opportunity to find her. Anita stated that she felt uneasy, and that it was not like
Harriet to go off without telling the family. Henrik and Isabella Vanger confirmed
that this was the case.
While Inspector Morell was interviewing family members, he had told Magnusson
and Bergman—patrol 014—to organise the first search party while there was still
daylight. The bridge was still closed to traffic, so it was difficult to call in
reinforcements. The group consisted of about thirty available individuals, men and
women of varying ages. The areas they searched that afternoon included the
unoccupied houses at the fishing harbour, the shoreline at the point and along the
sound, the section of woods closest to the village, and the hill called Söderberget
behind the fishing harbour. The latter was searched because someone had put
forward the theory that Harriet might have gone up there to get a good view of the
scene on the bridge. Patrols were also sent out to Östergården and to Gottfried’s
cabin on the other side of the island, which Harriet occasionally visited.
But the search was fruitless; it was not called off until long after dark fell, at 10:00 at
night. The temperature overnight dropped to freezing.
During the afternoon Inspector Morell set up his headquarters in a drawing room
that Henrik Vanger had put at his disposal on the ground floor of the Vanger estate
office. He had undertaken a number of measures.
In the company of Isabella Vanger, he had examined Harriet’s room and tried to
ascertain whether anything was missing: clothes, a suitcase, or the like, which
would indicate that Harriet had run away from home. Isabella, a note implied, had
not been helpful and did not seem to be familiar with her daughter’s wardrobe. She
often wore jeans, but they all look the same, don’t they? Harriet’s purse was on her
desk. It contained ID, a wallet holding nine kronor and fifty öre, a comb, a mirror,
and a handkerchief. After the inspection, Harriet’s room was locked.
Morell had summoned more people to be interviewed, family members and
employees. All the interviews were meticulously reported.
When the participants in the first search party began returning with disheartening
reports, the inspector decided that a more systematic search had to be made. That
evening and night, reinforcements were called in. Morell contacted, among others,
the chairman of Hedestad’s Orienteering Club and appealed for help in
summoning volunteers for the search party. By midnight he was told that fifty-
three members, mostly from the junior division, would be at the Vanger estate at