Berger thought that the book was the best thing Blomkvist had ever written. It was
uneven stylistically, and in places the writing was actually rather poor—there had
been no time for any fine polishing—but the book was animated by a fury that no
reader could help but notice.
By chance Blomkvist ran into his old adversary, the former financial reporter
William Borg, in front of Kvarnen when Blomkvist, Berger, and Malm took the
evening off to celebrate the Santa Lucia holiday along with the magazine’s other
employees, going out to drink themselves senseless at the company’s expense.
Borg’s companion was a very drunk girl about Salander’s age.
Blomkvist’s loathing for Borg was palpable. Berger interrupted the macho
posturing by taking Blomkvist by the arm and leading him into the bar.
Blomkvist decided that when the opportunity arose, he would ask Salander to do
one of her personal investigations of Borg. Just for form’s sake.
During the whole media storm the main character in the drama, the financier
Wennerström, was for the most part invisible. On the day
that Millennium published its article, the financier was forced to comment on the
text at a press conference that had been called for a different purpose. He declared
the allegations unfounded and said that the documentation referred to was
fabricated. He reminded everyone that the same reporter had been convicted of
libel only one year before.
After that only Wennerström’s lawyers would answer questions from the media.
Two days after Blomkvist’s book came out, a persistent rumour began circulating
that Wennerström had left Sweden. The evening papers used the word “fled.”
During the second week, when the securities fraud police tried to contact
Wennerström, he was nowhere to be found. In mid-December the police confirmed
that Wennerström was formally sought, and on the day before New Year’s Eve, an
all-points bulletin was sent out via the international police organisations. The very
same day one of Wennerström’s advisers was seized at Arlanda as he was boarding
a plane for London.
Several weeks later a Swedish tourist reported that he had seen Wennerström get
into a car in Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados. As proof of his claim, the tourist