blokvistcouldnotsleep；andat4：00hegaveup。hewenttothekitchenandreadthecourtjudgeentoneoretiefrobeginningtoend。havingthedocuentinhishandhehadasensethattherehadbeensoethingalostfatefulabouttheeetingatarhola。hecouldneverbesurewhetherlindberghadtoldhithedetailsofwennerstr？’sswindlesiplyforthesakeofagoodstorybetweentoastsintheprivacyofhisboat’scabinorwhetherhehadreallywantedthestorytobeadepublic。
hetendedtobelievethefirst。butitayhavebeenthatlindberg；forhisownpersonalorbusinessreasons；hadwantedtodaagewennerstr？；andhehadseizedtheopportunityofhavingacaptivejournalistonboard。lindberghadbeensoberenoughtoinsistonblokvisttreatinghiasananonyoussource。frothatoentlindbergcouldsaywhatheliked；becausehisfriendwouldneverbeabletodisclosehissource。
iftheeetingatarholahadbeenaset…up；thenlindbergcouldnothaveplayedhisrolebetter。buttheeetinghadtohavehappenedbychance。
lindbergcouldhavehadnonotionoftheextentofblokvist’sconteptforpeoplelikewennerstr？。forallthat；afteryearsofstudy；hewasprivatelyconvincedthattherewasnotasinglebankdirectororcelebritycorporateexecutivewhowasn’talsoacretin。
blokvisthadneverheardoflisbethsalanderandwashappilyinnocentofherreportdeliveredearlierthatday；buthadhelistenedtoithewouldhavenoddedinagreeentwhenshespokeofhisloathingforbeancounters；sayingthatitwasnotaanifestationofhisleft…wingpoliticalradicalis。mikaelwasnotuninterestedinpolitics；buthewasextreelyscepticalofpolitical“iss。”hehadvotedonlyonceinaparliaentaryelection—in1982—andthenhehadhesitantlyplupedforthesocialdeocrats；therebeingnothinginhisiaginationworsethanthreeyearsorewithg？stabohanasfinanceinisterandthorbj？rnf？lldinasprieinister。sohehadvotedforolofpale；andgotinsteadtheassassinationofhisprieinisterplustheboforsscandalandebbecarlsson。
hisconteptforhisfellowfinancialjournalistswasbasedonsoethingthatinhisopinionwasasplainasorality。theequationwassiple。abankdirectorwhoblowsillionsonfoolhardyspeculationsshouldnotkeephisjob。aanagingdirectorwhoplaysshellpanygaesshoulddotie。aslulandlordwhoforcesyoungpeopl. comaythroughthenoseandunderthetableforaone…rooapartentwithsharedtoiletshouldbehungouttodry。
thejobofthefinancialjournalistwastoexaihesharkswhocreatedinterestcrisesandspeculatedawaythesavingsofsallinvestors；toscrutinisepanyboardswiththesaeercilesszealwithwhichpoliticalreporterspursuethetinieststepsoutoflineofinistersandebersofparliaent。hecouldnotforthelifeofhiunderstandwhysoanyinfluentialfinancialreporterstreatedediocrefinancialwhelpslikerockstars。
theserecalcitrantviewshadtieaftertiebroughthiintoconflictwithhispeers。b；forone；wasgoingtobeaneneyforlife。histakingonaroleofsocialcritichadactuallytransforedhiintoapricklyguestontvsofas—hewasalwaystheoneinvitedtoentwheneveranyceowascaughtwithagoldenparachuteworthbillions。
mikaelhadnotroubleiaginingthatchapagnebottleshadbeenuncorkedinsoenewspapers’backroosthatevening。
erikahadthesaeattitudetothejournalist’sroleashedid。evenwhentheywereinjournalisschooltheyhadausedtheselvesbyiaginingaagazinewithjustsuchaissionstateent。
erikawasthebestbossmikaelcouldiagine。shewasananiserwhocouldhandleeployeeswithwarthandtrustbutwhoatthesaetiewasn’tafraidofconfrontationandcouldbeverytoughwhennecessary。aboveall；shehadanicygutfeelingwhenitcaetoakingdecisionsaboutthecontentsoftheupingissue。sheandmikaeloftenhaddifferingviewsandcouldhavehealthyarguents；buttheyalsohadunwaveringconfidenceineachother；andtogethertheyadeanunbeatabletea。hedidthefieldworkoftrackingdownthestory；whileshepackagedandarketedit。
millenniuwastheirutualcreation；butitwouldneverhavebeerealitywithouthertalentfordiggingupfinancing。itwastheworking…classguyandtheupper…classgirlinabeautifulunion。erikacaefrooldoney。shehadputuptheinitialseedoneyandthentalkedbothherfatherandvariousacquaintancesintoinvestingconsiderablesusintheproject。
