ontheislandaftertheaidenthadourred.
Duringthosefirstconfusedtwenty-fourhours,theirhopesthatthesituationwouldetoaswiftandhappyresolutionsank.Instead,theyweregraduallyreplacedbytwotheories.Inspiteoftheobviousdifficultiesinleavingtheislandunnoticed,Morellrefusedtodiscountthepossibilitythatshehadrunaway.Hedecidedthatanall-pointsbulletinshouldbesentoutforHarrietVanger,andhegaveinstructionsforthepatrolofficersinHedestadtokeeptheireyesopenforthemissinggirl.Healsosentacolleagueinthecriminaldivisiontointerviewbusdriversandstaffattherailwaystation,tofindoutwhetheranyonemighthaveseenher.
Asthenegativereportscamein,itbecameincreasinglylikelythatHarrietVangerhadfallenvictimtosomesortofmisfortune.Thistheoryendedupdominatingtheinvestigativeworkofthefollowingdays.
Thebigsearchpartytwodaysafterherdisappearancewasapparently,asfarasBlomkvistcouldtell,carriedouteffectively.Policeandfirefighterswhohadexperiencewithsimilaroperationshadanisedthesearch.HedebyIslanddidhavesomepartsthatwerealmostinaessible,butitwasneverthelessasmallarea,andtheislandwassearchedwithafine-toothbinoneday.ApoliceboatandtwovolunteerPetterssonboatsdidwhattheycouldtosearchthewatersaroundtheisland.
Onthefollowingdaythesearchwascontinuedwithdecreasedmanpower.Patrolsweresentouttomakeasecondsweepoftheparticularlyruggedterrain,aswellasanareaknownas“thefortress”—anow-abandonedbunkersystemthatwasbuiltduringtheSecondWorldWar.Thatdaytheyalsosearchedcubbyholes,wells,vegetablecellars,outhouses,andatticsinthevillage.
Acertainfrustrationcouldbereadintheofficialnoteswhenthesearchwascalledoffonthethirddayafterthegirl’sdisappearance.Morellwas,ofcourse,notyetawareofit,butatthatmomenthehadactuallyreachedasfarintheinvestigationashewouldeverget.Hewaspuzzledandstruggledtoidentifythenaturalnextsteporanyplacewherethesearchoughttobepursued.HarrietVangerseemedtohavedissolvedintothinair,andHenrikVanger’syearsoftormenthadbegun.
CHAPTER9
Monday,January6–Wednesday,January8
Blomkvistkeptrea