Blomkvist whistled.
“I discovered that there was money in Australian sheep, but I didn’t know the
station was doing that well.”
“Her sheep station is going superbly, but that isn’t her only source of income. The
Cochran Corporation is in mining, opals, manufacturing, transport, electronics, and
a lot of other things too.”
“Wow! So what’s going to happen now?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. People have been turning up all day, and the family has
been together for the first time in years. They’re here from both Fredrik and Johan
Vanger’s sides, and quite a few from the younger generation too—the ones in their
twenties and up. There are probably around forty Vangers in Hedestad this
evening. Half of them are at the hospital wearing out Henrik; the other half are at
the Grand Hotel talking to Harriet.”
“Harriet must be the big sensation. How many of them know about Martin?”
“So far it’s just me, Henrik, and Harriet. We had a long talk together. Martin
and...your uncovering of his unspeakable life, it’s overshadowing just about
everything for us at the moment. It has brought an enormous crisis for the
company to a head.”
“I can understand that.”
“There is no natural heir, but Harriet is staying in Hedestad for a while. The family
will work out who owns what, how the inheritance is to be divided and so on. She
actually has a share of it that would have been quite large if she had been here the
whole time. It’s a nightmare.”
Mikael laughed. Frode was not laughing at all.
“Isabella had a collapse at the funeral. She’s in the hospital now. Henrik says he
won’t visit her.”
“Good for Henrik.”
“However, Anita is coming over from London. I am to call a family meeting for next
week. It will be the first time in twenty-five years that she’s participated.”