"I'll find out if he has time," Nurse Agneta said gently, and closed the door. And then locked it. It was 2:36, and then the clock clicked over to 2:37.
Salander got up from the edge of the bed and went to the window. She kept an eye on the clock. 2:39. 2:40.
At 2:44 she heard steps in the corridor and the rattle of the Securitas guard's key ring. Jonasson gave her an inquisitive glance and stopped in his tracks when he saw her desperate look.
"Has something happened?"
"Something is happening right now. Do you have a mobile on you?"
"A what?"
"A mobile. I have to make a call."
Jonasson looked over his shoulder at the door.
"Anders, I need a mobile. Now!"
When he heard the desperation in her voice he dug into his pants pocket and handed her his Motorola. Salander grabbed it from him. She could not call Blomkvist because he had not given her the number of his Ericsson T10. It had never come up, and he had never supposed that she would be able to call him from her isolation. She hesitated a tenth of a second and punched in Berger's number. It rang three times before Berger answered.
Berger was in her BMW half a mile from home in Saltsjobaden when her mobile rang.
"Berger."
"Salander. No time to explain. Do you have the number of Mikael's second mobile? The one that's not tapped."
"Yes."
Salander had already surprised her once today.
"Call him. Now! Teleborian is meeting Jonas at the Ring in Central Station at 3:00."
"What's--"
"Just hurry. Teleborian. Jonas. The Ring in Central Station. 3:00. He has fifteen minutes."
Salander flipped the phone shut so that Berger would not be tempted to waste precious seconds with unnecessary questions.
Berger pulled over to the curb. She reached for the address book in her bag and found the number Blomkvist had given her the night they met at Samir's Cauldron.
Blomkvist heard his mobile beeping. He got up from the kitchen table, went to Salander's office, and picked up the phone from the desk.
"Yes?"
"Erika."
"Hi."
"Teleborian is meeting Jonas at the Ring in Central Station at 3:00. You only have a few minutes."
"What? What? What?"
"Teleborian--"
"I heard you. How do you know about that?"
"Stop arguing and make it snappy."
Mikael glanced at the clock--2:47. "Thanks. Bye."
He grabbed his laptop case and took the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. As he ran he called Cortez on his T10.
"Cortez."
"Where are you now?"
"At the Academy bookshop."
"Teleborian is meeting Jonas at the Ring in Central Station at 3:00. I'm on my way, but you're closer."
"Oh, boy. I'm on my way."
Blomkvist jogged down to Gotgatan and sped up towards Slussen. When he reached Slussplan he was badly out of breath. Maybe Figuerola had a point. He was not going to make it. He looked around for a taxi.
Salander handed the mobile back to Dr. Jonasson.
"Thanks," she said.
"Teleborian?" Jonasson could not help overhearing the name.
She met his gaze. "Teleborian is a real, real bastard. You have no idea."
"No, but I could see that something happened just now that got you more agitated than I've seen you in all the time you've been in my care. I hope you know what you're doing."
Salander gave Jonasson a lopsided smile.
"You should have the answer to that question very soon," she said.
Cortez left the Academy bookshop running like a madman. He crossed Sveavagen on the viaduct at Master Samuelsgatan and went straight down to Klara Norra, where he turned up the Klaraberg viaduct and across Vasagatan. He flew across Klarabergsgatan between a bus and two cars, one of whose drivers punched his windshield in fury, and through the doors of Central Station as the station clock ticked over to 3:00 sharp.
He took the escalator three steps at a time down to the main ticket hall and jogged past the Pocket bookshop before slowing down so as not to attract attention. He scanned every face of every person standing or walking near the Ring.
He did not see Teleborian or the man Malm had photographed outside Cafe Copacabana, whom they believed to be Jonas. He looked back at the clock--3:01. He was gasping as if he had just run a marathon.
He took a chance and hurried across the hall and out through the doors onto Vasagatan. He stopped and looked around, checking one face after another, as far as his eyes could see. No Teleborian. No Jonas.
He turned back into the station--3:03. The Ring area was almost deserted.
Then he looked up and got a split second's glimpse of Teleborian's dishevelled profile and goatee as he came out of Pressbyran on the other side of the ticket hall. A second later the man from Malm's photograph materialized at Teleborian's side. Jonas. They crossed the concourse and went out onto Vasagatan by the north door.
Cortez exhaled in relief. He wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand and set off in pursuit of the two men.
Blomkvist's taxi got to Central Station at 3:07. He walked rapidly into the ticket hall, but he could see neither Teleborian nor anyone looking like he might be Jonas. Nor Cortez for that matter.
He was about to call Cortez when the T10 rang in his hand.
"I've got them. They're sitting in the Tre Remmare pub on Vasagatan by the stairs down to the Akalla line."
"Thanks, Henry. Where are you?"
"I'm at the bar. Having my afternoon beer. I earned it."
"Very good. They know what I look like, so I'll stay out of it. I don't suppose you have any chance of hearing what they're saying."
