Ashesatthereintheboat；BlokvistfilledhisgsswithReiersholsbrandyandleanedback；tryingtoreeberwhatlittleheknewaboutWennerstr。BoupinNorrnd；whereintheseventieshesetupaninvestentpany。HeadeoneyandovedtoStockhol；andtherehiscareertookoffintheeighties。HecreatedWennerstrgruppen；theWennerstrGroup；whentheysetupofficesinLondonandNewYorkandthepanystartedtogetentionedinthesaearticlesasBeijer。Hetradedstockandoptionsandlikedtoakequickdeals；andheeergedinthecelebritypressasoneofSwedensnuerousbillionaireswithacityhoeonStrandvgen；afabuloussuervilontheisndofVrd；andaneightytwofoototoryachtthatheboughtfroabankruptforertennisstar。Hewasabeancounter；naturally；buttheeightieswasthedecadeofthebeancountersandpropertyspecutors；andWennerstrhadnotadeasignificantlybigspsh。Onthecontrary；hehadreainedsoethingofaanintheshadowsaonghispeers。HeckedJanStenbecksfboyanceanddidnotspreadhiselfalloverthetabloidslikePercyBaevik。HesaidgoodbyetorealestateandinsteadadeassiveinvestentsintheforerEasteBloc。Whenthebubbleburstintheniiesandoneanagingdirectorafteranotherwasforcedtocashinhisgoldenparachute；Wennerstrspanycaeoutofitinrearkablygoodshape。“ASwedishsuessstory；”astheFinancialTiescalledit。
“Thatwas1992；”Lindbergsaid。“WennerstrcontactedAIAandsaidhewantedfunding。Hepresentedapn；seeinglybackedbyinterestsinPond；whichaiedatestablishinganindustryfortheanufactureofpackagingforfoodstuffs。”
“Atincanindustry；youean。”
“Notquite；butsoethingalongthoselines。IhavenoideawhoheknewattheAIA；buthewalkedoutwithsixtyillionkronor。”
“Thisisstartingtogetinteresting。Leteguess：thatwasthestanyonesawoftheoney。”
“Wrong。”Lindberggaveaslysilebeforehefortifiedhiselfwithafeworesipsofbrandy。
“Whathappenedafterthatisapieceofcssickeeping。WennerstrreallydidsetupapackagingfactoryinPond；inLódz。ThepanywascalledMinos。AIAreceivedafewenthusiasticreportsduring1993；thensilence。In1994；Minos；outoftheblue；colpsed。”
Lindbergputhiseptygssdownwithanephaticsack。
“TheproblewithAIAwasthattherewasnorealsysteinpceforreportingontheproject。Youreeberthosedays：everyonewassooptiisticwhentheBerlinWallcaedown。Deocracywasgoingtobeintroduced；thethreatofnuclearwarwasover；andtheBolshevikswouldtuintoregurlittlecapitalistsoveight。ThegoveentwantedtonaildowndeocracyintheEast。EverycapitalistwantedtojuponthebandwagonandhelpbuildthenewEurope。”
“Ididntknowthatcapitalistsweresoanxioustogetinvolvedincharity。”
“Believee；itwasacapitalistswetdrea。RussiaandEasteEuropeaybetheworldsbiggestuntappedarketsafterChina。Industryhadnoproblejoininghandswiththegoveent；especiallywhenthepanieswererequireutuponlyatokeninvestent。Inall；AIAswallowedaboutthirtybillionkronorofthetaxpayersoney。Itwassupposedtoebackinfutureprofits。Forally；AIAwasthegoveentsinitiative；buttheinfluenceofindustrywassogreatthatinactualfacttheAIAboardwasoperatingindependently。”
“Soisthereastoryinallthis”
“Bepatient。Whentheprojectstartedtherewasnoproblewithfinancing。Swedenhadntyetbeenhitbytheinterestrateshock。ThegoveentwashapplugAIAasoneofthebiggestSwedisheffortrootedeocracyintheEast。”
“AndthiswasallundertheConservativegoveent”
“Dontgetpoliticsixedupinthis。ItsalboutoneyanditakesnodifferenceiftheSocialDeocratsortheoderatesappointtheinisters。So；fullspeedahead。Thencaetheforeignexchangeprobles；andafterthatsoecrazyNewDeocratsreeberthestartedwhiningthattherewasashortageofoversightinwhatAIAwasinto。OneoftheirhenchenhadconfusedAIAwiththeSwedishInteationalDevelopentAuthorityandthoughtitwasallsoedandogooderprojectliketheoneinTanzania。Inthespringof1994aissionwasappointedtoinvestigate。Atthattietherewereconcesaboutseveralprojects；butoneofthefirsttobeinvestigatedwasMinos。”
“AndWennerstrcouldntshohatthefundshadbeenusedfor。”
“Farfroit。HeproducedanexcellentreportwhichshowedthataroundfiftyfourillionkronorwasinvestedinMinos。ButittuedoutthatthereweretooanyhugeadinistrativeproblesinwhatwasleftofPondforaodepackagingindustrytobeabletofunction。InpracticetheirfactorywasshutoutbythepetitionfroasiirGeranproject。TheGeransweredoingtheirbesttobuyuptheentireEasteBloc。”
“Yousaidthathehadbeengivensixtyillionkronor。”
“Exactly。Theoneyservedasaninterestfreeloan。Theidea；ofcourse；wasthatthepanieswouldpaybackpartoftheoneyoveranuberofyears。ButMinoshadgoneunderandWennerstrcouldnotbebedforit。Herethestateguaranteeskickedin；andWennerstrwasindenified。AllheneededtodowaspaybacktheoneythatwaslostwhenMinoswentunder；andhecouldalsoshowthathehadlostacorrespondingaountofhisownoney。”
“LeteseeifIunderstandthiscorrectly。Thegoveentsuppliedbillionsintaxoney；anddiploatstoopendoors。Industriesgottheoneyandusedittoinvestinjointventuresfrowhichtheyterreapedvastprofits。Inotherwords；businessasusual。”
“Youreacynic。Theloansweresupposedtobepaidbacktothestate。”
“Yousaidthattheywereinterestfree。Sothateansthetaxpayersgotnothingatallforputtingupthecash。Wennerstrgotsixtyillion；andinvestedfiftyfourillionofit。Whathappenedtotheothersixillion”
“WhenitbecaeclearthattheAIAprojectwasgoingtobeinvestigated；WennerstrsentachequeforsixilliontoAIAforthedifference。Sotheatterwassettled；legallyatleast。”
“ItsoundsasthoughWennerstrfritteredawayalittleoneyforAIA。ButparedwiththehalfbillionthatdisappearedfroSkanskaortheCEOofABBsgoldenparachuteoforethanabillionkronorwhichreallyupsetpeoplethisdoesntseetobeuchtowriteabout；”Blokvistsaid。“Todaysreadersareprettytiredofstoriesaboutinpetentspecutors；evenifitswithpublicfunds。Isthereoretothestory”
“Itgetsbetter。”
“HowdoyouknowallthisaboutWennerstrsdealsinPond”
“IworkedatHandelsbankenintheniies。GuesswhowrotethereportsforthebanksrepresentativeinAIA”
“Aha。Telleore。”
“Well；AIAgottheirreportfroWennerstr。Docuentsweredrawnup。Thebanceoftheoneyhadbeenpaidback。Thatsixillioningbackwasveryclever。”
“Gettothepoint。”
“But；ydearBlokvist船说