After the meeting she knew that she had handled it badly. At first she refused to
answer his questions. His interpretation of this was that she was shy, retarded, or
had something to hide, and he pressed her for answers. Salander realised that he
was not going to give up, so she started giving him brief, colourless answers of the
sort she assumed would fit with her psychological profile. She mentioned
“Magnus”—who, according to her description, was a nerdy computer programmer
her own age who treated her like a gentleman should, took her to the cinema, and
sometimes shared her bed. “Magnus” was fiction; she made him up as she went
along, but Bjurman took her account as a pretext for meticulously mapping out her
sex life. How often do you have sex? Occasionally. Who takes the initiative—you or
him? I do. Do you use condoms? Of course—she knew about HIV. What’s your
favourite position? Hmm, usually on my back. Do you enjoy oral sex? Er, wait a
second...Have you ever had anal sex?
“No, it’s not particularly nice to be fucked in the arse—but what the hell business is
it of yours?”
That was the only time she lost her temper. She had kept her eyes on the floor so
they would not betray her exasperation. When she looked at him again, he was
grinning at her from across the desk. She left his office with a feeling of disgust.
Palmgren would never have dreamed of asking such questions. On the other hand,
he had always been there if she had wanted to discuss anything. Not that she did.
Bjurman was on his way to being a Major Problem.
CHAPTER 11
Saturday, February 1–Tuesday, February 18
During the brief hours of daylight on Saturday, Blomkvist and Berger took a walk
past the small-boat harbour along the road to Östergården. He had been living on
Hedeby Island for a month, but he had never taken a walk inland; the freezing
temperatures and regular snowstorms had deterred him. But Saturday was sunny
and pleasant. It was as if Berger had brought with her a hint of spring. The road was
lined with snow, ploughed three feet high. As soon as they left the summer-cabin
area they were walking in dense fir forest. Blomkvist was surprised by how much
higher and more inaccessible Söderberget, the hill across from the cabins, was than