"Not a hope. I can only see Jonas's back, and that fucking psychiatrist mumbles when he speaks, so I can't even see his lips move."
"I get it."
"But we may have a problem."
"What's that?"
"Jonas has put his wallet and mobile on the table. And he put his car keys on top of the wallet."
"OK. I'll handle it."
Figuerola's mobile played the theme from Once Upon a Time in the West. She put down her book about God in antiquity. It did not seem as though she would ever be able to finish it.
"Hi. It's Mikael. What are you up to?"
"I'm sitting at home sorting through my collection of photographs of old lovers. I was ignominiously ditched earlier today."
"Do you have your car nearby?"
"The last time I checked it was in the parking space outside."
"Good. Do you feel like an afternoon on the town?"
"Not particularly. What's going on?"
"A psychiatrist named Teleborian is having a beer with an undercover agent--code name Jonas--down on Vasagatan. And since I'm cooperating with your Stasi-style bureaucracy, I thought you might be amused to tag along."
Figuerola was on her feet and reaching for her car keys.
"This is not your little joke, is it?"
"Hardly. And Jonas has his car keys on the table in front of him."
"I'm on my way."
Eriksson did not answer the phone, but Blomkvist got lucky and caught Karim, who had been at Ahlens department store buying a birthday present for her husband. He asked her to please--on overtime--hurry over to the pub as backup for Cortez. Then he called Cortez.
"Here's the plan. I'll have a car in place in five minutes. It'll be on Jarnvagsgatan, down the street from the pub. Lotta is going to join you in a few minutes as backup."
"Good."
"When they leave the pub, you tail Jonas. Keep me posted by mobile. As soon as you see him approach a car, we have to know. Lotta will follow Teleborian. If we don't get there in time, make a note of his registration number."
"OK."
Figuerola parked beside the Nordic Light Hotel next to the Arlanda Express platforms. Blomkvist opened the driver's door a minute later.
"Which pub are they in?"
Blomkvist told her.
"I have to call for backup."
"I'd rather you didn't. We've got them covered. Too many cooks might wreck the whole dish."
Figuerola gave him a sceptical look. "And how did you know that this meeting was going to take place?"
"I have to protect my source. Sorry."
"Do you have your own fucking intelligence service at Millennium?" she burst out.
Blomkvist looked pleased. It was cool to outdo Sapo in their own field of expertise.
In fact he did not have the slightest idea how Berger came to call him out of the blue to tell him of the meeting. She had not had access to ongoing editorial work at Millennium since early April. She knew about Teleborian, to be sure, but Jonas had not come into the picture until May. As far as he knew, Berger had not even known of his existence, let alone that he was the focus of intense speculation both at Sapo and at Millennium.
He needed to talk to Berger.
Salander pressed her lips together and looked at the screen of her hand-held. After using Jonasson's mobile, she had pushed all thoughts of the Section to one side and concentrated on Berger's problem. She had next, after careful consideration, eliminated all the men in the twenty-six to fifty-four age group who were married. She was working with a broad brush, of that she was perfectly aware. The selection was scarcely based on any statistical, sociological, or scientific rationale. Poison Pen might easily be a married man with five children and a dog. He might also be a man who worked in maintenance. "He" could even be a woman.
She simply needed to prune the number of names on the list, and her group was down from forty-eight to eighteen since her latest cut. The list was made up largely of the better-known reporters, managers, or middle managers aged thirty-five or older. If she did not find anything of interest in that group, she could always widen the net again.
At 4:00 she logged on to Hacker Republic and uploaded the list to Plague. He pinged her a few minutes later.
<18 names. What is this?>
She sent him the access codes for SMP's newsroom and then logged off from ICQ.
It was 4:20 before Cortez called.
"They're showing signs of leaving."
"We're ready."
Silence.
"They're going their separate ways outside the pub. Jonas heading north. Teleborian south. Lotta's going after him."
Blomkvist raised a finger and pointed as Jonas flashed past them on Vasagatan. Figuerola nodded and started the engine. Seconds later Blomkvist could also see Cortez.
"He's crossing Vasagatan, heading towards Kungsgatan," Cortez said into his mobile.
"Keep your distance so he doesn't spot you."
"Quite a few people out."
Silence.
"He's turning north on Kungsgatan."
"North on Kungsgatan," Blomkvist said.
Figuerola changed gears and turned up Vasagatan. They were stopped by a red light.
"Where is he now?" Blomkvist said as they turned onto Kungsgatan.
"Opposite PUB department store. He's walking fast. Whoops, he's turned up Drottninggatan heading north."
"Drottninggatan heading north," Blomkvist said.
"Right," Figuerola said, making an illegal turn onto Klara Norra and heading towards Olof Palmes Gata. She turned and braked outside the SIF building. Jonas crossed Olof Palmes Gata and turned up towards Sveavagen. Cortez stayed on the other side of the street.
"He turned east--"
"We can see you both."
"He's turning down Hollandargatan. Hello . . . Car. Red Audi."
