takesalotforaninterntosaynowhenthebossinstructshimtowritesomethinginacertainway.”
“Icoulddemandthatyoubegivenanapologytomorrow.”
“Betternot.Itwouldjustturnintoalong,drawn-outsquabblethatwouldmakethesituationworse.”
“Soyoudon’tthinkIshoulddoanything?”
“Itwouldn’tbeanyuse.Karlmanwouldkickupafussandintheworstcaseyou’dbepaintedasavillainwho,inhiscapacityasowner,istryingtostamponthefreedomofexpression.”
“Pardonme,Mikael,butIdon’tagreewithyou.Asamatteroffact,Ialsohavetherighttoexpressmyopinion.Myviewisthatthisarticlestinks—andIintendtomakemyownpointofviewclear.Howeverreluctantly,I’mHenrik’sreplacementonMillennium’sboard,andinthatroleIamnotgoingtoletanoffensivearticlelikethisonepassunchallenged.”
“Fairenough.”
“SoI’mgoingtodemandtherighttorespond.AndifImakeKarlmanlooklikeanidiot,hehasonlyhimselftoblame.”
“Youmustdowhatyoubelieveisright.”
“Forme,it’salsoimportantthatyouabsolutelyunderstandthatIhavenothingwhatsoevertodowiththisvitriolicattack.”
“Ibelieveyou,”Blomkvistsaid.
“Besides—Ididn’treallywanttobringthisupnow,butthisjustservestoillustratewhatwe’vealreadydiscussed.It’simportanttore-installyouonMillennium’seditorialboardsothatwecanshowaunitedfronttotheworld.Aslongasyou’reaway,thegossipwillcontinue.IbelieveinMillennium,andI’mconvincedthatwecanwinthisfighttogether.”
“Iseeyourpoint,butnowit’smyturntodisagreewithyou.Ican’tbreakmycontractwithHenrik,andthefactisthatIwouldn’twanttobreakit.Yousee,Ireallylikehim.AndthisthingwithHarriet…”
“Yes?”
“Iknowit’sarunningsoreforyouandIrealisethatHenrikhasbeenobsessedwithitformanyyears.”
“Justbetweenthetwoofus—IdoloveHenrikandheismymentor—butwhenitestoHarriet,he’salmostoffhisrocker.”
“WhenIstartedthisjobIcouldn’thelpthinkingthatitwasawasteoftime.ButIthinkwe’reonthevergeofabreakthroughandthatitmightnowbepossibletoknowwhatreallyhappened.”
BlomkvistreaddoubtinMartinVanger’seyes.Atlasthemadeadecision.
“OK,inthatcasetheb