The Girl Who Played With Fire

Lisbeth returns to Stockholm and goes to her new apartment in Mosebacke under the name V. Kulla. During the Wennerstrom Affair, Lisbeth stole billions of kronor. When she saw that Blomkvist was still romantically involved with Berger, she decided to get a new apartment and travel. When a real-estate agent refused to take Lisbeth seriously, she hacked the real-estate company and reported him to the tax authorities. Lisbeth splurged on a fancy apartment through Wasp Enterprises, using Jeremy MacMillan, a lawyer in Gibraltar. She still continued to maintain her old apartment on Lundagatan, which she acquired through Holger Palmgren, and she then traveled the world, avoiding Sweden and Blomkvist. Now, arriving back in Stockholm, Lisbeth uses the false identity of Irene Nesser and buys furniture from IKEA, visits her old apartment, discards letters from Blomkvist, finds information regarding her mother’s death, and spends a night relaxing in her new home.

Blomkvist arrives late to a staff meeting at Millennium. Berger leads the group, which includes a freelancer named Dag Svensson. Berger wants to do a themed issue of the magazine in May, focusing on sex trafficking and crimes. Dag and his girlfriend, Mia Johansson, have been researching sex trafficking for Mia’s doctoral thesis and a book that Dag is writing. After the success of Blomkvist’s book on Wennerstrom, which Millennium published, Dag wants to publish through them. Dag outlines the process of sex trafficking from Eastern Europe to Sweden, in which the police, judges, and politicians all engage in sex crimes and refuse to pursue the criminal organizations that traffic young women. Blomkvist and Berger emphasize the need for airtight sources and evidence, which Dag claims he can provide. Berger agrees to pay Dag a salary through May to cover expenses, and she assigns everyone else to various jobs related to publishing the themed issue of Millennium and Dag’s book, with Blomkvist as Dag’s editor.

Lisbeth drives a rental car to the nursing home in which her mother, Agneta Salander, died. Lisbeth and her sister, Camilla, never got along, and they are opposites to one another. After All The Evil, the sisters lost contact, only meeting once at age 17. The encounter led to a fight. Now, the director of the home gives Lisbeth a box of Agneta’s belongings, which Lisbeth brings home and puts in a closet.

The Millennium team meets Mia and Dag at their home for dinner, after which they discuss Mia’s thesis. Mia explains that about 100 women are trafficked into Sweden each year and subjected to sexual assaults for a couple months, after which they return to the East with a handful of money that usually runs out quickly due to their drug addiction, leading them to come back to Sweden. Though trafficking laws are strict, criminals are rarely found guilty of the crime. A madam running a brothel was acquitted of the crime when the trafficked women did not appear for court. The police claimed that they could not find the women, but a journalist quickly tracked them to Tallinn (in Estonia) and Italy. The average gang of traffickers is only a few men, the leader of which is uneducated and violent.

Men from IKEA set up Lisbeth’s furniture, and she marvels at her new home. Looking through boxes, she finds a sex toy from a former girlfriend, Miriam “Mimmi” Wu, who was also a member of Evil Fingers, a band that Lisbeth spent time with before meeting Blomkvist. Lisbeth feels guilty that she did not say goodbye to Mimmi and realizes that she did the same to Bland. She reflects that her mother’s death marked the end of her childhood.

Lisbeth breaks into Milton Security at night using a pirated key card and then goes to Dragan Armansky’s office. Armansky is the CEO of Milton Security and Palmgren’s friend, who got Lisbeth her job at Milton. Lisbeth installs a copy of Asphyxia 1.3, a program that she made herself, which copies his hard drive to a server in Holland. Lisbeth goes home and reads through Armansky’s files, noting that her snooping is not malicious.

The Millennium board meets for their quarterly meeting, including Berger, the chair; Malin Eriksson, representing the union; Blomkvist and Christer Malm, both partners; and Harriet Vanger, who joined as a partner per the agreement that Millennium made with Henrik Vanger two years ago. Harriet says that Millennium is special, and she wants the board to extend her contract. Berger ends the contract and buys out Harriet’s shares, but they offer Harriet a new contract at the same cost. Everyone goes out for drinks before heading home, and Blomkvist visits Harriet in her hotel to have sex.

