“harriethadpreviouslylivedinahouseacrosstheroad；butgiventhatneithergottfriednorisabellawasconsistentlystable；andonecouldclearlyseehowthatupsetthegirl；underinedherstudiesandsoon；in1964；whenshewasfourteen；iarrangedforhertooveintoyhouse。isabellaprobablythoughtthatitwasjustfiobesparedtheresponsibilityforherdaughter。harriethadbeenlivinghereforthepasttwoyears。sothisiswhereshecaethatday。weknowthatsheetandexchangedsoewordswithharaldinthecourtyard—he’soneofyolderbrothers。thenshecaeupthestairs；tothisroo；andsaidhellotoe。shesaidthatshewantedtotalktoeaboutsoething。rightthenihadsoeotherfailyeberswitheandicouldn’tsparethetieforher。butsheseeedanxiousandiproisedi’detoherroowheniwasfree。sheleftthroughthatdoor；andthatwasthelasttieisawher。ainuteorsolatertherewasthecrashonthebridgeandthebedlathatfollowedupsetallourplansfortheday。”
“howdidshedie？”
“it’soreplicatedthanthat；andihavetotellthestoryinchronologicalorder。whentheaidentourred；peopledroppedwhatevertheyweredoingandrantothescene。iwas…isupposeitookchargeandwasfeverishlyoupiedforthenextfewhours。harrietcaedowntothebridgerightaway—severalpeoplesawher—butthedangerofanexplosionadeeinstructanyonewhowasn’tinvolvedingettingaronssonoutofhiscartostaywellback。fiveofusreained。therewereyselfandybrotherharald。therewasaannaedmagnusnilsson；oneofyworkers。therewasasawillworkernaedsixtennordlanderwhohadahousedownbythefishingharbour。andtherewasafellownaedjerkeraronsson。hewasonlysixteen；andishouldreallyhavesenthiaway；buthewasthenephewofgustavinthecar。
“atabout2：40harrietwasinthekitchenhereinthehouse。shedrankaglassofilkandtalkedbrieflytoastrid；ourcook。theylookedoutofthewindowattheotiondownatthebridge。
“at2：55harrietcrossedthecourtyard。shewasseenbyisabella。aboutainutelatersheranintoottofalk；thepastorinhedeby。atthattietheparsonagewaswheremartinvangerhashisvillatoday；andthepastorlivedonthissideofthebridge。hehadbeeninbed；nursingacold；whentheaidenttookplace；hehadissedthedraa；butsoeonehadtelephonedandhewasonhiswaytothebridge。harriet. compedhiontheroadandapparentlywantedtosaysoethingtohi；buthewavedheroffandhurriedpast。falkwasthelastpersontoseeheralive。”
“howdidshedie？”blokvistsaidagain。
“idon’tknow；”vangersaidwithatroubledexpression。“wedidn’tgetaronssonoutofhiscaruntilaround5：00—hesurvived；bytheway；althoughhewasnotingoodshape—andsoetieafter6：00thethreatoffirewasconsideredpast。theislandwasstillcutoff；butthingsbegantocaldown。itwasn’tuntilwesatdownatthetabletohaveourlongdelayeddinneraround8：00thatwediscoveredharrietwasissing。isentoneofthecousinstogetharrietfroherroo；butshecaebacktosaythatshecouldn’tfindher。ididn’tthinkuchaboutit；iprobablyassuedshehadgoneforawalkorshehadn’tbeentoldthatdinnerwasserved。andduringtheeveningihadtodealwithvariousdiscussionsandarguentswiththefaily。soitwasn’tuntilthenextorning；whenisabellawenttofindher；thatwerealisedthatnobodyknehereharrietwasandthatno…onehadseenhersincethedaybefore。”hespreadhisarsoutwide。“andfrothatday；shehasbeenissingwithoutatrace。”
“missing？”blokvistechoed。
“foralltheseyearswehaven’tbeenabletofindoneicroscopicscrapofher。”
“butifshevanished；asyousay；youcan’tbesurethatshewasurdered。”
“iunderstandtheobjection。i’vehadthoughtsalongthesaelines。whenapersonvanisheswithoutatrace；oneoffourthingscouldhavehappened。shecouldhavegoneoffofherownfreewillandbehidingsoewhere。shecouldhavehadanaidentanddied。shecouldhaveittedsuicide。andfinally；shecouldhavebeenthevictiofacrie。i’veweighedallthesepossibilities。”
“butyoubelievethatsoeoookharriet’slife。why？”
