In addition to a Supreme Sourt (Högsta Domstolen), Sweden also has a Supreme Administrative Court (Högsta Förvaltningsdomstolen). Administrative court deals with matters of public law, often relating to executive brances of government. Examples include taxation and immigration.
LISBETH SALANDER is working on a routine background investigation. A man named Felix Lunderström applied to work in the offices of the Supreme Administrative Court. Anyone else under Armansky's employment would have found nothing out of the ordinary. But with Salander's illegal and morally questionable methods, she discovers Herr Lundström broke some laws of his own. Fortunately for her, Lundström was sloppy. He restricted most of his illegal activity to the deep web, where he traded weapons and purchased illicit substances on a regular basis. But he would occasionally message contacts outside of the deep web, using his personal email address. Normally she would've typed up her report and had it on Armansky's desk in no time, and let him deal with the criminal proceedings Lundström's activity was bound to provoke. But she has found something far more interesting than petty crime...
Salander finds messages from Felix Lunderström to Supreme Administrative Court Justice Joen Westermarck. They are in some sort of coded language so she doesn't know what they're about exactly, and Westermarck only replied to insult Lunderström's intelligence for sending him personal emails. Justice Westermarck will likely be more of a challenge Salander thinks, and cracks a crooked smile before moving on. She emails Armansky to let him know this background check is a little involved, she needs more time. For hours she scours the web for any information indicating Westermarck's criminal involvement, finding nothing. The only indication that anything is amiss are occasional gaps in time, a summer holiday, or mysterious illness. His calendars suggested he spends a lot of time travelling through Europe or overseas on weekends, but there are no travel statements in his bank accounts indicating he purchased flights to any of these places. She almost considers giving up, this might be a waste of time. Maybe he just bought some drugs off of Lunderström, or some fancy hunting rifle. Her phone rings, interrupting her thoughts. It's' Armansky.
"Hello?"
"Hey, just letting you know you can drop the Lunderström case."
"What? Why?"
"Hell if I know, the client says they're not going to hire him so the background check would be useless."
"Who exactly? Someone from the court office?"
"They told me it was an urgent request from one of the justices. Not sure why they're in such a hurry, but they're still paying you in full, so don't worry about it."
Westermarck. It has to be.
"Thanks."
She hung up. It's so obvious. Westermarck won't work with Lunderström because he knows that fool will land him in legal trouble, or worse. There's no way I'm giving up on this now...
Salander guesses that Lunderström will continue to be a sloppy idiot, so she checks his email. Half an hour ago <_law_breaker_100@hotmail.com> sent an email to a hidden address.
"I'm sorry, ok?? You don't have to blacklist me."
She has to laugh at that one. Especially because all of her assumptions had proved to be correct. At least he sent it to the encrypted address this time. A response from the hidden sender, two minutes ago.
"Your stupidity continues to astound me. I cannot afford to associate with someone so FUCKING STUPID. I swear to God if any of your bullshit gets back to me I WILL HAVE YOUR FUCKING HEAD. Understood? Never speak to me again."
Obviously he was right to be so concerned. What are you hiding? Apparently something big, because not 5 minutes after it was sent, his email and the one from Lunderström were both gone, deleted. Out of curiosity, she checks the emails she found earlier that first exposed the link between Lunderström and Westermarck. Those had also been permanently deleted. She got to them just in time.
Lunderström was now officially a dead end, and Westermarck too paranoid to make such obvious mistakes of his own. But Salander has her ways.It's about time for some field work. She goes to bed early, tomorrow will be a busy day...
Salander has to hack into Westermarck's computer by installing a special software. The catch is - she can't upload it remotely. She must figure out a way to get to Westermarck's home computer. Go back if you need to review your information.
A good old fashioned break-in.
Call the Westermarcks pretending to be an IT Technician. Say you need to do some repairs and will be coming by this evening, when you know Westermarck will still be at work.
Salander isn't sure if this is the best idea, but she calls Westermarck's home phone anyway. His teenage daughter answers.
"Um, hello?"
"Hello, this is Anja from TeknikFix. Is Herr Westermarck at home?"
