“Well…”

“Do you have a friend who could come and stay with you?”

“Sure. But not at 7.30 in the evening if there’s a nutcase on the prowl outside.”

Rosin thought for a moment. “Do you have anything against a Milton employee staying here? I could call and find out if my colleague Susanne Linder is free tonight. She certainly wouldn’t mind earning a few hundred kronor on the side.”

“What would it cost exactly?”

“You’d have to negotiate that with her. It would be outside all our formal agreements. But I really don’t want you to stay here alone.”

“I’m not afraid of the dark.”

“I didn’t think you were or you wouldn’t have slept here last night. Susanne Linder is also a former policewoman. And it’s only temporary. If we had to arrange for bodyguard protection that would be a different matter – and it would be rather expensive.”

Rosin’s seriousness was having an effect. It dawned on her that here he was calmly talking of the possibility of there being a threat to her life. Was he exaggerating? Should she dismiss his professional caution? In that case, why had she telephoned Milton Security in the first place and asked them to install an alarm?

“O.K. Call her. I’ll get the spare room ready.”

It was not until after 10.00 p.m. that Figuerola and Blomkvist wrapped sheets around themselves and went to her kitchen to make a cold pasta salad with tuna and bacon from the leftovers in her fridge. They drank water with their dinner.

Figuerola giggled.

“What’s so funny?”

“I’m thinking that Edklinth would be a little bit disturbed if he saw us right now. I don’t believe he intended for me to go to bed with you when he told me to keep a close eye on you.”

“You started it. I had the choice of being handcuffed or coming quietly,” Blomkvist said.

“True, but you weren’t very hard to convince.”

“Maybe you aren’t aware of this – though I doubt that – but you give off the most incredible sexual vibrations. Who on earth do you think can resist that?”

“You’re very kind, but I’m not that sexy. And I don’t have sex quite that often either.”

“You amaze me.”

“I don’t, and I don’t end up in bed with that many men. I was going out with a guy this spring. But it ended.”

“Why was that?”

“He was sweet, but it turned into a wearisome sort of arm-wrestling contest. I was stronger than he was and he couldn’t bear it. Are you the kind of man who’ll want to arm-wrestle me?”

“You mean, am I someone who has a problem with the fact that you’re fitter and physically stronger than I am? No, I’m not.”

“Thanks for being honest. I’ve noticed that quite a few men get interested, but then they start challenging me and looking for ways to dominate me. Especially if they discover I’m a policewoman.”

“I’m not going to compete with you. I’m better than you are at what I do. And you’re better than I am at what you do.”

“I can live with that attitude.”

“Why did you pick me up?”

“I give in to impulses. And you were one of them!”

“But you’re an officer in Säpo, of all places, and we’re in the middle of an investigation in which I’m involved…”

“You mean it was unprofessional of me. You’re right. I shouldn’t have done it. And I’d have a serious problem if it became known. Edklinth would go through the roof.”

“I won’t tell him.”

“Very chivalrous.”

They were silent for a moment.

“I don’t know what this is going to turn into. You’re a man who gets more than his fair share of action, as I gather. Is that accurate?”

“Yes, unfortunately. And I may not be looking for a steady girlfriend.”

“Fair warning. I’m probably not looking for a steady boyfriend either. Can we keep it on a friendly level?”

“I think that would be best. Monica, I’m not going to tell anybody that we got together. But if we aren’t careful I could end up in one hell of a conflict with your colleagues.”

“I don’t think so. Edklinth is as straight as a die. And we share the same objective, you and my people.”

“We’ll see how it goes.”

“You had a thing with Lisbeth Salander too.”

Blomkvist looked at her. “Listen… I’m not an open book for everyone to read. My relationship with Lisbeth is none of anyone’s business.”

“She’s Zalachenko’s daughter.”

“Yes, and she has to live with that. But she isn’t Zalachenko. There’s the world of difference.”

“I didn’t mean it that way. I was wondering about your involvement in this story.”

“Lisbeth is my friend. That should be enough of an explanation.”

Linder from Milton Security was dressed in jeans, a black leather jacket and running shoes. She arrived in Saltsjöbaden at 9.00 in the evening and Rosin showed her around the house. She had brought a green military bag containing her laptop, a spring baton, a Mace canister, handcuffs and a toothbrush, which she unpacked in Berger’s spare room.

Berger made coffee.

“Thanks for the coffee. You’re probably thinking of me as a guest you have to entertain. The fact is, I’m not a guest at all. I’m a necessary evil that’s suddenly appeared in your life, albeit just for a couple of days. I was in the police for six years and I’ve worked at Milton for four. I’m a trained bodyguard.”

“I see.”

“There’s a threat against you and I’m here to be a gatekeeper so that you can sleep in peace or work or read a book or do whatever you feel like doing. If you need to talk, I’m happy to listen. Otherwise, I brought my own book.”

“Understood.”

“What I mean is that you should go on with your life and not feel as though you need to entertain me. Then I’d just be in the way. The best thing would be for you to think of me as a temporary work colleague.”

“Well, I’m certainly not used to this kind of situation. I’ve had threats before, when I was editor-in-chief at Millennium, but then it was to do with my work. Right now it’s some seriously unpleasant individual-”

“Who’s got a hang-up about you in particular.”

“Something along those lines.”

“If we have to arrange full bodyguard protection, it’ll cost a lot of money. And for it to be worth the cost, there has to be a very clear and specific threat. This is just an extra job for me. I’ll ask you for 500 kronor a night to sleep here the rest of the week. It’s cheap and far below what I would charge if I took the job for Milton. Is that O.K. with you?”

“It’s completely O.K.”

“If anything happens, I want you to lock yourself in your bedroom and let me handle the situation. Your job is to press the attack alarm. That’s all. I don’t want you underfoot if there’s any trouble.”

Berger went to bed at 11.00. She heard the click of the lock as she closed her bedroom door. Deep in thought, she undressed and climbed into bed.

She had been told not to feel obliged to entertain her “guest,” but she had spent two hours with Linder at the kitchen table. She discovered that they got along famously. They had discussed the psychology that causes certain men to stalk women. Linder told her that she did not hold with psychological mumbo-jumbo. She thought the most important thing was simply to stop the bastards, and she enjoyed her job at Milton Security a great deal, since her assignments were largely to act as a counter-force to raging lunatics.

“So why did you resign from the police force?” Berger said.

“A better question would be why did I become a police officer in the first place.”

“Why did you become a police officer?”

“Because when I was seventeen a close friend of mine was mugged and raped in a car by three utter bastards. I became a police officer because I thought, rather idealistically, that the police existed to prevent crimes like that.”