The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Damn... I've got to bring up the Vitavara thing. Borgsjo is going to be fired.



Suddenly Borgsjo smiled. "By God, I think you're pretty tough too."



"Yes, I am, and in this case it's regrettable since it shouldn't be necessary. My job is to produce a good newspaper, and I can do that only if I have a management that functions and colleagues who enjoy their work."



After the meeting with Borgsjo, Berger limped back to the glass cage. She felt depressed. She had been with Borgsjo for forty-five minutes without mentioning one syllable about Vitavara. She had not, in other words, been particularly straight or honest with him.



When she sat at her computer she found a message from [email protected]/* */›. She knew perfectly well that no such address existed at Millennium. She opened the email:



YOU THINK THAT BORGSJo CAN SAVE YOU, YOU LITTLE WHORE. HOW DOES YOUR FOOT FEEL?



She raised her eyes involuntarily and looked out across the newsroom. Her gaze fell on Holm. He looked back at her. Then he smiled.



It can only be someone at S.M.P.



The meeting at the Constitutional Protection Unit lasted until after 5.00, and they agreed to have another meeting the following week. Blomkvist could contact Figuerola if he needed to be in touch with S.I.S. before then. He packed away his laptop and stood up.



"How do I get out of here?" he asked.



"You certainly can't go running around on your own," Edklinth said.



"I'll show him out," Figuerola said. "Give me a couple of minutes, I just have to pick up a few things from my office."



They walked together through Kronoberg park towards Fridhemsplan.



"So what happens now?" Blomkvist said.



"We stay in touch," Figuerola said.



"I'm beginning to like my contact with Sapo."



"Do you feel like having dinner later?"



"Bosnian again?"



"No, I can't afford to eat out every night. I was thinking of something simple at my place."



She stopped and smiled at him.



"Do you know what I'd like to do now?" she said.



"No."



"I'd like to take you home and undress you."



"This could get a bit awkward."



"I know. But I hadn't thought of telling my boss."



"We don't know how this story's going to turn out. We could end up on opposite sides of the barricades."



"I'll take my chances. Now, are you going to come quietly or do I have to handcuff you?"



The consultant from Milton Security was waiting for Berger when she got home at around 7.00. Her foot was throbbing painfully, and she limped into the kitchen and sank on to the nearest chair. He had made coffee and he poured her some.



"Thanks. Is making coffee part of Milton's service agreement?"



He gave her a polite smile. David Rosin was a short, plump man in his fifties with a reddish goatee. "Thanks for letting me borrow your kitchen today."



"It's the least I could do. What's the situation?"



"Our technicians were here and installed a proper alarm. I'll show you how it works in a minute. I've also gone over every inch of your house from the basement to the attic and studied the area around it. I'll review your situation with my colleagues at Milton, and in a few days we'll present an assessment that we'll go over with you. But before that there are one or two things we ought to discuss."



"Go ahead."



"First of all, we have to take care of a few formalities. We'll work out the final contract later  -  it depends what services we agree on  -  but this is an agreement saying that you've commissioned Milton Security to install the alarm we put in today. It's a standard document saying that we at Milton require certain things of you and that we commit to certain things, client confidentiality and so forth."



"You require things of me?"



"Yes. An alarm is an alarm and is completely pointless if some nutcase is standing in your living room with an automatic weapon. For the security to work, we want you and your husband to be aware of certain things and to take certain routine measures. I'll go over the details with you."



"O.K."



"I'm jumping ahead and anticipating the final assessment, but this is how I view the general situation. You and your husband live in a detached house. You have a beach at the back of the house and a few large houses in the immediate vicinity. Your neighbours do not have an unobstructed view of your house. It's relatively isolated."



"That's correct."



"Therefore an intruder would have a good chance of approaching your house without being observed."



"The neighbours on the right are away for long periods, and on the left is an elderly couple who go to bed quite early."



"Precisely. In addition, the houses are positioned with their gables facing each other. There are few windows, and so on. Once an intruder comes on to your property  -  and it takes only five seconds to turn off the road and arrive at the rear of the house  -  then the view is completely blocked. The rear is screened by your hedge, the garage, and that large freestanding building."



"That's my husband's studio."



"He's an artist, I take it?"



"That's right. Then what?"



"Whoever smashed your window and sprayed your outside wall was able to do so undisturbed. There might have been some risk that the sound of the breaking window would be heard and someone might have reacted... but your house sits at an angle and the sound was deflected by the facade."



"I see."



"The second thing is that you have a large property here with a living area of approximately 250 square metres, not counting the attic and basement. That's eleven rooms on two floors."



"The house is a monster. It's my husband's old family home."



"There are also a number of different ways to get into the house. Via the front door, the balcony at the back, the porch on the upper floor, and the garage. There are also windows on the ground floor and six basement windows that were left without alarms by our predecessors. Finally, I could break in by using the fire escape at the back of the house and entering through the roof hatch leading to the attic. The trapdoor is secured by nothing more than a latch."



"It sounds as if there are revolving doors into the place. What do we have to do?"



