Jeff forms a conclusion about the salesman, based on what he has seen.

That is, he has seen

that the salesman leaves and returns his house three times at night, and he concludes, though
he doesn’t say it explicitly, that this behaviours is strange. In addition, he sees the man with
saws and a rope, and because he doesn’t see the wife, he wonders if something is wrong. This
is abduction, because he bases his conclusions on what he has seen. Furthermore, because
there is no doctor, or undertaker, which would be there in case she was dead, he wonders if
something strange is going on with her. However, it is clear that his abduction is based on his
own interpretations, because when Tom says that the wife has been put on a trip from central
station, he interprets this as a lie by the ‘’murderer’’. In addition, he also uses abduction when
he interprets the flowers who were planted lower, as being relevant in solving a part of the
murdering case.

With regards to Jeff’s murder hypothesis, Lisa doesn’t believe that it is realistic, because she
says that everyone has knives and saws in his house. In addition, she doesn’t believe Jeff, and
thinks he has wild ideas, which she interprets as ‘’diseased’’. Moreover, she perceives Jeff’s
murder ideas as unlikely, because she says that murder is rare. However, at some point Lisa
changes her mind, when she sees the salesman with a suitcase, and then she wants to know
everything that Jeff had seen. Afterwards, when they meet again, she states that the wife of
the salesman didn’t take her jewellery with her, thereby arguing if the wife left at all, and
believes that instead the wife of the salesman may have been killed.

His nurse Stella received Jeff’s message differently, because she immediately believes what
Jeff has said. In addition, she builds on Jeff’s reasoning, by asking why the salesman would
cut his wife in pieces. She also states in case the wife of the salesman was murdered, he
would do it in the bath, to wash away the blood.. After the dog was murdered and after the
case seemed to have been refuted by the detective Tom, the nurse and jeff and his girlfriend
see the salesman cleaning the walls, thereby igniting their thought that he the wife of the
salesman was murdered.

His friend also responds differently to Jeff’s ideas. Tom takes the knowledge of Jeff into
question, by saying that Jeff hasn’t seen murder or a body, thereby questioning if Jeff is right.
He says that the strange behaviour of the salesman could be anything, and that murder is the
least likely explanation for it. In addition, Tom says that the likelihood that it is indeed
murder, is a 1000 to 1. Furthermore, Tom says that it may even be the case that the wife is on
holiday. To be sure, however, Tom says that he would investigate it.

Compared to the nurse and his girlfriend, Tom takes the most rational approach, by doing his
own investigation. The result of this investigation is that he finds a postcard, saying that the
wife of the salesman arrived at her destination. In general, he keeps arguing against the case
that someone was murdered. Because the wife of the salesman eventually picked up the
suitcase, it appears that he completely refutes their case.

In general, Tom only believes the ideas that the salesman is a murderer, when the salesman
attacks Jeff, and when he falls out of the window. Afterwards, he also believes for the place
where the salesman had planted a part of the body, in the box under the flowers, to be
evidence that the wife of the salesman indeed was murdered.

In short, Lisa, Stella and Tom follow Jeff’s interpretations at different rates. Lisa is sceptical
at first, but believes Tom after a while. Stella immediately believes Jeff when he says that the
wife is murdered, and Tom only believes Jeff after Jeff had been attacked, when the case that
the salesman is a murderer, becomes overwhelming.

The role that abduction played in my interpretation was that I tried to analytically interpret
the extent to which Jeff’s reasoning was logical and relevant. For instance, when Jeff said
that the rope and knife were a sign of murder, I immediately thought that this wasn’t enough
to believe that someone was murdered. In addition, my thoughts that the salesman’s wife was
murdered, were strengthened when the dog was killed, and when Jeff found out that the
plants were lower. This is when I believed that a part of the wife may have been buried there.
In general, my beliefs that the salesman’s wife was murdered, increased as the movie
progressed.

What is the role of abduction in Jeff’s reasoning?  forming a conclusion based on what is
known

And how is the “murder hypothesis” that Jeff has formed, quite differently received by his
nurse Stella, his girlfriend Lisa, and his friend-detective Tom? Pay special attention to when
and why Lisa changes her mind (37:00-41:33), and to the verbal and nonverbal behavior of
Tom, who mocks Jeff, because his “logic is backward”, but who is also interpreting a lot
(01:00:55-01:06:05).

Finally, pay special attention to yourself. What is the role of abduction in your interpretation
of the movie?

In addition, he says it’s strange that she hasn’t been seen through the window, because she should
receive care multiple times a day because she is an invalid, and this process should have been seen
through the window. Thus, he wonders if something is wrong with the wife.

In addition, she explains the fact the he hasn’t seen the wife of the salesman, as explained by the
fact that a lot of men don’t want to talk about their wives all day, because they are nagging. Thus,
she says, that because the wife is nagging, they don’t see her through the window, because the
salesman avoids her.

and because the salesman doesn’t take down his curtains, meant that everyone can see what he was
doing, and she says that a murderer wouldn’t do that, in case he has conducted a murder.