"No, I'm his daughter."
"Your father scheduled computer repairs for today. If you don't mind letting me in, I can be there within the hour."
"Yeah sure whatever," she hangs up.
This might actually work. Salander takes out a couple of her piercings and picks a suitible outfit. She packs up her gear and heads to the Westermarcks' home on her motorcycle.
When she arrives, the daughter answers the door.
Salander smiles. "Hello Fröken Westermarck. I'm Anja, we spoke on the phone."
The girl raises an eyebrow. "I didn't know they had repairmen like that," she says as she lets Salander in.
"Can you show me where his computer is located?" The girl leads her to the study. "Thank you, I won't be long."
As Salander opens the door, an older woman comes down the hall. "Oh Hilda, you didn't tell me you had a friend coming over," she eyes Salander suspiciously.
Hilda rolls her eyes. "She's not my friend, duh. She's some repair person who has to fix daddy's computer."
Fru Westermarck smiles. "We best leave her to her work then."
Salander is on edge now. This was a stupid idea, but I've gotten this far. She tries to work as fast as possible, but installs always take too long. She snoops around the office, but there's nothing besides old case files and encyclopedias. Suddenly she hears voices outside the door. She hears Fru Westermarck's voice.
"She's still in there."
A policeman opens the door, and another follows behind him. Salander stands motionless.
The first policeman says, "What exactly are you doing here? I think it's safe to assume you aren't from TeknikFix."
Salander says nothing. "well? Are you going to answer our questions?" Still nothing. "Alright. Cuff her."
The second officer reaches for her as she makes a sudden and futile move to escape through the window. She makes it halfway through when he grabs her by the waist. She kicks him repeatedly in the chest, so the other officer steps in. Together they wrestle her to the floor and handcuff her.
This is it for me. I can't believe I was this stupid.
YOU HAVE FAILED. Go back and try again.
In the dead of night, Salander packs up her gear and rides her motorcycle to Westermarck's house. She parks further away to avoid suspicion. Fortunately, the house had recently been remodeled and the blueprints were featured on the architect's website as one of his crowning achievements. So she knew exactly where the computer would be - on the first floor, the middle room in a long hallway. Everyone's bedrooms are upstairs, the living and dining rooms and kitchen were downstairs. There is also a tall hedge along the side, meaning she won't be easily visible to neighbors or passersby. The study is next to a bathroom where there is a window she can easily open. She climbs in, quietly exits the bathroom, and enters the study. She powers on his computer, and inserts a disk. It will take about half an hour for the software to load, so she snoops around his office. She finds nothing but old case files and encyclopedias. She reads a few files, then checks that the download is complete. She did the same with Felix Lunderström last week. Now she has access to Westermarck's entire home computer.
In 1999, Sweden was the first nation to legalize the sale of one's own body for sexual services, and to keep the purchasing of those services illegal. This "Nordic Model" for the sex trade is now used in a number of other nations.
MIKAEL BLOMKVIST woke up in Erika Berger's bed. Her husband was away on business. She was already awake and getting dressed. When she saw he was awake, she went over to kiss him.
"Good Morning," she smiled.
He yawned. "Do we have time for breakfast?"
"Why wouldn't we? It's Saturday."
"Oh," he chuckled. "I thought you were off to work. Why are you up so early then?"
"It's 11:30 Mikael. I think you drank too much last night." She kissed him again and sat next to him.
"I think you kept me up too late," he said as he flipped her over onto the bed.
Sometime later, they were both getting dressed and planning to get lunch. As they went to leave, Blomkvist opened the front door to an unamused Salander.
He jumped, "Jesus, what are you doing here?"
"You didn't answer your phone and weren't at home so I came here," she said in her typical unaffected manner.
"Well...do you want to get lunch with Ricky and I? We were just leaving." Salander glared at them both.
Berger started to laugh, as Salander's glare intensified. "Why don't you two go, I think she has something important for you Mikael."
Salander relaxed. Berger was right, after all.
Where will Blomkvist and Salander have lunch? Go back if you need to review your information.
Blomkvist's usual café near Berger's house, where they make his favorite pickled herring sandwiches.
