House of Evidence(41)

The next sheet, also from Andrés, was handwritten and dated August 8, 1945. The handwriting was poor and the ink had faded, making it difficult for Hrefna to read:



“Sigurdur Jónsson, laborer, who was arrested earlier today at his place of work at Reykjavik harbor, has been brought in for questioning. When asked, Sigurdur says he cannot remember where he was on the night of July 14 and the early morning of July 15, but thinks he was probably at his home, and that his wife is more likely to be able to answer this as she is much better than he at remembering his absences from home at night. When asked, Sigurdur acknowledges altercations between himself and engineer Jacob Kieler and admits to having shed few tears on hearing of his demise. Sigurdur claims neither to own a gun nor to know how to use one. He says he knows nothing about who committed Kieler’s murder, and that he had nothing at all to do with it. After questioning, Sigurdur was placed in custody.”


Following this interrogation, a warrant had been issued to search Sigurdur’s home, and Andrés had written a report on the execution of the search.



“Today, August 8, 1945, I, the undersigned, and police officers N.L. and O.A. went to the home of laborer Sigurdur Jónsson at Brekkustígur 25, where we found his wife Kristín Jósefsdóttir and their three young children. Kristín presents as a simple and straightforward person. When asked, she admits that Sigurdur only arrived back home toward morning on July 15, but that this is actually a fairly frequent occurrence. We searched the home for a gun but did not find one. Two unused rounds were discovered in a box containing a number of toys under a child’s bed, and Kristín says she thinks that the children must have brought them into the home. They appear to belong to a larger weapon than that which killed J.K., but they were removed for further examination.”


The next sheet was dated three weeks later.



“The prisoner still refuses to disclose where he was on the night of July 14 and the early morning of July 15. An extension to custody is requested.”


Hrefna leafed quickly through the rest of the papers. “They seem to have lost interest in this case after that.”

“I know Andrés very well; he was still here when I first joined,” Halldór replied. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow and find out if he’s got anything to add to this.”



Diary III


July 2, 1915. Pannonia has now come through the worst of the war danger zone and the atmosphere on board is improving. I have met a young American, a Mr. Stephen Green, who dines at my table. He is a writer who lived in Paris before the war, and is now on his way home. I try to talk as much as possible to him to practice my English…


July 8, 1915. Pannonia arrived at Lower New York Bay toward the evening and sailed at half speed through the Verrazano channel into the Upper Bay and then up the Hudson River. There is a considerable amount of shipping traffic here in spite of the darkness of the night. It is hot and muggy…We saw the Statue of Liberty, donated by the French, which has stood here in the harbor since 1886. The statue is made of a copper-clad iron frame and is 151 feet high…The tall buildings of Manhattan Island are to the right and the wharves for the passenger liners lie ahead…


July 9, 1915. Have now landed in New York. I had an easy time at the Immigration Office. I was able to present the telegram from Lautmann, and the people of this country do not seem to worry at all about my stay in Germany; these nations are not at war, of course…I wanted to be on my way as quickly as possible, and Mr. Green assisted me with getting to the railroad station, where we took our leave. I can get on to a train to Chicago in two hours. It is strange to be here where there are no worries, having dwelt in the war zone in Europe. Here there is no lack of anything…


July 10, 1915. We are approaching Chicago. The train has passed through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and, just now, Illinois…





Egill was puzzled.

Jóhann had just presented him with a fingerprint card that had been tucked into a folder on a corner of his own desk, and said that the owner of these prints had been in Birkihlíd just before the murder, examined the stamp frames, and probably played the piano.

Egill and Halldór compared the fingerprint samples that had been taken in Birkihlíd with those on the card, and agreed there was every indication that Jóhann was right. The odd thing was that the owner of the fingerprints did not have a criminal record, and the card belonged to a completely different case, some burglary.

“How did you make the connection?” Egill asked.