He told her everything about Cecilia Vanger and that he had found her face in
Harriet’s window. He gave Salander as good a description of her character as he
could. She had moved high up on the list of suspects, his list. But he was still far
from believing that she could be in any way associated with a murderer who was
active when she was still a young woman.
He gave Salander a copy of the list in the date book: “Magda—32016; Sara—32109;
R.J.—30112; R.L.—32027; Mari—32018.” And he gave her a copy of the verses from
Leviticus.
“What do you want me to do?”
“I’ve identified the R.J., Rebecka Jacobsson.” He told her what the five-figure
numbers stood for. “If I’m right, then we’re going to find four more victims—
Magda, Sara, Mari, and R.L.”
“You think they’re all murdered?”
“What I think is that we are looking for someone who—if the other numbers and
initials also prove to be shorthand for four more killings—is a murderer who was
active in the fifties and maybe also in the sixties. And who is in some way linked to
Harriet Vanger. I’ve gone through back issues of the Hedestad Courier. Rebecka’s
murder is the only grotesque crime that I could find with a connection to Hedestad.
I want you to keep digging, all over Sweden if necessary, until you make sense of
the other names and verses.”
Salander thought in expressionless silence for such a long time that Blomkvist
began to grow impatient. He was wondering whether he had chosen the wrong
person when she at last raised her head.
“I’ll take the job. But first you have to sign a contract with Armansky.”
Armansky printed out the contract that Blomkvist would take back to Hedestad for
Frode’s signature. When he returned to Salander’s office, he saw how she and
Blomkvist were leaning over her PowerBook. He had his hand on her shoulder—he
was touching her—and pointing. Armansky paused in the corridor.
Blomkvist said something that seemed to surprise Salander. Then she laughed out
loud.