A newer place with some global cuisines.
Blomkvist decides to try something different. They walk down the street and begin to cross, when suddenly a black SUV speeds around the corner, running Blomkvist down. Salander screams and runs over to him, but she can see that he is already dead. His eyes are wide open and blood is pooling around his head. Tears run down her face and she looks viciously angry. She wipes her face, and heads back to Berger's to break the news. She vows to end the idiot who did this to her friend. The image of their license plate is burned into her mind.
YOU HAVE FAILED! Go back and try again.
Blomkvist orders two pickled herring sandwiches and two black coffees.
"Well, what's so important you came out to Ricky's house?"
Salander explains the connection she found between the crook Lunderström and Justice Westermarck, and goes through her research.
"I got into Westermarck's computer but I found nothing. It's a dead end. I can't find any dirt on this guy but I know he's filthy."
"So what's your next step?"
"Asking you for ideas."
Blomkvist chuckles. "I think I have one. Why don't we do an old-fashioned stake-out?"
Salander sighs. "Sounds boring. But sure, why not."
Today is Saturday, so Westermarck will be at home. When will you stake him out?
Go to his house today. Who knows what nefarious business he might be up to?
Wait until Monday when he's at work. The weekend is for relaxing!
They leave the café and walk over to Blomkvist's car. First they stop at Salander's house for a pair of binoculars, then they drive to Westermarck's house and park the car across the street. They patiently take turns with the binoculars, and note that the whole family is at home. But it appears to be just a normal Saturday. They stay there for hours, eventually Blomkvist picks up some more sandwiches and coffee. But the family stays inside all day. They declare Saturday as uneventful.
Blomkvist asks Berger to trade cars for a day saying it's important, He doesn't want to arouse suspicion. She reluctantly agrees. Blomkvist and Salander meet for breakfast again on Sunday, and head over to the Westermarcks' early. Around noon, Westermarck takes his young daughter in the car. Blomkvist follows to a shopping center. They walk a safe distance behind their targets. While the Westermarcks stop in the food court, Salander insists on buying an ice cream. The cashier tells Blomkvist,
"You know, it's quite progressive of you to allow your young daughter to go around looking like that!"
Salander glares, and Blomkvist rubs his temples, saying nothing as he pays. When they leave, Salander bursts into laughter.
It's another uneventful day. They head all the way back to the Westermarcks' house, and wait a while longer before it appears everyone has gone to bed.
Starting during lunchtime, they park across from the Administrative Courthouse. Westermarck doesn't leave the building until the evening, and they follow him to an unimpressive hotel.
Who should follow Westermarck into the hotel?
Blomkvist, he's charming and unassuimg.
Salander, she's extremely observant and never forgets a face.
Blomkvist waits a couple of minutes before entering the hotel. He mills about the checkout, acting like he's waiting for someone. After a few minutes, an exceptionally beautiful blonde woman walks to the front. She asks the front desk to call someone named Birgir. It takes a lot of effort on Blomkvist's part not to gawk at the woman while she waits, but she doesn't seem to register his presence anyway. The clerk speaks to Birgir and lets the woman go up to his room. Blomkvist paces for another couple of minutes before fetching Salander from the car. They book their own room for the night. Salander pulls out her laptop and hacks the hotel's files. Good thing he went for a budget place, they have shit security. She finds the pseudonym Westermarck used to check in, Birgir Lundén.
"Birgir Lundén!" she exclaims. "Why does that name sound so familiar?"
"I haven't the slightest idea. What do you think of the blonde? Mistress?"
"The only way a woman like that is fucking someone like Westermarck is for money. She's either a gold-digger or an escort. My bet's on escort."
Blomkvist looks at her quizically, "That makes perfect sense. A woman like that..."
Salander looks unamused. Suddenly she jumps Blomkvist and pushes him onto the bed.
Salander wakes up in the middle of the night, excitable. Blomkvist is fast asleep. She grabs her coat and cigarettes and heads outside. Out front is the blonde woman, she has to be the same one blomkvist described. She smiles at salander. They have their cigarettes in peaceful silence. As the blonde goes inside, she touches salander's shoulder and says "my name is Idun, what's yours?"
