House of Evidence(19)

“My late sister-in-law was very sensitive about my brother Jacob’s memory, and wanted to keep everything as it had been while he lived. Jacob Junior followed suit, continuing the tradition. Perhaps he took it too seriously, though; it became a bit of an obsession with him in later years.”

“Who owns the house?”

Matthías hesitated briefly, then said, “Jacob Junior was considered the owner of the house.”

“Was it an inheritance?” Halldór asked.

“No, he purchased shares belonging to other heirs a few weeks ago.”

“Who were they?”

“Half of the house belonged to me, inherited from my father. Jacob Junior and his sister Kirsten owned a quarter each, inherited from their parents.”

“So Jacob Junior bought your share and that of his sister?”

“Yes, contracts were exchanged, and he paid the deposit.”

“When was this sale arranged?” Halldór asked.

“After Elizabeth died, two years ago,” Matthías replied, using the English pronunciation of his sister-in-law’s name. “At that point Kirsten and I felt it was time to put the house on the market.”

“Was Jacob Junior unhappy about this decision?”

“Understandably he was not keen on it. This was his childhood home and he had been assiduous in maintaining it,” Matthías replied.

“So the decision to sell the house was made two years ago.”

“Yes, discussions regarding the sale began two years ago.”

“Was the delay at that time due to Jacob Junior’s resistance?” Halldór asked.

“You could say that. He was looking for ways to avoid selling the house,” Matthías replied.

“When did he decide to buy the house himself?”

“I arrived here in Iceland from Austria just under two months ago with the intention of finalizing this matter, and I have since pursued that aim in collaboration with Kirsten and our lawyer. Jacob Junior finally realized that neither I nor his sister wished to retain our shares, and as a result began to look at the possibility of acquiring sole ownership of the house.”

“How was the purchase price agreed upon?” Halldór asked.

“The house and its furnishings were assessed by experienced appraisers. He agreed to pay the price thus determined.”

“Do you know how Jacob was planning to finance this purchase?”

“He obtained a mortgage for part of the sum. But it was nothing to do with me. It is my understanding, however, that he had plans in place to raise the rest of the money,” Matthías replied.

“Do you think that he already had this money?”

“I have no idea,” Matthías said wearily. “I only know what Kirsten has told me, that when their mother died and her estate was settled, she was as good as penniless apart from her share of the house. So there was certainly no cash for him to inherit.”

“You are telling me, sir, that half of the house has belonged to you since your father died. Why wasn’t the estate divided earlier?” Halldór asked.

“Alfred, my father, died in the fall of 1930 when I was studying in Berlin, and at that time my brother Jacob Senior agreed to look after my affairs. My brother and I had a close relationship, and he looked after me very well. We agreed that he would carry on living in the house for the foreseeable future, but that I always had a home here.”

Matthías paused briefly, glancing down thoughtfully.

“When Jacob Senior died I had already decided to live abroad and practice my art,” he continued. “I knew how important this home was to Elizabeth, and I promised her that as far as I was concerned she could live in the house for the rest of her life.”

There was another silence, before Matthías added, “I felt this was a good offer and I was not expecting the division of the estate to be delayed after her death.”

Halldór decided to change the subject. “Are there many visitors here?” he asked.

“No, not at all,” Matthías replied. “Jacob Junior has always led a very quiet life. Only his family and a few friends ever visit as far as I know.”

“So Jacob Junior has never married?”

“No. We in the family were expecting him to start looking around after his mother died, but that did not happen.”

“After his mother died. But then he must have been…” Halldór did some mental calculations, “forty-six years old?”

“Yes?” It didn’t sound as if Matthías considered that an odd age to be getting married for the first time.

Halldór turned to a fresh page in his notebook and asked about Jacob Junior’s friends.