“The purpose was to find out all that information about me because Frode, or
rather his employer, wanted to give me a freelance job.”
“I see.”
He gave her a faint smile.
“One of these days you and I should have a discussion about the ethics of snooping
into other people’s lives. But right now I have a different problem. The job I was
offered, and which inexplicably I agreed to do, is without doubt the most bizarre
assignment I’ve ever undertaken. Before I say more I need to be able to trust you,
Lisbeth.”
“What do you mean?”
“Armansky tells me you’re 100 percent reliable. But I still want to ask you the
question. Can I tell you confidential things without your telling them to anyone
else, by any means, ever?”
“Wait a minute. You’ve talked to Dragan? Is he the one who sent you here?” I’m
going to kill you, you fucking stupid Armenian.
“Not exactly. You’re not the only one who can find out someone’s address; I did
that all on my own. I looked you up in the national registry. There are three Lisbeth
Salanders, and the other two weren’t a good match. But I had a long talk with
Armansky yesterday. He too thought that I wanted to make trouble over your
ferreting around in my private life. In the end I convinced him that I had a
legitimate purpose.”
“Which is what?”
“As I told you, Frode’s employer hired me to do a job. I’ve reached a point where I
need a skilled researcher. Frode told me about you and said that you were pretty
good. He hadn’t meant to identify you, it just slipped out. I explained to Armansky
what I wanted. He OK’d the whole thing and tried to call you. And here I am. Call
him if you want.”
It took Salander a minute to find her mobile among the clothes that Mimmi had
pulled off her. Blomkvist watched her embarrassed search with interest as he
patrolled the apartment. All her furniture seemed to be strays. She had a state-of-
the-art PowerBook on an apology for a desk in the living room. She had a CD player