"L...Lisbeth," she stammers.
"Lovely to meet you Lisbeth," she says, and walks inside.
Back upstairs, Salander searches escort sites for Idun and finds her in no time. She looks into Westermarck's alias. She could probably investigate this herself, but she wants to talk to Idun. Maybe she could ask her hacker collective for help. After a couple of hours hunting Lundén on the dark web, her eyes droop, and she falls asleep next to Blomkvist once again. When they wake up, she tells him about what she found while he slept.
Salander waits a couple of minutes before entering the hotel. She mills about the checkout, acting like she's waiting for someone. After a few minutes, an exceptionally beautiful blonde woman walks to the front. She asks the front desk to call someone named Birgir. Salander looks at the woman with wide eyes, and the woman looks back at her with a warm smile. The clerk speaks to Birgir and lets the woman go up to his room. Salander paces for another couple of minutes before fetching Blomkvist from the car. They book their own room for the night.Salander pulls out her laptop and hacks the hotel's files. Good thing he went for a budget place, they have shit security. She finds the pseudonym Westermarck used to check in, Birgir Lundén.
"Birgir Lundén!" she exclaims. "Why does that name sound so familiar?"
"I haven't the slightest idea. What do you think of the blonde? Mistress?"
"The only way a woman like that is fucking someone like Westermarck is for money. She's either a gold-digger or an escort. My bet's on escort."
Blomkvist looks at her quizically, "Why do you say that?"
"She looked like she stepped out of a fairytale story about the most beautiful princess," she sighed. Then she gave Blomkvist a hard look before jumping him and pushing him onto the bed.
Salander wakes up in the middle of the night, excitable. Blomkvist is fast asleep. She searches escort sites for the woman and finds her in no time, her name is Idun. She looks into Westermarck's alias. She could probably investigate this herself, but she wants to talk to Idun. Maybe she could ask her hacker collective for help. After a couple of hours hunting Lundén on the dark web, her eyes droop, and she falls asleep next to Blomkvist once again. When they wake up, she tells him about what she found while he slept.
salander suggests they hire Idun and ask her to talk to them. Blomkvist balks at her rates, and suggests looking further into Westermarck's alias.
Salander can ask Plague to request more info about Birgir Lundén from the hacker collective, giving them time to talk to Idun
Salander can research Birgir Lundén herself.
Birgir Lundén is buying weapons on the dark web, that was his connection to Felix Lunderström, and he buys a lot of nazi memorabilia. That remiinds salander of why she recognized his alias, it's a combination of the names of two leaders of the oldest Swedish nazi parties. This alone is grounds for his removal from his position, but it has to go deeper. She finds the nazi group he is a member of, and sees that they are having a meeting in about a week. Since they still have time before the meeting, she sends a request out to Plague for good measure, and insists they still meet with Idun, and Blomkvist agrees. Salander messages her Tuesday night, saying she wants to hire her for 2 hours just to talk, but they will still pay her rates. Idun replies quickly and happily agrees, in fact she says they can pay her half if they're just talking, and schedules the meeting for the next afternoon.
Tuesday morning. Salander sends a message to Plague requesting info about Birgir Lundén for the usual payment. Then she messages Idun saying she wants to hire her for 2 hours just to talk, but they will still pay her rates. Idun replies quickly and happily agrees, in fact she says they can pay her half if they're just talking, and schedules the meeting for Wednesday. Blomkvist's wallet is relieved. They have some time, so they hang out in the hotel a while longer before going out to dinner and actually catching up on a little of their personal lives.
They meet Idun at a busy cafe. She is absurdly beautiful with long, thick, wavy, golden hair like the Norse goddess of youth whos name she has chosen. Blomkvist is all but drooling, Salander's eyes are much wider than usual. She does most of the talking. Idun is as friendly and funny as she is beautiful. She has been an escort for a few years and before that, a dancer. She's also an artist's model for fun. Blomkvist is surprised that Salander is almost...chatty with her. she also tells them with a laugh like birds in spring that she's actually a lesbian, she says this only because it usually amuses people considering her profession. Blomkvist laughs awkwardly, but feels strangely comforted and realizes he had been quite tense, so he relaxes. Salander tells her about their investigation into Westermarck/Lundén and Idun laughs again, this time more of a throaty cackle.
