hadbeenreportedinthemediaasmissing.TheonlyvagueconnectionbetweenHarrietandtheToressonfamilywasthatAnders,whowasaroofer,hadseveralweeksearlierputatiledroofontheschoolwhichHarrietattended.Sotheoreticallytherewasachancethattheyhadmet,althoughitmightbeconsideredextremelyunlikely.
Theremainingthreenumbersledtosimilardeadends.Thenumber32027for“R.L.”hadactuallybelongedtooneRosmarieLarsson.Unfortunately,shehaddiedseveralyearsearlier.
InspectorMorellconcentratedagreatdealofhisattentionduringthewinterof1966–67ontryingtoexplainwhyHarriethadwrittendownthesenamesandnumbers.
Onepossibilitywasthatthetelephonenumberswerewritteninsomepersonalcode—soMorelltriedtoguesshowateenagegirlwouldthink.Sincethethirty-twoseriesobviouslypointedtoHedestad,hesetaboutrearrangingtheremainingthreedigits.Neither32601or32160ledtoaMagda.AsMorellcontinuedhisnumerology,herealisedthatifheplayedaroundwithenoughofthenumbers,soonerorlaterhewouldfindsomelinktoHarriet.Forexample,ifheaddedooeachofthethreeremainingdigitsin32016,hegot32127—whichwasthenumbertoFrode’sofficeinHedestad.Butonelinklikethatmeantnothing.Besides,heneverdiscoveredacodethatmadesenseofallfiveofthenumbers.
Morellbroadenedhisinquiry.Couldthedigitsmean,forexample,carnumberplates,whichinthesixtiescontainedthetwo-lettercountyregistrationcodeandfivedigits?Anotherdeadend.
Theinspectorthenconcentratedonthenames.HeobtainedalistofeveryoneinHedestadnamedMari,Magda,orSaraorwhohadtheinitialsR.L.orR.J.Hehadalistof307people.Amongthese,29actuallyhadsomeconnectiontoHarriet.Forinstance,aboyfromherclasswasnamedRolandJacobsson—R.J.TheyscarcelykneweachotherandhadhadnocontactsinceHarrietstartedpreparatoryschool.Andtherewasnolinktothetelephonenumber.
Themysteryofthenumbersinthedateremainedunsolved.
HerfourthencounterwithAdvokatBjurmanwasnotoneoftheirscheduledmeetings.Shewasforcedtomakecontactwithhim.
InthesecondweekofFebruarySalander’slaptopfellvictimtoanaidentthatwassouncalledforthatshefeltanurgentdesiretokil