“idon’tgetit.”
blokvistsighed.itwasawhilebeforehespokeagain.
“ihadadanedgoodstory.istillhadn’tconfrontedwennerstr？hiself,butthestorywasairtight；ifihadpublisheditatthatoentireallywouldhaveshookhiup.itightnothaveledtoanindictentforfraud—thedealhadalreadybeenapprovedbytheauditors—butiwouldhavedaagedhisreputation.”
“whatwentwrong？”
“soewherealongthewaysoebodyheardaboutwhatiwaspokingynoseinto,andwennerstr？wasadeawareofyexistence.andallofasuddenawholebunchofstrangethingsstartedhappening.firstiwasthreatened.anonyouscallsfrocardtelephonesthatwereipossibletotrace.erikawasalsothreatened.itwastheusualnonsense:liedownorelsewe’regoingtonailyoutoabarndoor,andsoon.she,ofcourse,wasadasahellcat.”
hetookacigarettefrosalander.
“thensoethingextreelyunpleasanthappened.lateonenightwhenilefttheofficeiwasattackedbytwoenwhojustwalkeduptoeandgaveeacoupleofpunches.igotafatlipandfelldowninthestreet.icouldn’tidentifythe,butoneofthelookedlikeanoldbiker.”
“so,next…”
“allthesegoings-on,ofcourse,onlyhadtheeffectofakingerikaverycrossindeed,andigotstubborn.webeefedupsecurityatmillenniu.theproblewasthattheharassentwasoutofallproportiontothecontentofthestory.wecouldn’tfathowhyallthiswashappening.”
“butthestoryyoupublishedwassoethingquitedifferent.”
“exactly.suddenlyweadeabreakthrough.wefoundasource,adeepthroatinwennerstr？’scircle.thissourcewasliterallyscaredtodeath,andwewereonlyallowedtoeethiinhotelroos.hetoldusthattheoneyfrotheminosaffairhadbeenusedforweaponsdealsinthewarinyugoslavia.wennerstr？hadbeenakingdealswiththeright-wingustasheincroatia.notonlythat,thesourcewasabletogiveuscopiesofdocuentstobackitup.”
“youbelievedhi？”
“hewasclever.heonlyevergaveusenoughrationtoleadustothenextsource,whowouldconfirthestory.wewereevengivenaphotographofoneofwennerstr？’sclosestcolleaguesshakinghandswiththebuyer.itwasdetailedblockbusteraterial,andeverythingseeedverifiable.sowepublished.”
“anditwasafake.”
“itwasallafakefrobeginningtoend.thedocuentswereskilfulferies.wennerstr？’slawyerwasabl. comrovethatthephotographofwennerstr？’ssubordinateandtheustasheleaderwasaontageoftwodifferentiages.”
“fascinating,”salandersaid.
“inhindsightitwasveryeasytoseehoehadbeenanipulated.ouroriginalstoryreallyhaddaagedwennerstr？.nowthatstorywasdrownedinacleverfery.wepublishedastorythatwennerstr？couldpickapartpointbypointandprovehisinnocence.”
“youcouldn’tbackdownandtellthetruth？youhadabsolutelynoproofthatwennerstr？hadittedthefalsification？”
“ifwehadtriedtotellthetruthandausedwennerstr？ofbeingbehindthewholething,nobodywouldhavebelievedus.itwouldhavelookedlikeadesperateattepttoshifttheblaefroourstupidityontoaninnocentleaderofindustry.”
“isee.”
“wennerstr？hadtwolayersofprotection.ifthefakehadbeenrevealed,hewouldhavebeenabletoclaithatitwasoneofhiseneiestryingtoslanderhi.andweatmillenniuwouldonceagainhavelostallcredibility,sincewefellforsoethingthatturnedouttobefalse.”
“soyouchosenottodefendyourselfandtaketheprisonsentence.”
“ideservedit,”blokvistsaid.“ihadittedlibel.nowyouknow.canigobacktosleepnow？”
heturnedoffthelapandshuthiseyes.salanderlaydownnexttohi.
“wennerstr？isagangster.”
“iknow.”
“no,iean,iknowthathe’sagangster.heworkswitheverybodyfrotherussianafiatothecolobiandrugcartels.”
“whatdoyouean？”
“wheniturnedinyreporttofrodehegaveeanextraassignent.heaskedetotrytofindoutwhatreallyhappenedatthetrial.ihadjuststartedworkingonitwhenhecalledaranskyandcancelledthejob.”
“iwonderwhy.”
“iassuethattheyscrappedtheinvestigationassoonasyouaeptedhenrikvanger’sassignent.itwouldnolongerhavebeenofiediateinterest.”
“and？”
“well,idon’tlikeleavingthingsunresolved.ihadafeeeks…freelastspringwhenaranskydidn’thaveanyjobsfore,soididsoediggingintowennerstr？forfun.”
blokvistsatupandturnedonthelapandlookedatsalander.heethereyes.sheactuallylookedguilty.
