You have harmed another human being, Lisbeth. He had sounded like an old teacher,
and she had patiently ignored every word of his scolding.
Bjurman did not have time for small talk. He had immediately concluded that there
was a discrepancy between Palmgren’s obligations, according to the regulations of
guardianship, and the fact that he had apparently allowed the Salander girl to take
charge of her own household and finances. Bjurman started in on a sort of
interrogation: How much do you earn? I want a copy of your financial records. Who do
you spend time with? Do you pay your rent on time? Do you drink? Did Palmgren
approve of those rings you have on your face? Are you careful about hygiene?
Fuck you.
Palmgren had become her trustee right after All The Evil had happened. He had
insisted on meetings with her at least once a month, sometimes more often. After
she moved back to Lundagatan, they were also practically neighbours. He lived on
Hornsgatan, a couple of blocks away, and they would run into each other and go
for coffee at Giffy’s or some other café nearby. Palmgren had never tried to impose,
but a few times he had visited her, bringing some little gift for her birthday. She
had a standing invitation to visit him whenever she liked, a privilege that she
seldom took advantage of. But when she moved to Söder, she had started
spending Christmas Eve with him after she went to see her mother. They would eat
Christmas ham and play chess. She had no real interest in the game, but after she
learned the rules, she never lost a match. He was a widower, and Salander had seen
it as her duty to take pity on him on those lonely holidays.
She considered herself in his debt, and she always paid her debts.
It was Palmgren who had sublet her mother’s apartment on Lundagatan for her
until Salander needed her own place to live. The apartment was about 500 square
feet, shabby and unrenovated, but at least it was a roof over her head.
Now Palmgren was gone, and another tie to established society had been severed.
Nils Bjurman was a wholly different sort of person. No way she would be spending
Christmas Eve at his house. His first move had been to put in place new rules on the
management of her account at Handelsbanken. Palmgren had never had any
problems about bending the conditions of his guardianship so as to allow her to
take care of her own finances. She paid her bills and could use her savings as she
saw fit.