"Car," Blomkvist said, writing down the registration number Cortez read off to him.
"Which way is he facing?" Figuerola said.
"Facing south," Cortez reported. "He's pulling out in front of you on Olof Palmes Gata . . . now."
Monica was already on her way and passing Drottninggatan. She signalled and headed off a couple of pedestrians who tried to sneak across even though their light was red.
"Thanks, Henry. We'll take him from here."
The red Audi turned south on Sveavagen. As Figuerola followed she flipped open her mobile with her left hand and punched in a number.
"Could I get an owner of a red Audi?" she said, rattling off the number.
"Jonas Sandberg, born 1971. What did you say? Helsingorsgatan, Kista. Thanks."
Blomkvist wrote down the information.
They followed the red Audi via Hamngatan to Strandvagen and then straight up to Artillerigatan. Jonas parked a block away from the Armemuseum. He walked across the street and through the front door of an 1890s building.
"Interesting," Figuerola said, turning to Blomkvist.
Jonas Sandberg had entered a building that was only a block away from the apartment the prime minister had borrowed for their private meeting.
"Nicely done," Figuerola said.
Just then Karim called and told them that Teleborian had gone up onto Klarabergsgatan via the escalators in Central Station and from there to police headquarters on Kungsholmen.
"Police headquarters at 5:00 on a Saturday afternoon?"
Figuerola and Blomkvist exchanged a sceptical look. Monica pondered this turn of events for a few seconds. Then she picked up her mobile and called Criminal Inspector Jan Bublanski.
"Hello, it's Monica from SIS. We met on Norr Malarstrand a while back."
"What do you want?" Bublanski said.
"Do you have anybody on duty this weekend?"
"Modig," Bublanski said.
"I need a favour. Do you know if she's at headquarters?"
"I doubt it. It's beautiful weather and Saturday afternoon."
"Could you possibly reach her or anyone else on the investigative team who might be able to take a look in Prosecutor Ekstrom's hallway . . . to see if there's a meeting going on in his office at the moment."
"What sort of meeting?"
"I can't explain just yet. I just need to know if he's in a meeting with anybody right now. And if so, who."
"You want me to spy on a prosecutor who happens to be my superior?"
Figuerola paused. "Yes, I do."
"I'll do what I can," he said and hung up.
Sonja Modig was closer to police headquarters than Bublanski had thought. She was having coffee with her husband on the balcony of a friend's place in Vasastaden. Their children were away with her parents, who had taken them on a week's vacation, and they planned to do something as old-fashioned as have a bite to eat and go to the movies.
Bublanski explained why he was calling.
"And what sort of excuse would I have to barge in on Ekstrom?" Modig asked.
"I promised to give him an update on Niedermann yesterday, but in fact I forgot to deliver it to his office before I left. It's on my desk."
"OK," said Modig. She looked at her husband and her friend. "I have to go in to HQ. I'll take the car and with a little luck I'll be back in an hour."
Her husband sighed. Her friend sighed.
"I'm on call this weekend," Modig said in apology.
She parked on Bergsgatan, took the elevator up to Bublanski's office, and picked up the three pages that comprised the meagre results of their search for Niedermann. Not much to hang on the Christmas tree, she thought.
She took the sta
irs up to the next floor and stopped at the door to the hallway. Headquarters was almost deserted on this summer afternoon. She was not exactly sneaking around. She was just walking very quietly. She stopped outside Ekstrom's closed door. She heard voices and all of a sudden her courage deserted her. She felt like a fool. In any normal situation she would have knocked on the door, pushed it open, and exclaimed, "Hello! So you're still here?" and then sailed right in. Now it seemed all wrong.
She looked around.
Why had Bublanski called her? What was this meeting about?
She glanced across the hall. Opposite Ekstrom's office was a conference room big enough for ten people. She had sat through a number of presentations there herself. She went into the room and closed the door. The blinds were down, and the glass partition to the hallway was covered by curtains. It was dark. She pulled up a chair and sat down, then opened the curtains a crack so that she would have a view of the hallway.
She felt uneasy. If anyone opened the door she would have quite a problem explaining what she was doing there. She took out her mobile and looked at the time display. Just before 6:00. She set the phone to vibrate and leaned back in her chair, watching the door of Ekstrom's office.
At 7:00 Plague pinged Salander.
He sent over a URL.
She logged out and went to the URL where Plague had uploaded all the administrator rights for SMP. She started by checking whether Fleming was online and at work. He was not. So she borrowed his identity and went into SMP's mail server. That way she could look at all the activity in the email system, even messages that had long since been deleted from individual accounts.
She started with Ernst Teodor Billinger, one of the night editors at SMP, forty-three years old. She opened his mail and began to click back in time. She spent about two seconds on each message, just long enough to get an idea of who had sent it and what it was about. After a few minutes she had worked out what was routine mail in the form of daily memos, schedules, and other uninteresting stuff. She started to scroll past these.
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest Page 43