"If you promise to take that Nazi bastard down I'll tell you everything"
She disliked his conservative political leanings but didn't know he was a nazi until last night when he showed her a photo in full uniform. Apparently he collected memorabilia, and actively went to meetings. He had gotten it in his head that she was the perfect Aryan goddess. Little did he know she was actually Jewish and born in Poland, the name merely expressed her love of pagan mythology. It took all her strength not to show her rage. She played along, swore she would never see him again, and that she would find some way to expose him. Her exterior cracked for a moment, a single tear fell down her porcelain cheek as she told them the fate of her grandparents during the Holocaust.
Then she pulled out a digital camera, she had taken a photograph of a photograph while Westermarck was in the bathroom.
"I wasn't even sure what I would do with this."
Salander asks if she can have the SD card, Idun says there's a lot of other things on there and winks, but as long as she brings it back, she can have it. Then Idun says she has to go, looks Salander in the eyes, and thanks her before kissing her on the lips and walking out the door. Salander is actually blushing, and slowly puts a hand to her lips. Neither of them speak for a good while. Blomkvist gets up and orders 2 shots of aquavit.
Plague sends a report from another hacker that showed Lundén bought a lot of Nazi paraphernelia online, as well as a lot of regular weapons, which corroborates Idun's story. It was all making sense now. He surely had some nazi agenda, they just didn't know what it was. He had managed to do a very good job keeping it hidden. They were able to uncover the location of a meeting place, and a meeting is being held tonight.
Who should spy on the nazi meeting? Salander doesnt want to go because they hate women, and Blomkvist because he's afraid someone might recognize him from the magazine and call his bluff.
Salander convinces blomkvist to go
Blomkvist convinces salander to go
Someone recognizes Blomkvist from Millenium and tells everyone theres a SPY here come to destroy them! They go too hard teaching him a lesson. When Salander sees everyone leave and Blomkvist doesnt return, she looks for him, and finds him dead in the ally. She vows to kill everyone who was there with deadly poison.
She puts on her blonde wig and a conservative outfit. There are actually a couple of women there, to her disappointment. Security is very tight, but they wave Salander through. Theres a couple of government officials there but it mostly seems like businessmen. They have a plot to "make Sweden great again" starting with inciting a coup in Ghana, a former Swedish colony, and taking over the government for Sweden agian. They have members in key parts of government to keep slowly pushing policies more right wing. Some of their ideas, like taking over Ghana, are so unlikely they're almost laughable, but others are actually terrifying. Salander makes it all the way through and meets Blomkvist down the block.
"Did you get it?" he asks.
"Only one way to find out," she smiles.
Salander had a hidden camera in her bag for the entire meeting. They go over the footage in her apartment. There hasn't been a government scandle like this in decades. Now they have to decide what to do with the information.
What do you do with all the evidence? Salander will remain anonymous.
Take it to the president of the administrative court, Hans Ragnemalm.
Take it to the police
Take it to Berger and publish the story with Millenium
President Ragnemalm is astounded. He says to please give him time to address the situation, and as soon as he can he will give Blomkvist the okay to publish the entire story as a reward for bringing this information to light.
The police say they will do everything they can, but when Blomkvist calls back 2 weeks later to ask about progress they laugh at him. He tells Salander and she checks up on Westermarck, finding that his online profile is gone. Basically, the police are in on it. Another week later, Blomkvist is assassinated. Salander vows to murder the culprits with deadly poison.
Blomkvist gives berger all the evidence and tells her they have to publish. She hesitates, thinking it would be better to go through the police or the court. But Blomkvist says he doesn't trust anyone and the public must know the truth. Its a wildly popular story but Blomkvist ends up under criminal investigation, and Westermarck flees the country as well as some other people from Salander's video.
CONGRATION! You finished the story! If you liked it, consider reading the Millenium Trilogy!
Special thanks to Stieg Larsson for creating these characters.