The Girl in the Spider's Web (Millennium series Book 4) by David Lagercrantz Read Free Book Online Page B

commercial forces. But out of the blue, as we stood there with our trousers down and our technology stolen, he suddenly took up an offer from Solifon, of all companies, and nobody could understand it. O.K., they were offering a mega-salary, free rein and all of that crap: like, do whatever the hell you want, but work for us, and that probably sounded cool. It would definitely have been cool for anyone who wasn’t Frans Balder. But he’d had any number of offers like that from Google, Apple and all the others. Why was this suddenly so interesting? He never explained. He just took his clobber and disappeared, and from what I’ve heard it went swimmingly at first. Balder continued to develop our technology and I think the owner, Nicolas Grant, was beginning to fantasize about revenues in billions. There was great excitement. But then something happened.”
    “Something that you don’t actually know so much about.”
    “No, we lost contact. Balder lost contact with pretty much everyone. But I understand enough to know that it must have been something serious. He had always preached openness and enthused about the Wisdom of Crowds, all that stuff: the importance of using the knowledge of many, the whole Linux way of thinking. But at Solifon he apparently kept every comma secret, even from those who were closest to him, and then – wham bam – he gave notice and went home, and now he’s sitting there in his house in Saltsjöbaden and doesn’t even go out into the garden or give a damn how he looks.”
    “So what you’ve got, Linus, is a story about a professor who seems to be under pressure and who doesn’t care what he looks like – though it’s not clear how the neighbours can see that, if he never goes outside?”
    “Yes, but I think—”
    “Listen, this could be an interesting story, I get that. But unfortunately it isn’t for me. I’m no I.T. reporter – as someone so wisely wrote the other day, I’m a caveman. I’d recommend you contact Raoul Sigvardsson at the
Svenska Morgon-Posten
. He knows everything about that world.”
    “No, no, Sigvardsson is a lightweight. This is way above his head.”
    “I think you underestimate him.”
    “Come on now, don’t chicken out. This could be your comeback, Blomkvist.”
    Blomkvist made a tired gesture towards Amir, who was wiping a table not far from them.
    “Can I give you some advice?” Blomkvist said.
    “What …? Yes … sure.”
    “Next time you have a story to sell, don’t try to explain to the reporter what’s in it for him. Do you know how many times people have played me that tune? ‘This is going to be the biggest thing in your career. Bigger than Watergate!’ You’d do better with just some basic matter-of-fact information, Linus.”
    “I just meant …”
    “Yes, what actually
did
you mean?”
    “That you should talk to him. I think he would like you. You’re the same uncompromising kind of guy.”
    It was as if Brandell had suddenly lost his self-confidence and Blomkvist wondered if he had not been unnecessarily tough. As a general principle, he tended to be friendly and encouraging towards people who gave him tip-offs, however weird they sounded, not just because there might be a good story even in something that sounded crazy, but also because he recognized that often he was their last straw. There were many who turned to him when everyone else had stopped listening. He was the last hope, and there was never any excuse to be scornful.
    “Listen,” he said. “I’ve had a really bad day and I didn’t mean to sound sarcastic.”
    “That’s O.K.”
    “And you know,” Blomkvist said, “there is actually one thing which interests me about this story. You said you had a visit from a female hacker.”
    Alona Casales was not one to become nervous easily and she rarely had trouble staying on topic. She was forty-eight, tall and outspoken, with a voluptuous figure and small intelligent eyes which could make anybody feel insecure. She