mikaelhadoftenwonderedwhyerikahadsethersightsonmillenniu。true；shewasapartowner—theajoritypartner；infact—andeditorinchiefofherownagazine；whichgaveherprestigeandthecontroloverpublicitythatshecouldhardlyhaveobtainedinanyotherjob。unlikemikael；shehadconcentratedontelevisionafterjournalisschool。shewastough；lookedfantasticoncaera；andcouldholdherownwiththepetition。shealsohadgoodcontactsinthebureaucracy。ifshehadstucktoit；shewouldundoubtedlyhavehadaanagerialjobatoneofthetvchannelsataconsiderablyhighersalarythanshepaidherselfnow。
bergerhadalsoconvincedchristermaltobuyintotheagazine。hewasanexhibitionistgaycelebritywhosoetiesappearedwithhisboyfriendin“athoewith”articles。theinterestinhibeganwhenheovedinwitharnoldmagnusson；anactorwithabackgroundattheroyaldraatictheatrewhohadadeaseriousbreakthroughwhenheplayedhiselfinadocu…soap。christerandarnhadthenbeeaediaite。
atthirty…six；malwasasought…afterprofessionalphotographeranddesignerwhogavemillenniuaodernlook。heranhisbusinessfroanofficeonthesaefloorasmillenniu；andhedidgraphicdesignoneweekineveryonth。
themillenniustaffconsistedofthreefull…tieeployees；afull…tietrainee；andtwopart…tiers。itwasnotalucrativeaffair；buttheagazinebrokeeven；andthecirculationandadvertisingrevenuehadincreasedgraduallybutsteadily。untiltodaytheagazinewasknownforitsfrankandreliableeditorialstyle。
nowthesituationwouldinallprobabilitybechanging。blokvistreadthroughthepressreleasewhichheandbergerhaddraftedandwhichhadquicklybeenconvertedtoawireservicestoryfrottthatwasalreadyuponaftonbladet’swebsite。
convictedreporterleavesmillennium
stockhol。journalistmikaelblokvistisleavinghispostaspublisheroftheagazinemillenniu；reportseditorinchiefandajorityshareholdererikaberger。
blokvistisleavingmillenniuofhisownchoice。“he’sexhaustedafterthedraaofrecentonthsandneedstieoff；”saysberger；whowilltakeovertheroleofpublisher。
blokvistwasoneofthefoundersofmillenniu；startedin1990。bergerdoesnotthinkthattheagazinewillsufferinthewakeoftheso…called“wennerstr？affair。”
theagazinewilleoutasusualnextonth；saysberger。
“mikaelblokvisthasplayedaajorroleintheagazine’sdevelopent；butnoe’returninganewpage。”
bergerstatesthatsheregardsthewennerstr？affairastheresultofaseriesofunfortunatecircustances。sheregretsthenuisancetowhichhans…erikwennerstr？wassubjected。blokvistcouldnotbereachedforent。
“itakesead；”bergersaidwhenthepressreleasewaseailedout。“mostpeoplearegoingtothinkthatyou’reanidiotandi’abitchwho’stakingtheopportunitytosackyou。”
“atleastourfriendswillhavesoethingnewtolaughabout。”blokvisttriedtoakelightofit；shewasnottheleastaused。
“idon’thaveaplanb；butithinkwe’reakingaistake；”shesaid。
“it’stheonlywayout。iftheagazinecollapses；allouryearsofworkwillhavebeeninvain。we’vealreadytakenabeatingontheadsrevenue。howdiditgowiththeputerpany；bytheway？”
shesighed。“theytoldethisorningthattheydidn’twanttotakespaceinthenextissue。”
“wennerstr？hasachunkofstockinthatpany；soit’snoaident。”
“wecanscareupsoenewclients。wennerstr？aybeabigwheel；buthedoesn’towneverythinginsweden；andwehaveourcontacts。”
blokvistputanararoundherandpulledherclose。
“soedaywe’regoingtonailherrwennerstr？sohardwallstreetisgoingtojupoutofitssocks。buttodaymillenniuhastogetoutofthespotlight。”
“iknowallthat；butidon’tlikeingacrossasafuckingbitch；andyou’rebeingforcedintoadisgustingsituationifwepretendthatthere’ssoesortofdivisionbetweenyouande。”
“ricky；aslongasyouanditrusteachotherwe’vegotachance。wehav. comlayitbyear；andrightnowit’stietoretreat。”
shereluctantlyadittedthattherewasadepressinglogictowhathesaid。
chapter4
monday；deceber23–thursday；deceber26
bergerstayedovertheweekend。theygotuponlytogotothebathrooortogetsoethingtoeat；buttheyhadnotonlyadelove。theyhadlainheadtofootforhoursandtalkedaboutthefuture；weighingupthepossibilities；andtheodds。whendawncaeonmondayorningitwasthedaybeforechristaseveandshekissedhigoodbye—untilnexttie—anddrovehoe。
blokv
