wrote nothing personal until the end of the school year when she apparently—
depending on how the entries were interpreted—became interested from a
distance in some never-named boy.
The pages that listed telephone numbers were the ones that held the real mystery.
Neatly, in alphabetical order, were the names and numbers of family members,
classmates, certain teachers, several members of the Pentecostal congregation,
and other easily identifiable individuals in her circle of acquaintances. On the very
last page of the address book, which was blank and not really part of the
alphabetical section, there were five names and telephone numbers. Three female
names and two sets of initials:
Magda—32016
Sara—32109
R.J.—30112
R.L.—32027
Mari—32018
The telephone numbers that began with 32 were Hedestad numbers in the sixties.
The one beginning with 30 was a Norrbyn number, not far from Hedestad. The
problem was that when Morell contacted every one of Harriet’s friends and
acquaintances, no-one had any idea whose numbers they were.
The first number belonging to “Magda” initially seemed promising. It led to a
haberdashery at Parkgatan 12. The telephone was in the name of one Margot
Lundmark, whose mother’s name was actually Magda; she sometimes helped out
in the store. But Magda was sixty-nine years old and had no idea who Harriet
Vanger was. Nor was there any evidence that Harriet had ever visited the shop or
bought anything there. She wasn’t interested in sewing.
The second number for “Sara” belonged to a family by the name of Toresson, who
lived in Väststan, on the other side of the tracks. The family included Anders and
Monica and their children, Jonas and Peter, who at the time were pre-school age.