“becauseit’stheonlyreasonableconclusion。”vangerhelduponefinger。“frotheoutsetihopedthatshehadrunaway。butasthedayspassed；weallrealisedthatthiswasn’tthecase。iean；hoouldasixteen…year…oldfrosuchaprotectedworld；evenaveryablegirl；beabletoanageonherown？howcouldshestayhiddenwithoutbeingdiscovered？wherewouldshegetoney？andevenifshegotajobsoewhere；shewouldneedasocialsecuritycardandanaddress。”
hehelduptwofingers。
“mynextthoughtwasthatshehadhadsoekindofaident。canyoudoeafavour？gotothedeskandopenth. comdrawer。there’saapthere。”
blokvistdidashewasaskedandunfoldedtheaponthecoffeetable。hedebyislandwasanirregularlyshapedlandassabouttwoileslongwithaaxiuwidthofaboutoneile。alargepartoftheislandwascoveredbyforest。therewasabuilt…upareabythebridgeandaroundthelittlesuer…househarbour。ontheothersideoftheislandwasthesallholding；？sterg？rden；frowhichtheunfortunatearonssonhadstartedoutinhiscar。
“reeberthatshecouldn’thavelefttheisland；”vangersaid。“hereonhedebyislandyoucoulddieinanaidentjustlikeanywhereelse。youcouldbestruckbylightning—buttherewasnothunderstorthatday。youcouldbetrapledtodeathbyahorse；falldownawell；ortubleintoarockcrevice。therearenodoubthundredsofwaystofallvictitoanaidenthere。i’vethoughtofostofthe。”
heheldupthreefingers。
“there’sjustonecatch；andthisalsoappliestothethirdpossibility—thatthegirl；contrarytoeveryindication；tookherownlife。herbodyustbesoewhereinthisliitedarea。”
vangerslaedhisfistdownontheap。
“inthedaysaftershedisappeared；wesearchedeverywhere；crisscrossingtheisland。theenwadedthrougheveryditch；scouredeverypatchoffield；cliff；anduprootedtree。wewentthrougheverybuilding；chiney；well；barn；andhiddengarret。”
theoldanlookedawayfroblokvistandstaredintothedarknessoutsidethewindow。hisvoicegrewlowerandoreintiate。
“thewholeautunilookedforher；evenafterthesearchparties. compedandpeoplehadgivenup。wheniwasn’ttendingtoyworkibegangoingforwalksbackandforthacrosstheisland。wintercaeonandwestillhadn’tfoundatraceofher。inthespringikeptonlookinguntilirealisedhowpreposterousysearchwas。whensuercaeihiredthreeexperiencedwoodsenwhodidtheentiresearchoveragainwithdogs。theybedeverysquarefootoftheisland。bythattieihadbeguntothinkthatsoeoneusthavekilledher。sotheyalsosearchedforagrave。theyworkedatitforthreeonths。wefoundnottheslightestvestigeofthegirl。itwasasifshehaddissolvedintothinair。”
“icanthinkofanuberofpossibilities；”blokvistventured。
“let’shearthe。”
“shecouldhavedrowned；aidentallyoronpurpose。thisisanisland；andwatercanhideostthings。”
“true；buttheprobabilityisn’tgreat。considerthefollowing：ifharrietetwithanaidentanddrowned；logicallyitusthaveourredsoewhereintheiediatevicinityofthevillage。reeberthattheexciteentonthebridgewastheostsensationalthingthathadhappenedhereonhedebyislandinseveraldecades。itwasnotatiewhenasixteen…year…oldgirlwithanoralsenseofcuriositywoulddecidetogoforawalktotheothersideoftheisland。
“butoreiportant；”hesaid；“there’snotuchofacurrenthere；andthewindsatthattieofyearwereoutofthenorthornortheast。ifanythingfallsintothewater；itesupsoewherealongthebeachontheainland；andoverthereit’sbuiltupalosteverywhere。don’tthinkthatwedidn’tconsiderthis。wedraggedalostallthespotswhereshecouldconceivablyhavegonedowntothewater。ialsohiredyoungenfroascuba…divingclubhereinhedestad。theyspenttherestoftheseasonbingthebottoofthesoundandalongthebeaches…i’convincedshe’snotinthewater；ifshehadbeenwewouldhavefoundher。”
“butcouldshenothaveetwithanaidentsoewhereelse？thebridgewasblocked；ofcourse；butit’sashortdistanceovertotheainland。shecouldhaveswuorrowedacross。”
“itwaslatesepteberandthewaterwassocoldthatharrietwouldhardlyhavesetofftogoswiingintheidstofalltheotion。butifshesuddenlygottheideatoswitotheainland；shewouldhavebeenseenanddrawnalotofattention。thereweredozensofeyesonthebridge；andontheainlandsidethereweretwoorthreehundredpeoplealongthewaterwatchingthescene。”
“arowingboat？”
“no。thatdaytherewereprecisely