"The alarm we installed today is temporary. We'll come back next week and do the proper installation with alarms on every window on the ground floor and in the basement. That's your protection against intruders in the event that you and your husband are away."



"That's good."



"But the present situation has arisen because you have been subject to a direct threat from a specific individual. That's much more serious. We don't know who this person is, what his motives are, or how far he's willing to go, but we can make a few assumptions. If it were just a matter of anonymous hate mail we would make a decreased threat assessment, but in this case a person has actually taken the trouble to drive to your house  -  and it's pretty far to Saltsjobaden  -  to carry out an attack. That is worrisome."



"I agree with you there."



"I talked with Dragan today, and we're of the same mind: until we know more about the person making the threat, we have to play it safe."



"Which means  - "



"First of all, the alarm we installed today contains two components. On the one hand it's an ordinary burglar alarm which is on when you're not at home, but it's also a sensor for the ground floor that you'll have to turn on when you're upstairs at night."



"Hmm."



"It's an inconvenience because you have to turn off the alarm every time you come downstairs."



"I've got you."



"Second, we changed your bedroom door today."



"You changed the whole door?"



"Yes. We installed a steel safety door. Don't worry... it's painted white and looks just like a normal bedroom door. The difference is that it locks automatically when you close it. To open the door from the inside you just have to press down the handle as on any normal door. But to open the door from the outside, you have to enter a three-digit code on a plate on the door handle."



"And you've done all this today..."



"If you're threatened in your home then you have a safe room into which you can barricade yourself. The walls are sturdy and it would take quite a while to break down that door even if your assailant had tools at hand."



"That's a comfort."



"Third, we're going to install surveillance cameras, so that you'll be able to see what's going on in the garden and on the ground floor when you're in the bedroom. That will be done later this week, at the same time as we install the movement detectors outside the house."



"It sounds like the bedroom won't be such a romantic place in the future."



"It's a small monitor. We can put it inside a wardrobe or a cabinet so that it isn't in full view."



"Thank you."



"Later in the week I'll change the doors in your study and in a downstairs room too. If anything happens you should quickly seek shelter and lock the door while you wait for assistance."



"Alright."



"If you trip the burglar alarm by mistake, then you'll have to call Milton's alarm centre immediately to cancel the emergency vehicle. To cancel it you'll have to give a password that will be registered with us. If you forget the password, the emergency vehicle will come out anyway and you'll be charged a fee."



"Understood."



"Fourth, there are now attack alarms in four places inside the house. Here in the kitchen, in the hall, in your study upstairs, and in your bedroom. The attack alarm consists of two buttons that you press simultaneously and hold down for three seconds. You can do it with one hand, but you can't do it by mistake. If the attack alarm is sounded, three things will happen. First, Milton will send cars out here. The closest car will come from Adam Security in Fisksatra. Two strong men will be here in ten to twelve minutes. Second, a car from Milton will come down from Nacka. For that the response time is at best twenty minutes but more likely twenty-five. Third, the police will be alerted automatically. In other words, several cars will arrive at the scene within a short time, a matter of minutes."



"O.K."



"An attack alarm can't be cancelled the same way you would cancel the burglar alarm. You can't call and say that it was a mistake. Even if you meet us in the driveway and say it was a mistake, the police will enter the house. We want to be sure that nobody's holding a gun to your husband's head or anything like that. So you use the attack alarm, obviously, only when there is real danger."



"I understand."



"It doesn't have to be a physical attack. It could be if someone is trying to break in or turns up in the garden or something like that. If you feel threatened in any way, you should set off the alarm, but use your good judgement."



"I promise."



"I notice that you have golf clubs planted here and there around the house."



"Yes. I slept here alone last night."



"I myself would have checked into a hotel. I have no problem with you taking safety precautions on your own. But you ought to know that you could easily kill an intruder with a golf club."



"Hmm."



"And if you did that, you would most probably be charged with manslaughter. If you admitted that you put golf clubs around the place with the intent of arming yourself, it could also be classified as murder."



"If someone attacks me then the chances are that I do intend to bash in that person's skull."



"I understand you. But the point of hiring Milton Security is so that you have an alternative to doing that. You should be able to call for help, and above all you shouldn't end up in a situation where you have to bash in someone's skull."



"I'm only too happy to hear it."



"And, by the way, what would you do with the golf clubs if an intruder had a gun? The key to good security is all about staying one step ahead of anyone who means you harm."



"Tell me how I'm supposed to do that if I have a stalker after me?"



"You see to it that he never has a chance to get close to you. Now, we won't be finished with the installations here for a couple of days, and then we'll also have to have a talk with your husband. He'll have to be as safety-conscious as you are."



"He will be."



"Until then I'd rather you didn't stay here."



"I can't move anywhere else. My husband will be home in a couple of days. But both he and I travel fairly often, and one or other of us has to be here alone from time to time."



"I understand. But I'm only talking about a couple of days until we have all the installations ready. Isn't there a friend you could stay with?"



Berger thought for a moment about Blomkvist's apartment but remembered that just now it was not such a good idea.



"Thanks, but I'd rather stay here."



"I was afraid of that. In that case, I'd like you to have company here for the rest of the week."



"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."