At 11:15 Lisbeth Salander drank the rest of the water from her PET bottle as she
turned the pages. Unlike Blomkvist, who earlier in the day had choked on his
coffee, she didn’t get the water down the wrong way. On the other hand, she did
open her eyes wide when she made the connection.
Click!
For two hours she had been wading through the staff newsletters from all points of
the compass. The main newsletter was Company Information. It bore the Vanger
logo—a Swedish banner fluttering in the wind, with the point forming an arrow.
The publication was presumably put together by the firm’s advertising
department, and it was filled with propaganda that was supposed to make the
employees feel that they were members of one big family.
In association with the winter sports holiday in February 1967, Henrik Vanger, in a
magnanimous gesture, had invited fifty employees from the main office and their
families to a week’s skiing holiday in Härjedalen. The company had made record
profits during the previous year. The PR department went too and put together a
picture report.
Many of the pictures with amusing captions were from the slopes. Some showed
groups in the bar, with laughing employees hoisting beer mugs. Two photographs
were of a small morning function when Henrik Vanger proclaimed Ulla-Britt
Mogren to be the Best Office Worker of the Year. She was given a bonus of five
hundred kronor and a glass bowl.
The ceremony was held on the terrace of the hotel, clearly right before people were
thinking of heading back to the slopes. About twenty people were in the picture.
On the far right, just behind Henrik Vanger, stood a man with long blond hair. He
was wearing a dark padded jacket with a distinctive patch at the shoulder. Since
the publication was in black-and-white, the colour wasn’t identifiable, but Salander
was willing to bet her life that the shoulder patch was red.
The caption explained the connection. ...far right, Martin Vanger (19), who is
studying in Uppsala. He is already being discussed as someone with a promising future
in the company’s management.
“Gotcha,” Salander said in a low voice.