Lisbeth goes to Mimmi’s apartment. Mimmi welcomes Lisbeth, who appreciates that she and Mimmi can have sex without the obligation of a relationship. Lisbeth apologizes for leaving without saying goodbye, and they have sex.

Harriet was sexually abused by her father and brother, whom she escaped by fleeing to Australia. Two years ago, Blomkvist found Harriet on behalf of her uncle, Henrik, but their affair started a year later. Harriet felt comfortable with Blomkvist, and their affair is limited to one night every three months after quarterly board meetings.

Lisbeth asks Mimmi if she can visit periodically, and they agree that they find each other sexy. Mimmi confesses to seeing a married woman, but Lisbeth agrees to a “no strings” affair. Mimmi asks if Lisbeth wants to know other people intimately.

The blond giant meets with Carl-Magnus “Magge” Lundin, the leader of the Svavelsjo Motorcycle Club, to sell him a batch of methamphetamine. The blond giant also offers Lundin 10,000 kronor to kidnap Lisbeth from her Lundagatan apartment and bring her to meet the giant’s employer.

Lisbeth’s Lundagatan apartment belonged to her mother; Palmgren reserved it for Lisbeth when she turned 18. Lisbeth offers to let Mimmi live there for free if she will collect Lisbeth’s mail. Lisbeth withdraws the 9,312 kronor inherited from her mother and donates it to a Stockholm women’s crisis center.

Berger reflects on her success as Millennium continues to thrive after the Wennerstrom Affair. She is happy to have a loving husband, Greger Beckman, and an attentive lover, Blomkvist. She calls Beckman to let him know that she will spend the night with Blomkvist, which Beckman does not mind. She then goes to Blomkvist’s apartment to wait for his meeting with Dag and Mia to end.

The blond giant goes to a cabin by a lake, and when he sees a strange, small figure in the woods coming toward him, he panics. He knocks on the door and turns to find that the figure is gone. Bjurman answers the door.

Mimmi clears out the furniture and trash from the Lundagatan apartment, and Lisbeth sells half the apartment to Mimmi. Mimmi seduces Lisbeth, who remembers when Bjurman assaulted her and reflects that with Mimmi, she feels only lustful anticipation.

Lisbeth visits Armansky, who is offended that Lisbeth left without a trace. She refuses to discuss what she experienced in Hedestad with Martin Vanger and Blomkvist, and Armansky says that Blomkvist calls him every month to ask about Lisbeth. Armansky offers Lisbeth freelance work, but Lisbeth only wants a job if it is interesting. Armansky reveals that Palmgren is alive; this shocks Lisbeth. Before leaving to see Palmgren, Lisbeth tells Armansky to drop a client who is faking a stalker. Armansky wonders how Lisbeth knows about his cases.

The next day, Lisbeth visits Palmgren and helps him eat his food. After a stroke two years ago, Palmgren is slowly rehabilitating, but he struggles with coordinated movements and speaking. Lisbeth avoids discussing Bjurman. Palmgren is suspicious, but he trusts that Lisbeth is a moral person. Lisbeth meets with the director of the facility in which Palmgren is staying and gets herself listed as Palmgren’s foster daughter. The doctor reports that Palmgren has made considerable progress in the last few months, and Lisbeth offers to pay for any additional equipment or staff that would improve Palmgren’s recovery.

Mia picks up Dag and shows him a copy of her thesis. Dag complains that he cannot find Bjorck, an officer of the Security Police (Sapo), for the confrontations section of the book. He adds that Irina P., one of the women trafficked to Sweden, was found dead. The man who brought Irina P. to Sweden is labeled as “Anton” in Mia’s thesis, but the name he uses in sex trafficking is “Zala.” A reporter whom Dag interviewed, Sandstrom, also talked about a man called Zala, and Mia says that the trafficked women are all afraid of Zala.

