ewastalkoftheBigJournalismPrize.
FivedaysafterMillenniumfiredthefirstsalvo,Blomkvist’sTheMafiaBankerappearedinshops.ThehadbeenwrittenduringthosefeverishdaysatSandhamninSeptemberandOctober,andingreathasteandundertheutmostsecrecyitwasprintedbyHallvigsReklaminMong?va.ItwasthefirsttobepublishedunderMillennium’sownlogo.Itwaseentricallydedicated:ToSally,whoshowedmethebenefitsofthesportofgolf.
Itwasabrickofa,608pagesinpaperback.Thefirsteditionof2,000copieswasvirtuallyguaranteedtobealosingproposition,buttheprintrunactuallysoldoutinacoupleofdays,andBergerordered10,000morecopies.
Thereviewersconcludedthatthistime,atanyrate,MikaelBlomkvisthadnointentionofholdingbacksinceitwasamatterofpublishingextensivesourcereferences.Inthisregardtheywereright.Two-thirdsoftheconsistedofappendicesthatwereactualcopiesofthedocumentationfromWennerstr?m’sputer.Atthesametimeasthewaspublished,MillenniumputthetextsfromWennerstr?m’sputerassourcematerialindownloadablePDFfilesontheirwebsite.
Blomkvist’sextraordinaryabsencewaspartofthemediastrategythatheandBergerhadputtogether.Everynewspaperinthecountrywaslookingforhim.NotuntilthewaslauncheddidhegiveanexclusiveinterviewtoSheonTV4,onceagainscoopingthestate-runstations.Butthequestionswereanythingbutsycophantic.
Blomkvistwasespeciallypleasedwithoneexchangewhenhewatchedavideoofhisappearance.TheinterviewwasbroadcastliveattheverymomentwhentheStockholmStockExchangefounditselfinfreefallandahandfuloffinancialyuppieswerethreateningtothrowthemselvesoutofwindows.HewasaskedwhatwasMillennium’sresponsibilitywithregardtothefactthatSweden’seconomywasnowheadedforacrash.
“TheideathatSweden’seconomyisheadedforacrashisnonsense,”Blomkvistsaid.
ThehostofSheonTV4lookedperplexed.Hisreplydidnotfollowthepatternshehadexpected,andshewasforcedtoimprovise.Blomkvistgotthefollow-upquestionhewashopingfor.“We’reexperiencingthelargestsingledropinthehistoryoftheSwedishstockexchange—andyouthinkthat’snonsense?”
“Youhavetodistinguishbetwe