conclusion that these interviews had been conducted according to a scale of
decreasing importance.
Ulrika Vanger was Henrik Vanger’s mother, and evidently she held a status
comparable to that of a dowager queen. Ulrika lived at the Vanger estate and was
able to provide no information. She had gone to bed early on the previous night
and had not seen Harriet for several days. She appeared to have insisted on
meeting Detective Inspector Morell solely to give air to her opinion that the police
had to act at once, immediately.
Harald Vanger ranked as number two on the list. He had seen Harriet only briefly
when she returned from the festivities in Hedestad, but he had not seen her since
the accident on the bridge occurred and he had no knowledge of where she might be at
present.
Greger Vanger, brother of Henrik and Harald, stated that he had seen the missing
sixteen-year-old in Henrik Vanger’s study, asking to speak with Henrik after her visit
to Hedestad earlier in the day. Greger Vanger stated that he had not spoken with
her himself, merely given her a greeting. He had no idea where she might be
found, but he expressed the view that she had probably, thoughtlessly, gone to
visit some friend without telling anyone and would reappear soon. When asked
how she might in that case have left the island, he offered no answer.
Martin Vanger was interviewed in a cursory fashion. He was in his final year at the
preparatory school in Uppsala, where he lived in the home of Harald Vanger. There
was no room for him in Harald’s car, so he had taken the train home to Hedeby,
arriving so late that he was stranded on the wrong side of the bridge accident and
could not cross until late in the evening by boat. He was interviewed in the hope
that his sister might have confided in him and perhaps given him some clue if she
was thinking of running away. The question was met with protests from Harriet
Vanger’s mother, but at that moment Inspector Morell was perhaps thinking that
Harriet’s having run away would be the best they could hope for. But Martin had
not spoken with his sister since the summer holiday and had no information of
value.
Anita Vanger, daughter of Harald Vanger, was erroneously listed as Harriet’s “first
cousin.” She was in her first year at the university in Stockholm and had spent the
summer in Hedeby. She was almost the same age as Harriet and they had become
close friends. She stated that she had arrived at the island with her father on
Saturday and was looking forward to seeing Harriet, but she had not had the