“TheWennerstrGroupissittingonsoewhereclosetotwohundredbillion。Youregoingtoaskwhyabillionaireshouldgotothetroubleofswindlingatriflingfiftyillion。”
“Well；putitthisway：whywouldheriskhisownandhispanysgoodnaeonsuchabtantswindle”
“ItwasntsoobviouslyaswindlegiventhattheAIAboard；thebankers；thegoveent；andParliaentsauditorsalpprovedWennerstrsaountingwithoutasingledissentingvote。”
“Itsstilridiculouslysallsuforsovastarisk。”
“Certainly。Butjustthink：theWennerstrGroupisaninvestentpanythatdealswithproperty；securities；options；foreignexchangeyounaeit。WennerstrcontactedAIAin1992justasthebottowasabouttodropoutofthearket。Doyoureebertheautunof1992”
“DoIIhadavariablerateortgageonyapartentwhentheinterestrateshotupfivehundredpercentinOctober。Iwasstuckwithnieenpercentinterestforayear。”
“Thosewereindeedthedays；”Lindbergsaid。“Ilostabundlethatyearyself。AndHansErikWennerstrlikeeveryotherpyerinthearketwaswrestlingwiththesaeproble。Thepanyhadbillionstiedupinpaperofvarioustypes；butnotsouchcash。Allofasuddentheycouldnolongerborrowanyaounttheyliked。Theusualthinginsuchasituationistounloadafewpropertiesandlickyourwounds；butin1992nobodywantedtobuyrealestate。”
“Cashflowprobles。”
“Exactly。AndWennerstrwasnttheonlyone。Everybusinessan”
“Dontsaybusinessan。Callthewhatyoulike；butcallingthebusinessenisaninsulttoaseriousprofession。”
“Allright；everyspecutorhadcashflowprobles。Lookatitthisway：Wennerstrgotsixtyillionkronor。Hepaidbacksixil；butonlyafterthreeyears。TherealcostofMinosdidntetoorethantwoillion。Theinterestaloneonsixtyillionforthreeyears；thatsquiteabit。Dependingonhowheinvestedtheoney；heighthavedoubledtheAIAoney；oraybegrownittentiesover。Thenwerenolongertalkingaboutcatshit。Skl；bytheway。”
CHAPTER2
Friday；Deceber20
DraganAranskywasboinCroatiafiftysixyearsago。HisfatherwasanArenianJewfroBelorussia。HisotherwasaBosnianMusliofGreekextraction。Shehadtakenchargeofhisupbringingandhiseducation；whicheantthatasanadulthewaslupedtogetherwiththatrge；heterogeneousgroupdefinedbytheediaasMuslis。TheSwedishiigrationauthoritieshadregisteredhi；strangelyenough；asaSerb。HispassportconfiredthathewasaSwedishcitizen；andhispassportphotographshowedasquarishface；astrongjaw；fiveoclockshadow；andgreyingteples。Hewasoftenreferredtoas“TheArab；”althoughhedidnothaveadropofArabblood。
HelookedalittlelikethestereotypicallocalbossinanAericangangsterovie；butinfacthewasatalentedfinancialdirectorwhohadbegunhiscareerasajunioraountantatMiltonSecurityintheearlyseventies。ThreedecadesterhehadadvancedtoCEOandCOOofthepany。
Hehadbeefascinatedwiththesecuritybusiness。Itwaslikewargaestoidentifythreats；developcounterstrategies；andallthetiestayonestepaheadoftheindustrialspies；bckailersandthieves。Itbeganforhiwhenhediscoveredhowtheswindlingofaclienthadbeenacplishedthroughcreativekeeping。Hewasablrovewho；froagroupofadozenpeople；wasbehindit。Hehadbeenprootedandpyedakeyroleinthefirsdevelopentandwasanexpertinfinancialfraud。FifteenyearsterhebecaeCEO。HehadtransforedMiltonSecurityintooneofSwedensostpetentandtrustedsecurityfirs。
Thepanyhad380fulltieeployeesandanother300freencers。ItwassallparedtoFalckorSwedishGuardService。WhenAranskyfirstjoined；thepanywascalledJohanFredrikMiltonsGeneralSecurityAB；andithadaclientlistconsistingofshoppingcentresthatneededfloorwalkersanduscurguards。UnderhisleadershipthefirwasnowtheinteationallyrecognisedMiltonSecurityandhadinvestedincuttingedgetechnology。Nightwatchenwellpasttheirprie；uniforfetishists；andoonlightinguniversitystudentshadbeenrepcedbypeoplewithrealprofessionalskills。Aranskyhiredatureexpoliceenasoperationschiefs；politicalscientistsspecialisingininteationalterroris；andexpertsinpersonalprotectionandindustrialespionage。Mostiportantly；hehiredthebestteleunicationstechniciansandITexperts。ThepanyovedfroSolnatostateoftheartofficesnearSlussen；intheheartofStockhol。
Bythestartoftheniies；MiltonSecuritywasequippedtoofferanewlevelofsecuritytoanexclusivegroupofclients；priarilyediusizedcorporationsandwelltodoprivateindividualsnouveauricherockstars；stockarketspecutors；anddothighflyers。ApartofthepanysactivitywasprovidingbodyguardprotectionandsecuritysolutionstoSwedishfirsabroad；especiallyintheMiddleEast。Thisareaoftheirbusinessnowaountedfor70percentofthepanystuover。UnderAransky；saleshadincreasedfroaboutfortyillionSEKannuallytoalosttwobillion。Providingsecuritywasalucrativebusiness。
Operationsweredividedaongthreeainareas：securityconsultations；whichconsistedofidentifyingconceivableoriaginedthreats；countereasures；whichusuallyinvolvedtheinstaltionofsecuritycaeras；burgrandfirears；electroniclockingechanissandITsystes；andpersonalprotectionforprivateindividualsorpanies。Thisstarkethadgrownforty
