“I understand.” Suddenly he smiled. “Henrik is a bit of a conspiracy fanatic. But
above all, I don’t want you to get his hopes up unnecessarily.”
“I won’t do that.”
“Good...By the way, to change the subject, we now have another contract to
consider as well. Given that Henrik is ill and can’t in the short term fulfil his
obligations on the Millennium board, it’s my responsibility to take his place.”
Mikael waited.
“I suppose we should have a board meeting to look at the situation.”
“That’s a good idea. But as far as I know, it’s been decided that the next board
meeting won’t be held until August.”
“I know that, but maybe we should hold it earlier.”
Blomkvist smiled politely.
“You’re really talking to the wrong person. At the moment I’m not on the board. I
left in December. You should get in touch with Erika Berger. She knows that Henrik
has been taken ill.”
Martin Vanger had not expected this response.
“You’re right, of course. I’ll talk to her.” He patted Blomkvist on the shoulder to say
goodbye and was gone.
Nothing concrete had been said, but the threat hung in the air. Martin Vanger had
set Millennium on the balance tray. After a moment Blomkvist poured himself
another drink and picked up his Val McDermid.
The mottled brown cat came to say hello and rubbed on his leg. He lifted her up
and scratched behind her ears.
“The two of us are having a very boring Midsummer Eve, aren’t we?” he said.
When it started to rain, he went inside and went to bed. The cat preferred to stay
outdoors.