She leaned against the bathroom door and struggled to collect her thoughts. She
was more shaken than she would have thought possible. Gradually she realised
that a shower was not only good advice but a necessity after the tumult of the
night. When she was done, she slipped into her bedroom and put on jeans, and a T-
shirt with the slogan ARMAGEDDON WAS YESTERDAY—TODAY WE HAVE A
SERIOUS PROBLEM.
After pausing for a second, she searched through her leather jacket that was slung
over a chair. She took the taser out of the pocket, checked to see that it was loaded,
and stuck it in the back pocket of her jeans. The smell of coffee was spreading
through the apartment. She took a deep breath and went back to the kitchen.
“Do you never clean up?” he said.
He had filled the sink with dirty dishes and ashtrays; he had put the old milk cartons
into a rubbish sack and cleared the table of five weeks of newspapers; he had
washed the table clean and put out mugs and—he wasn’t joking after all—
bagels. OK, let’s see where this is heading. She sat down opposite him.
“You didn’t answer my question. Roast beef, turkey, or vegetarian?”
“Roast beef.”
“Then I’ll take the turkey.”
They ate in silence, scrutinising each other. When she finished her bagel, she also
ate half of the vegetarian one. She picked up a crumpled pack of cigarettes from
the windowsill and dug one out.
He broke the silence. “I may not be as good as you at investigations, but at least I’ve
found out that you’re not a vegetarian or—as Herr Frode thought—anorexic. I’ll
include that information in my report.”
Salander stared at him, but he looked so amused that she gave him a crooked
smile. The situation was beyond all rhyme or reason. She sipped her coffee. He had
kind eyes. She decided that whatever else he might be, he did not seem to be a
malicious person. And there was nothing in the PI she had done that would
indicate he was a vicious bastard who abused his girlfriends or anything like that.