船说“Gettothepoint。 ”
“But；ydearBlokvist；thatisthepoint。AIAwassatisfiedwithWennerstrsreport。Itwasaninvestentthatwenttohell；buttherewasnocriticisofthewayithadbeenanaged。Welookedatinvoicesandtransfersandallthedocuents。Everythingwaseticulouslyaountedfor。Ibelievedit。Mybossbelievedit。AIAbelievedit；andthegoveenthadnothingtosay。”
“Wheresthehook”
“Thisiswherethestorygetsticklish；”Lindbergsaid；lookingsurprisinglysober。“Andsinceyoureajoualist；thisisofftherecord。”
“eoffit。YoucantsittheretellingeallthisstuffandthensayIcantuseit。”
“Icertainlycan。WhatIvetoldyousofarisinthepublicrecord。Youcanlookupthereportifyouwant。TherestofthestorywhatIhaventtoldyouyoucanwriteabout；butyoullhavetotreateasananonyoussource。”
“OK；butofftherecordincurrentterinologyeansthatIvebeentoldsoethinginconfidenceandcantwriteaboutit。”
“Screwtheterinology。Writewhateverthehellyouwant；butIyouranonyoussource。Areweagreed”
“Ofcourse；”Blokvistsaid。
Inhindsight；thiswasaistake。
“Allrightthen。TheMinosstorytookpceorethanadecadeago；justaftertheWallcaedownandtheBolsheviksstartingactinglikedecentcapitalists。IwasoneofthepeoplewhoinvestigatedWennerstr；andthewholetieIthoughttherewassoethingdanedoddabouthisstory。”
“Whydidntyousaysowhenyousignedoffonhisreport”
“Idiscusseditwithyboss。Buttheproblewasthattherewasntanythininpoint。ThedocuentswereallOK；Ihadonlytosignthereport。EverytieIveseenWennerstrsnaeinthepresssincethenIthinkaboutMinos；andnotleastbecausesoeyearster；intheidniies；ybankwasdoingsoebusinesswithWennerstr。Prettybigbusiness；actually；anditdidnttuoutsowell。”
“Hecheatedyou”
“No；nothingthatobvious。Webothadeoneyonthedeals。ItwasorethatIdontknowquitehowtoexpinit；andnowItalkingaboutyowneployer；andIdontwanttodothat。Butwhatstruckethestingandoverallipression；astheysaywasnotpositive。Wennerstrispresentedintheediaasatreendousfinancialoracle。Hethrivesonthat。Itshistrustcapital。”
“Iknohatyouean。”
“Myipressionwasthattheanwasallbluff。Hewasntevenparticurlybrightasafinancier。Infact；Ithoughthewasdanedignorantaboutcertainsubjectsalthoughhehadsoereallysharpyoungwarriorsforadvisers。Aboveall；Ireallydidntcareforhipersonally。”
“So”
“AfewyearsagoIwentdowntoPondonsoeotheratter。OurgrouphaddinnerwithsoeinvestorsinLódz；andIfoundyselfatthesaetableastheayor。WetalkedaboutthedifficultyofgettingPondseconoyonitsfeetandallthat；andsoehoworotherIentionedtheMinosproject。TheayorlookedquiteastonishedforaoentasifhehadneverheardofMinos。Hetoldeitwassoecruylittlebusinessandnothingevercaeofit。HeughedandsaidIquotingwordforwordthatifthatwasthebestourinvestorscouldanage；thenSwedenwasntlongforthislife。Areyoufollowinge”
“ThatayorofLódzisobviouslyasharpfellow；butgoon。”
“ThenextdayIhadaeetingintheoing；buttherestofydaywasfree。ForthehellofitIdroveouttolookattheshutdownMinosfactoryinasalltownoutsideofLódz。ThegiantMinosfactorywasarashacklestructure。AcorrugatedironstoragebuildingthattheRedAryhadbuiltinthefifties。IfoundawatchanonthepropertywhocouldspeakalittleGerananddiscoveredthatoneofhiscousinshadworkedatMinosandwewentovertohishousenearby。Thewatchaninterpreted。Areyouinterestedinhearingwhathehadtosay”
“Icanhardlywait。”
“Minosopenedintheautunof1992。Therewereatostfifteeneployees；theajorityoftheoldwoen。Theirpaywasaroundonehundredfiftykronoraonth。Atfirsttherewerenoachines；sotheworkforcespenttheirtiecleaningupthepce。 InearlyOctoberthreecardboardboxachinesarrivedfroPortugal。Theywereoldandpletelyobsolete。Thescrapvaluecouldnthavebeenorethanafewthousandkronor。Theachinesdidwork；buttheykeptbreakingdown。Naturallytherewerenospareparts；soMinossufferedendlesspages。”
“Thisisstartingtosoundlikeastory；”Blokvistsaid。“WhatdidtheyakeatMinos”
“Throughout1992andhalfof1993theyproducedsiplecardboardboxesforwashingpowdersandeggcartonsandthelike。Thentheystartedakingpaperbags。Butthefactorycouldnevergetenoughrawaterials；sotherewasneveraquestionofuchvolueofproduction。”
“Thisdoesntsoundlikeagiganticinvestent。”
“Iranthenubers。Thetotalrentusthavebeenaround15；000kronorfortwoyears。Wagesayhaveaountedto150；000SEKatostandIbeinggeneroushere。CostofachinesandcostoffreightavantodelivertheeggcartonsIguessing250；000。Addfeesforperits；alittletravellingbackandforthapparentlyonepersonfroSwedendidvisitthesiteafewties。Itlooksasthoughthewholeoperationranforundertwoillion。Onedayinthesuerof1993theforeancaedowntothefactoryandsaiditwasshutdown；andawhileteraHungarianlorryappearedandcarriedofftheachinery。Byebye；Minos。”
InthecourseofthetrialBlokvisthadoftenthoughtofthatMidsuerEve。Forrgepartsoftheeveningthetoneoftheconversationadeitfeesiftheywerebackatschool；havingafriendlyarguent。Asteenagerstheyhadsharedtheburdensontothatstageinlife。Asgrownupstheywereeffectivelystrangers；bynowquitedifferentsortsofpeople。DuringtheirtalkBlokvisthadthoughtthathereallycouldnotrecallwhatitwasthathadadethesuchfriendsatschool。HereeberedLindbergasareservedboy；incrediblyshywithgirls。Asanadulthewasasuessfulwell；cliberinthebankingworld。
Herarelygotdrunk；butthatchanceeetinghadtransforedadisastroussailingtripintoapleasantevening。Andbecausetheconversationhadsouchanechoofaschoolboytone；hedidnotatfirsttakeLindbergsstoryaboutWennerstrseriously。Graduallyhisprofessionalinstinctswerearoused。Eventuallyhewaslisteningattentively；andthelogicalobjectionssurfaced。
“Waitasecond；”hesaid。“Wennerstrisnaeaongarketspecutors。Hesadehiselfabillion；hashenot”