Lisbeth sets up a non-profit through MacMillan, devoting 2.5 million kronor to assist Palmgren’s rehabilitation. She visits weekly to play chess, and Palmgren’s doctor notes his significant improvement.

Bjurman notes Lisbeth’s withdrawal from the bank, calls the blond giant, and reports that Lisbeth is back in Sweden. The blond giant tells Bjurman to wait for details and then hangs up. Bjurman stares at the bank statement with hatred.

Mimmi lies in bed naked with Lisbeth and gives her an enameled cigarette case in celebration of last year’s birthday. Lisbeth notes that Mimmi is the only person who gets her presents. They go out for a drink.

Dag tells Mikael about the challenge of finding Bjorck, and Blomkvist suggests using a lottery scam to lure Bjorck out of hiding. They go to a bar for drinks, not realizing that Lisbeth and Mimmi are at the same bar. Blomkvist does not see Lisbeth, but Lisbeth watches Blomkvist from a distance, resenting his presence on her first night out since returning to Sweden.

At home, Lisbeth opens her hacked copy of Blomkvist’s hard drive. She notices an email from Harriet but reads both Dag’s manuscript and Mia’s thesis, noting that Millennium will be in the spotlight again. Lisbeth freezes when she sees Dag mention Zala.

Dag wants to devote a chapter of his book to Zala, but he does not have enough information. Irina P.’s autopsy revealed that she was beaten with a cloth-covered bat. Dag pressured Sandstrom for more information on Zala, but Sandstrom claimed to have no way of contacting Zala. Everyone who knows about Zala seems terrified of him.

Lisbeth buys a car to keep on Lundagatan. She finds Bjurman talking to a blond giant, who leaves to meet a biker. Lisbeth notes the giant’s license plate. The biker meets another biker with a Svavelsjo MC vest. Lisbeth notices that Bjurman has delayed his guardianship report.

Lisbeth breaks into Bjurman’s apartment and finds nothing of note. He took out files about Lisbeth’s childhood history, and Lisbeth finds Bjurman’s gun in a locked drawer.

Mia wonders if she should tell Dag that she is pregnant but decides to wait until she finishes her doctorate. Dag is considering a part-time role at Millennium.

Lisbeth researches the police records of Lundin and the second-in-command at Svavelsjo MC, Sonny Nieminen, the bikers who met with the blond giant. The rental agency for the giant’s car refuses to give out information. Lisbeth finds nothing on Zala, so she hacks Millennium’s office through Blomkvist’s desktop and finds a folder titled “Zala” on Dag’s hard drive.

The giant thinks that methamphetamines are the easiest contraband to transport and sell. Sex trafficking is not as profitable, but the main customers are government officials, police officers, and wealthy men, who are unlikely to talk. The giant sees Lisbeth as a distraction. Suddenly, he notices a massive, black stingray in the road and drives away.

Lisbeth discovers that Dag’s sources are a police officer, Gulbrandsen; a journalist, Sandstrom; and Mia. The police are unsure if Zala is real, but a burglar, Nordman, implicated Nieminen and a Serbian named Sala in a 1996 burglary for which Nieminen was arrested. Nieminen has connections with Nazi groups, and the police suspect that he is the mastermind behind Svavelsjo MC.

Blomkvist sees Lisbeth getting into her car on Lundagatan. A man appears behind her (Lundin), but Blomkvist freezes. Lisbeth sees Lundin in time to slash his face with her keys and flee across the street. She runs up the stairs to a courtyard, pausing to throw a rock that hits Lundin in the face. Lundin pursues her, but Lisbeth hides in a bush. Blomkvist finally reacts, chasing Lundin, who slaps Blomkvist across the face and knocks him down. Lundin searches for Lisbeth before giving up and getting into a van. Blomkvist recovers, finds Lisbeth’s bag under her car, and waits 30 minutes at her apartment before giving up and leaving. Hidden, Lisbeth watches Blomkvist and waits for him to leave. She knows that Bjurman hired the giant to hire Lundin to attack her.