‘It’s our understanding that he was another of Felix’s “friends”.’
‘It’s possible.’
‘That Felix befriended him and passed on information about his family?’
‘I really couldn’t say.’
‘You mean you don’t know if he was involved in the study? I thought you remembered the boys’ names? Knew what had happened to most of them?’
Brynhildur stared at the picture. ‘He may have been called Jósep,’ she said at last. ‘If I’m not mistaken. Jósep Ingvarsson.’
‘What’s he doing now?’
‘He’s a vagrant,’ said Brynhildur. ‘I’ve seen him loafing about in Hafnarstræti and wandering around the centre of town. His father was always being sent to prison; he was very violent.’
‘Do you think Jósep could have written the letter?’
‘Felix believes it was Eyvindur.’
Flóvent gathered up the papers on the table. He had decided to draw the interview to a close for now.
‘You say you want to help him. Well, if Felix is in danger, as he claims, we could help him.’
Brynhildur remained silent.
‘Think about Felix. About the danger he believes he’s in. You don’t have much choice. You must see that. Besides, you yourself are mixed up in this affair, and it could improve your own position if you’re straight with us. You ought to—’
‘He worshipped his uncle,’ said Brynhildur suddenly. ‘Felix is a fanatical Nazi. He’d have gone to Germany and joined the army if Hans hadn’t persuaded him that he could be of more use here at home.’
‘Be more specific. Of more use how?’
‘When the Germans invaded. But when that didn’t happen...’
‘Yes?’
‘It’s possible that Felix is in fact a German agent — thanks to Hans — and that Eyvindur blundered into the firing line by accident.’
‘All right. Let’s go back to Hans Lunden. What exactly does he do?’
‘He came over shortly before the war, full of the plans he had for Iceland following the German occupation. Hans wanted his brother to run an anthropological research programme based on his earlier work, but Rudolf had turned his back on Nazism by then and they fell out over the matter. Hans was furious and left without even saying goodbye to Rudolf. I don’t think they’ve been in contact since. Hans believed that the Nazis should take Iceland as a model, since it was home to a uniquely pure, ancient Nordic stock that was superior to other races.’
Brynhildur took another sip of water, then explained that Hans was an admirer of the sagas with their descriptions of warriors and feats of great prowess and daring. He had immersed himself in the country’s medieval texts, including the Eddic poems, with their Norse myths and tales of the ancient Germanic past. To him, the heroic forebears of the Icelanders were supermen by modern standards, and he dreamt of recreating them. He conducted anthropological research into Nordic racial superiority at an institute set up by Himmler in Berlin, as part of the Ahnenerbe, or Ancestral Heritage Group. That was why he had come to Iceland in ’39. Hans had been confident that when war broke out, the Germans would occupy Iceland and then it would be possible to embark on serious genetic and anthropological studies of the Icelandic population, of their ancient Germanic heritage and Viking blood — the very origins of the Icelanders. Hans had intended to direct the project himself: Rudolf was to be his right-hand man.
‘But then the German invasion didn’t happen,’ said Flóvent.
‘Which must have been a great disappointment to Hans.’
Rudolf had ultimately drawn the conclusion that the ideas Hans and other Nazi intellectuals had about Iceland were based on a misconception. Werner Gerlach had told Hans the same during their meetings at the consulate. In their view, modern Icelanders were no better than peasants and had nothing in common with their warlike Viking ancestors. There had been a great deal of interracial mixing on the island ever since the earliest settlement in the ninth century. In support of this argument, Rudolf referred to the observations he had made in the course of his study, suggesting that his findings could, instead, provide the basis for further research into the degeneration of the pure Nordic stock. They demonstrated that the descendants of the Vikings were anything but noble Aryans. But Hans Lunden wouldn’t listen. It ended in a bitter quarrel. Then the British occupied the island and their plans came to nothing.
‘Do you have any idea where Hans Lunden is now?’ asked Flóvent.
‘The last Rudolf heard was that he had abandoned the Nordic project and started conducting genetic studies on prisoners. On criminals.’
‘So, what you’re saying is that all this happened long after he and Rudolf had collaborated on their secret study at the school?’ said Flóvent, indicating the documents. ‘And that these papers date from much earlier.’
‘That’s right,’ said Brynhildur. ‘The school study was quite different in its aims, but it was instrumental in awakening Hans Lunden’s interest in Iceland.’
‘And you believe that Hans set Felix up as a German agent?’
‘Yes, and that Eyvindur was shot instead of Felix.’
40
Thorson spent the night at the RAF barracks in Selfoss. He had reached the village long after midnight and didn’t dare continue to Reykjavík, exhausted as he was from the drive, the dog attack and from trawling from farm to farm in search of information. He had tried to speak to Vera’s former fiancé but learnt that he was away travelling in the north of the country. Twice Thorson had nodded off at the wheel, and he was afraid of tackling the mountain road over Hellisheidi in the dark, without any sleep. He decided to ask if they’d let him bunk down at the British camp. The officer in charge was still awake, sitting up smoking in front of his hut, and was happy to oblige. They conversed in low voices; then the officer showed Thorson to an empty bed. He fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.
The following morning he breakfasted with the airmen, thanked them for their hospitality, then went on his way, reaching Reykjavík around noon. He immediately set about discreetly gathering information on Billy Wiggins. After making a few phone calls he discovered that the previous week Wiggins had been involved in a punch-up with a private from a British artillery regiment. Apparently he was so drunk he had been compelled to sleep it off in the detention camp at Kirkjusandur. The fight had not been considered serious enough for any charges to be brought, however, and the cause of the altercation was not recorded in the military police incident book.
Thorson was on the point of heading over to speak to the private involved when the phone rang and he was informed that Major Graham wanted to see him immediately at the Leper Hospital. Thorson was conscious that he had failed to keep Graham briefed about the inquiry, in defiance of his orders. He had twice provided his own commanding officer, Colonel Webster, with a telephone report on the progress of the investigation and the possible link between the murder in Felix Lunden’s flat and enemy espionage. Colonel Webster had taken the information seriously and ordered him to contact counter-intelligence, but Thorson had been dragging his feet out of a personal dislike for Major Graham.
After a few more phone calls he managed to track down Flóvent at the prison. Flóvent brought him up to date with the interrogation of Brynhildur Hólm and his growing conviction that Felix had been spying on military operations in Iceland at the instigation of his uncle, Hans Lunden. Thorson, in turn, gave him a brief account of his journey east to the rural farming community where Vera had grown up, of the stories circulating about her among her former neighbours, of the farmer she had seduced and the violence that had ensued.
‘Are you saying she did it purely in order to break off her engagement?’ Flóvent asked when Thorson had finished. ‘To get back at her fiancé?’