His victims were often new arrivals, immigrant girls who had no friends or social
contacts in Sweden. There were also prostitutes and social outcasts, with drug
abuse or other problems in their background.
From her own studies of the psychology of sexual sadism, Salander had learned
that this type of murderer usually collected souvenirs from his victims. These
souvenirs functioned as reminders that the killer could use to re-create some of the
pleasure he had experienced. Martin Vanger had developed this peculiarity by
keeping a “death book.” He had catalogued and graded his victims. He had
described their suffering. He had documented his killings with videotapes and
photographs.
The violence and the killing were the goal, but Salander concluded that it was the
hunt that was Martin Vanger’s primary interest. In his laptop he had created a
database with a list of more than a hundred women. There were employees from
the Vanger Corporation, waitresses in restaurants where he regularly ate, reception
staff in hotels, clerks at the social security office, the secretaries of business
associates, and many other women. It seemed as if Martin had pigeonholed
practically every woman he had ever come into contact with.
He had killed only a fraction of these women, but every woman anywhere near him
was a potential victim. The cataloguing had the mark of a passionate hobby, and he
must have devoted countless hours to it.
Is she married or single? Does she have children and family? Where does she work?
Where does she live? What kind of car does she drive? What sort of education does she
have? Hair colour? Skin colour? Figure?
The gathering of personal information about potential victims must have been a
significant part of Martin Vanger’s sexual fantasies. He was first of all a stalker, and
second a murderer.
When she had finished reading, she discovered a small envelope in one of the
binders. She pulled out two much handled and faded Polaroid pictures. In the first
picture a dark-haired girl was sitting at a table. The girl had on dark jeans and had a
bare torso with tiny, pointed breasts. She had turned her face away from the
camera and was in the process of lifting one arm in a gesture of defence, almost as
if the photographer had surprised her. In the second picture she was completely
naked. She was lying on her stomach on a blue bedspread. Her face was still turned
away from the camera.