The rest of the money he could play with and invest as he saw fit, provided that he did not invest in anything that might cause problems with the police in any way. She forbade him to engage in stupid petty crimes and cheap con games which--if he was unlucky--might prompt investigations which in turn could put her under scrutiny.
All that remained was to agree on how much he would make on the transactions.
"I'll pay you PS500,000 as a retainer. With that you can pay off all your debts and have a good deal left over. After that you'll earn money for yourself. You will start a company with the two of us as partners. You get 20 percent of all the profits generated. I want you to be rich enough that you won't be tempted to cheat, but not so rich that you won't make an effort."
He had started his new job on February 1 the year before. By the end of March he had paid off all his debts and stabilized his personal finances. Salander had insisted that he make cleaning up his own affairs a priority so that he would be solvent. In May he dissolved the partnership with his alcoholic colleague George Marks. He felt a twinge of conscience towards his former partner, but getting Marks mixed up in Salander's business was out of the question.
He discussed the matter with Salander when she returned to Gibraltar on another unheralded visit in early July and discovered that MacMillan was working out of his apartment instead of from the office he had previously occupied.
"My partner's an alcoholic and wouldn't be able to handle this. And he would be an enormous risk factor. At the same time, fifteen years ago he saved my life when he took me into his business."
She pondered this for a while as she studied MacMillan's face.
"I see. You're a crook who's loyal. That could be a commendable quality. I suggest you set up a small account that he can play around with. See to it that he makes a couple of thousand a month so he gets by."
"Is that OK with you?"
She nodded and looked around his bachelor pad. He lived in a studio apartment with a kitchen nook on one of the alleys near the hospital. The only pleasant thing about the place was the view. On the other hand, it was a view that was hard to avoid in Gibraltar.
"You need an office and a nicer place to live," she said.
"I haven't had time," he said.
Then she went out and found an office for him, choosing a 1,400-square-foot place with a little balcony facing the sea in Buchanan House on Queensway Quay, which was definitely upmarket in Gibraltar. She hired an interior decorator to renovate and furnish it.
MacMillan recalled that while he had been busy shuffling papers, Salander had personally supervised the installation of an alarm system, computer equipment, and the safe that she had already rummaged through by the time he entered the office that morning.
"Am I in trouble?" he said.
She put down the folder with the correspondence she had been perusing. "No, Jeremy. You're not in trouble."
"That's good," he said as he poured himself some coffee. "You have a way of popping up when I least expect it."
"I've been busy lately. I just wanted to get an update on what's been happening."
"I believe you were suspected of killing three people, you got shot in the head, and you were charged with a whole assortment of crimes. I was pretty worried for a while. I thought you were still in prison. Did you break out?"
"No. I was acquitted of all the charges and released. How much have you heard?"
He hesitated a moment. "Well, when I heard that you were in trouble, I hired a translation agency to comb the Swedish press and give me regular updates. I'm familiar with the details."
"If you're basing your knowledge on what you read in the papers, then you're not familiar at all. But I dare say you discovered a number of secrets about me."
He nodded.
"What's going to happen now?" he said.
She gave him a surprised look. "Nothing. We keep on exactly as before. Our relationship has nothing to do with my problems in Sweden. Tell me what's been happening since I've been away. Have you been doing all right?"
"I'm not drinking, if that's what you mean."
"No. Your private life doesn't concern me so long as it doesn't encroach on our business. I mean, am I richer or poorer than I was a year ago?"
He pulled out the guest chair and sat down. Somehow it did not matter to him that she was sitting in his chair.
"You turned over 2.5 billion Swedish kronor to me. We put 200 million into personal funds for you. You gave me the rest to play with."
"And?"
"Your personal funds haven't grown by much more than the amount of interest. I could increase the profit if--"
"I'm not interested in increasing the profit."
r /> "OK. You've spent a negligible amount. The principal expenses have been the apartment I bought for you and the fund you started for that lawyer Palmgren. Otherwise you've just had normal expenses. The interest rate has been favourable. You're running about even."
"Good."
"The rest I invested. Last year we didn't make very much. I was a little rusty and spent the time learning the market again. We've had expenses. We didn't really start generating income until this year. Since the start of the year we've taken about seven million. Dollars, that is."
"Of which 20 percent goes to you."
"Of which 20 percent goes to me."
"Are you satisfied with that?"
"I've made more than a million dollars in six months. Yes, I'm satisfied."
"You know . . . you shouldn't get too greedy. You can cut back on your hours when you're satisfied. Just make sure you spend a few hours on my affairs every so often."
"Ten million dollars," he said.
"Excuse me?"
"When I get ten million together I'll pack it in. It was good that you turned up in my life. We have a lot to discuss."
"Fire away."
He threw up his hands.
"This is so much money that it scares the shit out of me. I don't know how to handle it. I don't know the purpose of the company besides making more money. What's all the money going to be used for?"
"I don't know."
"Me neither. But money can become an end in itself. It's crazy. That's why I've decided to call it quits when I've earned ten million for myself. I don't want the responsibility any longer."
"Fair enough."
"But before I call it a day I want you to decide how this fortune is to be administered in the future. There has to be a purpose and guidelines and some kind of organization that can take over."
"Mmm."
"It's impossible to conduct business this way. I've divided up the sum into long-term fixed investments--real estate, securities, and so forth. There's a complete list on the computer."
"I've read it."
"The other half I've put into speculation, but it's so much money to keep track of that I can't keep up. So I set up an investment company on Jersey. At present you have six employees in London. Two talented young brokers and some clerical staff."