The Girl Who Played With Fire

A single paragraph explains that equations are classified by the exponent of their unknowns. The equation 3x – 9 = 0 (root: x = 3) is given as an example of a first-degree equation, while higher-degree equations have multiple possible answers for their unknown variable.

An adult Lisbeth relaxes at the Keys Hotel on the sparsely populated Grand Anse Beach in Grenada, eyeing the woman who is staying in the room next to hers. The woman and her husband, Dr. Forbes, fight every night, and the altercations lead to violence, but Lisbeth is unsure whether she should interfere. When she was in Rome, Lisbeth took an interest in spherical astronomy. She went on to buy books on mathematics in Italy, Florida, and various Caribbean islands. Lisbeth arrived in Grenada in November and met Philip Campbell, a preacher who taught Lisbeth about Grenada’s history.

Mikael Blomkvist goes to Lisbeth’s apartment in Stockholm, which he visits periodically even though Lisbeth is never home. He reflects on the investigation into Martin Vanger from the previous year, as well as the Wennerstrom Affair. With Lisbeth’s help, Blomkvist caught the serial killer Vanger and exposed Hans Wennerstrom’s crimes. Blomkvist has since stopped discussing the investigation. Blomkvist and Lisbeth dated for six months, but Lisbeth cut off contact shortly after Christmas. Blomkvist has not seen Lisbeth since she ignored him in the subway, and he is now beginning to accept the fact that she has cut him out of her life.

Lisbeth undresses and showers in her hotel room, appreciating her new breast implants, which have boosted her self-esteem. She also feels the scar from the removal of her wasp tattoo. “Wasp” is Lisbeth’s online handle, and the tattoo threatened to expose her. After showering, Lisbeth hears guests in the hotel discuss Matilda, a hurricane threatening to hit Grenada, but she goes to a restaurant and spots Dr. Forbes there; he stares at the ocean for two hours. Lisbeth ponders Fermat’s last theorem from her mathematics book, relishing the riddles of mathematics and remembering the Rubik’s cube that her mother gave her when she was nine. Lisbeth has a photographic memory, though only Blomkvist knows this fact. Lisbeth goes to the shack of George Bland, a 16-year-old with whom she is having a sexual affair. Bland was the first person to see Lisbeth’s new body, and she appreciates his company, which is rare. Back at the hotel, Lisbeth sees Dr. Forbes wandering on the beach. She then reaches out to another hacker, Plague, requesting information on Dr. Forbes.

The lawyer Nils Erik Bjurman sits at Café Hedon and recalls his time as Lisbeth’s legal guardian. Bjurman always fantasized about dominating women, and he saw Lisbeth as the perfect victim: legally incompetent, dependent on him, and physically small. After Bjurman sexually assaulted Lisbeth, she attacked him, tattooed “I am a sadistic pig, a pervert, and a rapist” on his stomach (32), and revealed a video of him assaulting her. Lisbeth will release the video publicly if Bjurman tries to get the tattoo removed, sleeps with anyone, or tries to retain his guardianship of her. Since then, Bjurman has been filing documentation to secure Lisbeth’s independence, but he fantasizes about getting revenge.

Behind Bjurman in Café Hedon, Mikael Blomkvist meets with Erika Berger, chief editor of Millennium, the newsgroup for which Blomkvist works. Blomkvist complains that the 17-year-old intern at Millennium is sexually harassing him. (Berger and Blomkvist have had an affair for most of their working relationship.)

Bjurman knows that the video Lisbeth has of the assault is the only evidence she has against him. He has researched her past, finding information on her mental health from Dr. Jesper Loderman, who recommended that Lisbeth be put in a psychiatric hospital on her 18th birthday. He also found notebooks from Holger Palmgren, Lisbeth’s guardian before Bjurman. Both sources referenced an event, called “All The Evil” (43), on 3/12/1991, when Lisbeth was 12 years old, after which she was hospitalized at St. Stefan’s. Lisbeth has a twin sister, Camilla, who was placed in foster care. Their father is unknown, but their mother could no longer care for them. The police report for All The Evil is sealed, and Bjurman’s request for access was denied. Bjurman found a way to contact a police officer who got him the report, which revealed a possible ally in Bjurman’s quest to hurt Lisbeth.

Now, a “blond giant” sits across from Bjurman and tells him that he is there in response to Bjurman’s letter. Bjurman was supposed to meet someone else, but he tells the giant about Lisbeth.

Lisbeth spends the day following Dr. Forbes, who wanders the island in a suit without doing anything of note. Lisbeth receives responses from Plague and another user named Bilbo. Bilbo provides documentation on Dr. Forbes’s life. Forbes is a reverend with a church in Texas, and he was previously charged with assault and embezzlement, both of which were acquittals. Forbes married Geraldine Knight. She is the heiress to a $40 million fortune, while Forbes makes only $60,000 per year.

Lisbeth eats and asks about Hurricane Matilda, which is approaching Grenada. At night, hotel staff wake Lisbeth and tell her to pack her belongings to take shelter in the basement. Lisbeth realizes that George Bland is stranded on the beach, so she braves the storm to get to him. They fight their way back to the hotel. Before entering, Lisbeth sees Forbes and Geraldine on the beach, and Forbes appears to be hitting Geraldine. Lisbeth realizes that Forbes intends to murder his wife, blame it on the storm, and inherit her fortune. Lisbeth runs out, hits Forbes with a chair leg, and retrieves the unconscious Geraldine with Bland’s help. Looking back, Lisbeth sees a massive tornado over the beach. It sucks up Forbes, but Lisbeth and Bland bring Geraldine inside. Lisbeth has a knee injury but helps the hotel staff until she and Bland can retreat to her room.

The next day, Lisbeth has breakfast with the bartender, and a policeman asks her about Geraldine and Forbes. Lisbeth denies seeing Forbes; she has told Bland to say the same. Geraldine is safe, but Forbes’s body was found nearby. Lisbeth sees Matilda as a supernatural warning and decides to avoid hurricanes.