The prime minister looked at the minister of justice. Both understood that Edklinth was hedging his bets.
"I've never heard of anything like this. Do you know anything about it?"
"Absolutely not," the minister of justice said. "There's nothing in any report I've seen from the Security Police that could have a bearing on this matter."
"Blomkvist thinks there's a faction within Sapo. He refers to it as the Zalachenko club," Edklinth said.
"I'd never even heard that Sweden had taken in and protected a Russian defector of such importance," the PM said. "He defected during the Falldin administration, you say?"
"I don't believe Falldin would have covered up something like this," the minister of justice said. "This kind of defection would have been given the highest priority, and would have been passed over to the next administration."
Edklinth cleared his throat. "Falldin's conservative government was succeeded by Olof Palme's. It's no secret that some of my predecessors at SIS had a certain opinion of Palme--"
"You're suggesting that somebody forgot to inform the social democratic government?"
Edklinth nodded. "Let's remember that Falldin was in power for two separate mandates. Each time, the coalition government collapsed. First he handed over to Ola Ullsten, who had a minority government in 1979. The government collapsed again when the moderates jumped ship, and Falldin governed together with the People's Party. I'm guessing that the government secretariat was in turmoil during those transition periods. It's also possible that knowledge of Zalachenko was confined to so small a circle that Prime Minister Falldin had no real oversight, so he never had anything to hand over to Palme."
"In that case, who's responsible?" the PM said.
All except Figuerola shook their heads.
"I assume this is bound to leak to the media," the PM said.
"Blomkvist and Millennium are going to publish it. In other words, we're caught between the proverbial rock and hard place." Edklinth was careful to use the word we.
The PM nodded. He realized the gravity of the situation. "Then I'll have to start by thanking you for coming to me with this matter as soon as you did. I don't usually agree to this sort of unscheduled meeting, but the minister here said that you were a prudent person, and that something serious must have happened if you wanted to see me outside all normal channels."
Edklinth exhaled a little. Whatever happened, the wrath of the prime minister was not going to come down on him.
"Now we just have to decide how we're going to handle it. Do you have any suggestions?"
"Perhaps," Edklinth said tentatively.
He was silent for so long that Figuerola cleared her throat. "May I say something?"
"Please do," the PM said.
"If it's true that the government doesn't know about this operation, then it's illegal. The person responsible in such a case is the criminal civil servant--or civil servants--who overstepped his authority. If we can verify all the claims Blomkvist is making, it means that a group of officers within SIS have been devoting themselves to criminal activity for a long time. The problem would then unfold in two parts."
"How do you mean?"
"First we have to ask the question: How could this have been possible? Who is responsible? How did such a conspiracy develop within the framework of an established police organization? I myself work for SIS, and I'm proud of it. How can this have gone on for so long? How could this activity have been both concealed and financed?"
"Go on," the PM said.
"Whole books will probably be written about this first part. It's clear that there must have been financing, at least several million kronor annually, I'd say. I looked over the budget of the Security Police and found nothing resembling an allocation for the Zalachenko club. But, as you know, there are a number of hidden funds controlled by the chief of Secretariat and chief of Budget that I have no access to."
The prime minister nodded grimly. Why did Sapo always have to be such a nightmare to administer?
"The second part is: who is involved? And very specifically, which individuals should be arrested? From my standpoint, the answers to all these questions depend on the decision you make in the next few minutes," she said to the PM.
Edklinth was holding his breath. If he could have kicked Figuerola in the shin he would have done so. She had cut through all the rhetoric and intimated that the prime minister himself was responsible. He had considered coming to the same conclusion, but not before a long and diplomatic circumlocution.
"What decision do you think I should make?"
"I believe we have common interests. I've worked at Constitutional Protection for three years. I consider this office of central importance to Swedish democracy. The Security Police has worked satisfactorily within the framework of the constitution in recent years. Naturally, I don't want the scandal to affect SIS. For us it's important to bear in mind that this is a case of criminal activity perpetrated by a small number of individuals."
"Activity of this kind is most definitely not sanctioned by the government," the minister of justice said.
Figuerola nodded and thought for a few seconds. "It is, in my view, essential that the scandal should not implicate the government--which is what would happen if the government tried to suppress the story."
"The government does not cover up criminal activity," the minister of justice said.
"No, but let's assume, hypothetically, that the government might want to do so. There would be a scandal of enormous proportions."
"Go on," the PM said.
"The situation is complicated by the fact that we in Constitutional Protection are being forced to conduct an operation which is itself against regulations in order to investigate this matter. So we want everything to be legitimate and in keeping with the constitution."
"As do we all," the PM said.
"In that case I suggest that you--in your capacity as prime minister--instruct Constitutional Protection to investigate this mess with the utmost urgency," Figuerola said. "Give us a written order and the authority we need."
"I'm not sure that what you propose is legal," the minister of justice said.
"It is legal. The government has the power to adopt a wide range of measures in the event that breaches of the constitution are threatened. If a group from the military or police starts pursuing an independent foreign policy, a de facto coup has taken place in Sweden."
"Foreign policy?" the minister of justice said.
The PM nodded all of a sudden.
"Zalachenko was a defector from a foreign power," Figuerola said. "The information he contributed was supplied, according to Blomkvist, to foreign intelligence services. If the government was not informed, a coup has taken place."
"I follow your reasoning," the PM said. "Now let me say my piece."
He got up and walked once around the table before stopping in front of Edklinth.
"You have a very talented colleague. She has hit the nail on the head."
Edklinth swallowed and nodded. The PM turned to the minister of justice.
"Get in touch with the undersecretary of state and the head of
the legal department. By tomorrow morning I want a document drawn up granting the Constitutional Protection Unit extraordinary authority to act in this matter. Their assignment is to determine the truth behind the assertions we have discussed, to gather documentation about its extent, and to identify the individuals responsible or in any way involved. The document must not state that you are conducting a preliminary investigation--I may be wrong, but I think only the prosecutor general could appoint a preliminary investigation leader in this situation. But I can give you the authority to conduct a one-man investigation. What you are doing is therefore an official public report. Do you understand?"
"Yes. But I should point out that I myself am a former prosecutor."
"We'll have to ask the head of the legal department to take a look at this and determine exactly what is formally correct. In any case, you alone are responsible for your investigation. You will choose the assistants you require. If you find evidence of criminal activity, you must turn this information over to the PG, who will decide on the charges."
"I'll have to look up exactly what applies, but I think you'll have to inform the speaker of Parliament and the constitutional committee. This is going to leak out fast," the minister of justice said.
"In other words, we have to work faster," the PM said.
Figuerola raised a hand.
"What is it?" the PM said.
"There are two problems remaining. First, will Millennium's publication clash with our investigation? And second, Lisbeth Salander's trial will be starting in a couple of weeks."
"Can we find out when Millennium's going to publish?"
"We could ask," Edklinth said. "The last thing we want to do is to interfere with the press."
"With regard to this girl Salander . . . ," the minister of justice began, and then he paused for a moment. "It would be terrible if she really has been subjected to the injustices that Millennium claims. Could it be possible?"
"I'm afraid it is," Edklinth said.
"In that case we have to see to it that she is given redress for these wrongs, and above all that she is not subjected to new injustices," the PM said.
"And how would that work?" asked the minister of justice. "The government cannot interfere in an ongoing prosecution case. That would be against the law."