Prior to the meeting with Bjurman the week before Christmas she had prepared
herself; once there, she had tried to explain that his predecessor had trusted her
and had never been given occasion to do otherwise. Palmgren had let her take care
of her own affairs and not interfered in her life.
“That’s one of the problems,” Bjurman said, tapping her casebook. He then made a
long speech about the rules and government regulations on guardianship.
“He let you run free, is that it? I wonder how he got away with it.”
Because he was a crazy social democrat who had worked with troubled kids all his life.
“I’m not a child any more,” Salander said, as if that were explanation enough.
“No, you’re not a child. But I’ve been appointed your guardian, and as long as I have
that role, I am legally and financially responsible for you.”
He opened a new account in her name, and she was supposed to report it to
Milton’s personnel office and use it from now on. The good old days were over. In
future Bjurman would pay her bills, and she would be given an allowance each
month. He told her that he expected her to provide receipts for all her expenses.
She would receive 1,400 kronor a week—“for food, clothing, film tickets, and such
like.”
Salander earned more than 160,000 kronor a year. She could double that by
working full-time and accepting all the assignments Armansky offered her. But she
had few expenses and did not need much money. The cost of her apartment was
about 2,000 kronor a month, and in spite of her modest income, she had 90,000
kronor in her savings account. But she no longer had access to it.
“This has to do with the fact that I’m responsible for your money,” he said. “You
have to put money aside for the future. But don’t worry; I’ll take care of all that.”
I’ve taken care of myself since I was ten, you creep!
“You function well enough in social terms that you don’t need to be
institutionalised, but this society is responsible for you.”
He questioned her closely about what kind of work assignments she was given at
Milton Security. She had instinctively lied about her duties. The answer she gave
him was a description of her very first weeks at Milton. Bjurman got the impression