“didyoufindoutanything？”
“ihavehisentireharddiskonyputer.youcanhaveasuchproofasyouneedthathe’sagangster.”
chapter28
tuesday,july29–friday,october24
blokvisthadbeenporingoversalander’sputerprintoutsforthreedays—boxesfullofpapers.theproblewasthatthesubjectskeptchangingallthetie.anoptiondealinlondon.acurrencydealinparisthroughanagent.apanywithapost-officeboxingibraltar.asuddendoublingoffundsinanaountatthechasemanhattanbankinnewyork.
andthenallthosepuzzlingquestionarks:atradingpanywith200,000kronorinanuntouchedaountregisteredfiveyearsearlierinsantiago,chile—oneofnearlythirtysuchpaniesintwelvedifferentcountries—andnotahintofwhattypeofactivitywasinvolved.adorantpany？waitingforwhat？afrontforsoeotherkindofactivity？theputergavenoclueastowhatwasgoingoninwennerstr？’sindorwhatayhavebeenperfectlyobvioustohiandsowasneverforulatedinanelectronicdocuent.
salanderwaspersuadedthatostofthesequestionswouldneverbeanswered.theycouldseetheessage,butwithoutakeytheywouldneverbeabletointerprettheeaning.wennerstr？’sepirewaslikeanonionfrowhichonelayerafteranothercouldbereoved；alabyrinthofenterprisesownedbyoneanother.panies,aounts,funds,securities.theyreckonedthatnobody—perhapsnotevenwennerstr？hiself—couldhaveapleteoverview.wennerstr？’sepirehadalifeofitsown.
buttherewasapattern,oratleastahintofapattern.alabyrinthofenterprisesownedbyeachother.wennerstr？’sepirewasvariouslyvaluedatbetween100and400billionkronor,dependingonwhoyouaskedandhowitwascalculated.butifpaniesowneachother’sassets—whatthenwouldbetheirvalue？
theyhadlefthedebyislandingreathasteearlyintheorningaftersalanderdroppedthebobthatwasnowoupyingeverywakingoentofblokvist’slife.theydrovetosalander’splaceandspenttwodaysinfrontofherputerwhilesheguidedhithroughwennerstr？’suniverse.hehadplentyofquestions.oneofthewaspurecuriosity.
“lisbeth,howareyouabletooperatehisputer,froapurelypracticalpointofview？”
“it’salittleinventionthatyfriendplaguecaeupwith.wennerstr？hasanibmla. comthatheworkson,bothathoeandattheoffice.thateansthatalltherationisonasingleharddrive.hehasabroadbandconnectiontohispropertyathoe.plagueinventedatypeofcuffthatyoufastenaroundthebroadbandcable,andi’testingitoutforhi.everythingthatwennerstr？seesisregisteredbythecuff,whichforwardsthedatatoaserversoewhereelse.”
“doesn’thehaveafirewall？”
salandersiled.
“ofcoursehehasafirewall.butthepointisthatthecuffalsofunctionsasatypeoffirewall.ittakesawhiletohacktheputerthisway.let’ssaythatwennerstr？getsaneail；itgoesfirsttoplague’scuffandwecanreaditbeforeitevenpassesthroughhisfirewall.buttheingeniouspartisthattheeailisrewrittenandafewbytesofsourcecodeareadded.thisisrepeatedeverytiehedownloadsanythingtohisputer.picturesareevenbetter.hedoesalotofsurfingonthe.eachtiehepicksupapornpictureoropensanewhoepage,weaddseveralrowsofsourcecode.afterawhile,inseveralhoursorseveraldays,dependingonhowuchheusestheputer,wennerstr？hasdownloadedanentireprograeofapproxiatelythreeegabytesinwhicheachbitislinkedtothenextbit.”
“and？”
“whenthelastbitsareinplace,theprograeisintegratedwithhisinterbrowser.tohiitwilllookasthoughhisputerhaslockedup,andhehastorestartit.duringtherestartawholenewsoftwareprograeisinstalled.heusesinterexplorer.thenexttiehestartsexplorer,he’sreallystartingawholedifferentprograethat’sinvisibleonhisdes. comandlooksandfunctionsjustlikeexplorer,butitalsodoesalotofotherthings.firstittakescontrolofhisfirewallandakessurethateverythingisworking.thenitstartstoscantheputerandtransitsbitsofrationeverytieheclickstheousewhilehe’ssurfing.afterawhile,againdependingonhowuchhesurfs,we’veauulatedapleteirroriageofthecontentsofhisharddriveonaserversoewhere.andthenit’stiefortheht.”
“ht？”
“sorry.plaguecallsittheht.hostiletakeover.”
“isee.”
“thereallysubtlethingiswhathappensnext.whenthestructureisready,wennerstr？hastwopleteharddrives,oneonhisownachineandoneonourserver.thenexttiehebootsuphisputer,it’sactuallytheirroredputerthat’sstarting.he’snolongerworkingonhisownputer；inrealityhe’sworkingonourserver.hisputerwillrunalittleslower,butit’svirtuallynotnoticeable.andwheni’connectedtotheserver,icantaphisputerinrealtie.eachtiewennerstr？pressesakeyonhisputeriseeitonine.”
“yourfriendisalsoahacker？”
“hewastheonewhoarrangedthetelephoapinlondon.he’salittleoutofitsocially,butonthehe’salegend.”
“ok,”blokvistsaid,givingheraresignedsile.“questionnubertwo:whydidn’tyoutelleaboutwennerstr？earlier？”
“youneveraskede.”