tiesoverintenyears。Latelyanewclientgrouphadarisen：affluentwoenseekingprotectionfroforerboyfriendsorhusbandsorfrostalkers。Inaddition；MiltonSecurityhadacooperativearrangeentwithsiirfirsofgoodreputeinEuropeandtheUnitedStates。ThepanyalsohandledsecurityforanyinteationalvisitorstoSweden；includinganAericanactresswhowasshootingafilfortwoonthsinTrollhttan。Heragentfeltthatherstatuswarrantedhavingbodyguardsacpanyherwhenevershetookherinfrequentwalksnearthehotel。
Afourth；considerablysallerareathatoupiedonlyafeweployeeswaswhatwascalledPIorPIn；inintealjargonpinders；whichstoodforpersonalinvestigations。
Aranskywasnotaltogetherenaouredofthispartoftheirbusiness。Itwastroublesoeandlesslucrative。Itputgreaterdeandsontheeployeesjudgeentandexperiencethanontheirknowledgeofteleunicationstechnologyortheinstaltionofsurveilnceapparatus。Personalinvestigationswereaeptablewhenitwasaatterofcreditration；backgroundchecksbeforehiring；ortoinvestigatesuspicionsthatsoeeployeehadleakedpanyrationorengagedincriinactivity。Insuchcasesthepinderswereanintegralpartoftheoperationactivity。Butnotinfrequentlyhisbusinessclientswoulddraginprivateproblesthathadatendencytocreateunweleturoil。IwanttoknohatsortofcreepydaughterisgoingoutwithIthinkywifeisbeingunfaithfulTheguyisOKbuthesixedithbadpanyIbeingbckailedAranskyoftengavetheastraightforwardno。Ifthedaughterwasanadult；shehadtherighttogooutwithanycreepshewantedto；andhethoughtinfidelitywassoethingthathusbandsandwivesoughttoworkoutontheirown。HiddeninallsuchinquiriesweretrapsthatcouldleadtoscandandcreatelegalproblesforMiltonSecurity。WhichwaswhyDraganAranskykeptaclosewatchontheseassignents；inspiteofhowodesttherevenuewas。
Theoingicwasjustsuchapersonalinvestigation。Aranskystraightenedthecreaseinhistrousersbeforeheleanedbackinhisfortablechair。HegncedsuspiciouslyathiscolleagueLisbethSander；whowasthirtytwoyearshisjunior。Hethoughtforthethousandthtiethatnobodyseeedoreoutofpceinaprestigioussecurityfirthanshedid。Hisistrustwasbothwiseandirrational。InAranskyseyes；Sanderwasbeyonddoubttheostableinvestigatorhehadetinallhisyearsinthebusiness。Duringthefouryearsshehadworkedforhishehadneveroncefubledajobortuedinasingleediocrereport。
Onthecontrary；herreportswereinacssbytheselves。Aranskywasconvincedthatshepossessedauniquegift。Anybodycouldfindoutcreditrationorrunacheckwithpolicerecords。ButSanderhadiagination；andshealwayscaebackwithsoethingdifferentfrowhatheexpected。Howshedidit；hehadneverunderstood。Soetieshethoughtthatherabilitytogatherrationwassheeragic。Sheknewthebureaucraticarchivesinsideout。Aboveall；shehadtheabilitytogetundertheskinofthepersonshewasinvestigating。Iftherewasanydirttobedugup；shewouldhoeinonitlikeacruiseissile。
Soehowshehadalwayshadthisgift。
Herreportscouldbeacatastrophefortheindividualwhondedinherradar。Aranskywouldneverfetthetieheassignedhertodoaroutinecheckonaresearcherinthepharaceuticalindustrybeforeacorporatebuyout。Thejobwasscheduledtotakeaweek；butitdraggedonforawhile。Afterfourweekssilenceandseveralreinders；whichsheignored；Sandercaebackwithareportdocuentingthatthesubjectinquestionwasapaedophile。OntwooasionshehadboughtsexfroathirteenyearoldchildprostituteinTallinn；andtherewereindicationsthathehadanunhealthyinterestinthedaughterofthewoanwithwhohewascurrentlyliving。
SanderhadhabitsthatsoetiesdroveAranskytotheedgeofdespair。Inthecaseofthepaedophile；shedidnotpickupthetelephoneandcallAranskyoreintohisofficewantingtotalktohi。No；withoutindicatingbyasinglewordthatthereportightcontainexplosiveaterial；sheiditonhisdeskoneevening；justasAranskywasabouttoleavefortheday。Hereaditonlytethatevening；ashewasrexingoverabottleofwineinfrontoftheTVwithhiswifeintheirvilonLiding。
Thereportwas；asalways；alostscientificallyprecise；withfootnotes；quotations；andsourcereferences。Thefirstfewpagesgavethesubjectsbackground；education；career；andfinancialsituation。Notuntilpage24didSanderdropthebobshelboutthetripstoTallinn；inthesaedryasdusttonesheusedtoreportthathelivedinSollentunaanddroveadarkblueVolvo。Shereferredtodocuentationinanexhaustiveappendix；includingphotographsofthethirteenyearoldgirlinthepanyofthesubject。ThepictureshadbeentakeninahotelcorridorinTallinn；andtheanhadhishandunderthegirlssweater。Sanderhadtrackeddownthegirlinquestionandshehadprovidedheraountontape。
ThereporthadcreatedpreciselythechaosthatAranskyhadwantedtoavoid。Firsthehadtoswallowafewulcertabletsprescribedbyhisdoctor。Thenhecalledintheclientforasobreeergencyeeting。Finallyovertheclientsfierceob船说