The Girl who played with Fire

Hagersten. Fredrik and Monika Gullberg. Andersson is going out to see them this evening when he’s finished at the university.”

“How are we doing on the press conference?” Faste said.

The mood in Berger’s office at 7:00 that evening was grim. Blomkvist had been sitting silent and almost immobile ever since Inspector Bublanski had left. Eriksson had cycled over to Lundagatan to watch what was going on there. She reported that no-one seemed to have been arrested and that traffic was flowing once again. Cortez had called in to tell them that the police were now looking for a second unnamed woman. Berger told him the name.

Berger and Eriksson had talked through what needed to be done, but the immediate situation was complicated by the fact that Blomkvist and Berger knew what role Salander had played in the denouement of the Wennerstrom affair – in her capacity as elite-level hacker she had been Blomkvist’s secret source. Eriksson had no knowledge of this and had never even heard Salander’s name mentioned. So the conversation occasionally lapsed into cryptic silences.

“I’m going home,” Blomkvist said, getting up abruptly. “I’m so tired I can’t think straight. I’ve got to get some sleep. Tomorrow being Good Friday, I plan to sleep and go through papers. Malin, can you work over Easter?”

“Do I have any choice?”

“No. We’ll start at noon on Saturday. Could we work at my place rather than in the office?”

“That would be fine.”

“I’m thinking of revamping the approach that we decided on this morning. Now it’s no longer just a matter of trying to find out if Dag’s expose had something to do with the murders. It’s about working out, from the material, who murdered Dag and Mia.”

Eriksson wondered how they were going to go about doing any such thing, but she said nothing. Blomkvist waved goodbye to the two of them and left without another word.

At 7:15 Inspector Bublanski reluctantly followed Prosecutor Ekstrom onto the podium in the police press centre. Bublanski had absolutely no interest in being in the spotlight in front of a dozen TV cameras. He was almost panic-stricken to be the focus of such attention. He would never get used to or begin to enjoy seeing himself on television.

Ekstrom, on the other hand, moved with ease, adjusted his glasses, and adopted a suitably serious expression. He let the photographers take their pictures before he raised his hands and asked for quiet.

“I’d like to welcome you all to this somewhat hastily arranged press conference regarding the murders in Enskede late last night. We have some more information to share with you. My name is Prosecutor Richard Ekstrom, and this is Criminal Inspector Jan Bublanski of the County Criminal Police Violent Crimes Division, who is leading the investigation. I have a statement to read, and then there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions.”

Ekstrom looked at the assembled journalists. The murders in Enskede were big news, and getting bigger. He was pleased to note that Aktuellt, Rapport, and TV4 were all there, and he recognized reporters from the TT wire service and the evening and morning papers. There were also quite a few reporters he did not recognize.

“As you know, two people were murdered in Enskede last night. A weapon was found at the crime scene, a Colt.45 Magnum. Today the National Forensics Laboratory established that this gun was the murder weapon. The owner of the weapon was identified, and we went looking for him today.”

Ekstrom paused for effect.

“At 4:15 this afternoon the owner of the weapon was found dead in his apartment in the vicinity of Odenplan. He had been shot. He is believed to have been dead at the time of the killings in Enskede. The police” – Ekstrom here gestured towards Bublanski – “have reason to believe that the same person was responsible for all three murders.”

A murmur broke out among the reporters. Several of them began talking in low voices on their mobile telephones. “Have you got a suspect?” a reporter from Swedish Radio called out.

Ekstrom raised his voice. “If you would refrain from interrupting my statement, we’ll get to that. This evening a person has been named whom the police want to question in connection with these three murders.”

“Will you give us his name, please?”

“It’s not a he, but a she. The police are looking for a twenty-six-year-old woman who has a connection to the owner of the weapon, and whom we know to have been at the scene of the murders in Enskede.”

Bublanski frowned and then looked sullen. They had reached the point in the agenda over which he and Ekstrom had disagreed, namely the question of whether they should name their suspect.

Ekstrom had maintained that according to all available documentation, Salander was a mentally ill, potentially violent woman and that something had apparently triggered a murderous rage. There was no guarantee that the violence was at an end, and therefore it was in the public interest that she be named and apprehended as soon as possible.

Bublanski held that there was reason to wait at least for results of the technical examination of Bjurman’s apartment before the investigative team committed itself unequivocally to one approach. But Ekstrom had prevailed.

Ekstrom held up a hand to interrupt the buzzing of the assembled reporters. The revelation that a woman was being sought for three murders would go off like a bomb. He passed the microphone to Bublanski, who cleared his throat twice, adjusted his glasses, and stared hard at the paper with the wording they had agreed on.

“The police are searching for a twenty-six-year-old woman by the name of Lisbeth Salander. A photograph from the passport office will be distributed. We do not know where she is at present, but we believe that she is in the greater Stockholm area. The police would like the public’s assistance in finding this woman as soon as possible. Lisbeth Salander is four feet eleven inches tall, with a slim build.”

He took a deep, nervous breath. He could feel the dampness under his arms.

“Lisbeth Salander has previously been in the care of a psychiatric clinic and is regarded as dangerous to herself and to the public. We would emphasize that we cannot say unequivocally that she is the killer, but circumstances dictate that we question her immediately to ascertain what knowledge she may have about the murders in Enskede and at Odenplan.”

“You can’t have it both ways,” shouted a reporter from an evening paper. “Either she’s a murder suspect or she isn’t.”

Bublanski gave Ekstrom a helpless look.

“The police are investigating on a broad front, and of course we’re looking at various scenarios. But there is reason to suspect the woman we have named, and the police consider it extremely urgent that she is taken into custody. She is a suspect due to forensic evidence which emerged during the investigation of the crime scene.”

“What sort of evidence?” someone in the crowded room immediately asked.

“We are not going to go into it.”

Several reporters started talking at once. Ekstrom held up his hand and pointed to a reporter from Dagens Eko. He had dealt with him before and regarded him as objective.

“Inspector Bublanski said that Froken Salander had been in a psychiatric clinic. Why was that?”

“This woman had a… a troubled upbringing and encountered over the years a number of problems. She is under guardianship, and the person who owned the weapon was her guardian.”

“Who is he?”

“The individual who was shot in his apartment at Odenplan. At present we are withholding his name until his next of kin are notified.”

“What motive did she have for the murders?”

Bublanski took the microphone and said, “We will not speculate as to possible motives.”

“Does she have a police record?”