She gave him a thoughtful look. “I don’t think you and I are going to be good
friends,” Salander said. “Right now you’re lying there congratulating yourself that
I’m dim enough to let you live. You think you have control even though you’re my
prisoner, since you think the only thing I can do if I don’t kill you is to let you go. So
you’re full of hope that you can somehow recover your power over me right away.
Am I right?”
He shook his head. He was beginning to feel very ill indeed.
“You’re going to get a present from me so you’ll always remember our agreement.”
She gave him a crooked smile and climbed on to the bed and knelt between his
legs. Bjurman had no idea what she intended to do, but he felt a sudden terror.
Then he saw the needle in her hand.
He flopped his head back and forth and tried to twist his body away until she put a
knee on his crotch and pressed down in warning.
“Lie rather still because this is the first time I’ve used this equipment.”
She worked steadily for two hours. When she was finished he had stopped
whimpering. He seemed to be almost in a state of apathy.
She got down from the bed, cocked her head to one side, and regarded her
handiwork with a critical eye. Her artistic talents were limited. The letters looked at
best impressionistic. She had used red and blue ink. The message was written in
caps over five lines that covered his belly, from his nipples to just above his
genitals: I AM A SADISTIC PIG, A PERVERT, AND A RAPIST.
She gathered up the needles and placed the ink cartridges in her rucksack. Then
she went to the bathroom and washed. She felt a lot better when she came back in
the bedroom.
“Goodnight,” she said.
She unlocked one of the handcuffs and put the key on his stomach before she left.
She took her DVD and his bundle of keys with her.