income to the tax authorities.”
“This is…not healthy,” Blomkvist stammered.
“Why so?” Vanger said calmly. “I’m eighty-two and still in full possession of my faculties. I have a large personal fortune; I can spend it any way I want. I have no children and absolutely no desire to leave any money to relatives I despise. I’ve made my last will and testament; I’ll be giving the bulk of my fortune to the World Wildlife Fund. A few people who are close to me will receive significant amounts—including Anna.”
Blomkvist shook his head.
“Try to understand me,” Vanger said. “I’m a man who’s going to die soon. There’s one thing in the world I want to have—and that’s an answer to this question that has plagued me for half my life. I don’t expect to find the answer, but I do have resources to make one last attempt. Is that unreasonable? I owe it to Harriet. And I owe it to myself.”
“You’ll be paying me several million kronor for nothing. All I need to do is sign the contract and then twiddle my thumbs for a year.”
“You wouldn’t do that. On the contrary—you’ll work harder than you’ve ever worked in your life.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I can offer you something that you can’t buy for any price, but which you want more than anything in the world.”
“And what would that be?”
Vanger’s eyes narrowed.
“I can give you Hans-Erik Wennerström. I can prove that he’s a swindler. He happened, thirty-five years ago, to begin his career with me, and I can give you his head on a platter. Solve the mystery and you can turn your defeat in court into the story of the year.”
CHAPTER 7
Friday, January 3
Erika set her coffee cup on the table and stood by the window looking out at the view of Gamla Stan. It was 9:00 in the morning. All the snow had been washed away by the rain over New Year’s.
“I’ve always loved this view,” she said. “An apartment like this would make me give up living in Saltsjöbaden.”
“You’ve got the keys. You can move over from your upper-class reserve any time you want,” Blomkvist said. He closed the suitcase and put it by the front door.
Berger turned and gave him a disbelieving look. “You can’t be serious, Mikael,” she said. “We’re in our worst crisis and you’re packing to go and live in Tjottahejti.”
“Hedestad. A couple of hours by train. And it’s not for ever.”
“It might as well be Ulan Bator. Don’t you see that it will look as if you’re slinking off with your tail between your legs?”
“That’s precisely what I am doing. Besides, I have to do some gaol time too.”
Christer Malm was sitting