House of Evidence(54)

The present writer has experienced some difficulty in finding further information on this story. Engineer Jacob Kieler was shot and killed in 1945, while Matthías, who now resides in Austria, has not responded to written enquiries on the matter. It is tempting to speculate that Jacob Kieler’s fate was somehow linked to the royalist mission, and it is a known fact that Matthías Kieler experienced a crisis in Germany during the war that has not been explained. It must have been difficult for the engineer to carry this secret with him when he became chief contracting agent to the British and, later, the American occupying force, here in Iceland during the war. The fact that their royal candidate was a professed Nazi with personal connections to the leaders of the Third Reich would have caused Jacob Kieler considerable concern.


The article bore the signature of Yngvi Jónsson, historian. The document right behind it in the ring binder was a handwritten draft of a summons issued against Yngvi Jónsson for libel. Hrefna removed these papers from the binder and tucked them into her bag. She put everything else back in its place and went downstairs, where she found Jóhann in the engineering office, buried deep in old papers.

“Have you discovered anything?” she asked.

“No,” he replied, shamefaced. “I’m mainly just nosing around. Jacob Senior seems to have been incredibly interested in railways.”

“Yes, that’s what his diaries show,” Hrefna said, looking around the room. “So this is where he worked.”

“Yes, it’s as if he walked out of here yesterday.”

Hrefna perused the filing cabinets, opening them and examining the contents.

“He must have been very orderly,” she said. “I wish I was like this.”

She turned to a long, wooden box standing by the outside wall.

“Have you looked into this box?” she asked.

“No, I hadn’t got that far.”

Hrefna opened it and found two tripods and a steel measuring tape. A compartment in the lid of the box contained a booklet in Danish, with the title Jäderin’s Basisapparat.

“What’s all this for?” she asked.

Jóhann took the booklet and leafed through it. “It’s equipment for measuring distances,” he said.

“Surely the measuring tape can do that on its own?”

“No. To get an accurate reading, the tape needs to be pulled taut with the correct force. You place the tripods over the points whose distance you want to find, stretch the tape across the tripods, and hang a heavy weight from it to create the correct tension. Then you apply the angle of slope of the tape to the distance measured to get the correct result.”

“Well, well. Very interesting,” Hrefna replied, about to close the box.

“Just a minute,” Jóhann said. “It looks as if everything’s in the box apart from the weight. Here’s a compartment where it obviously should be, but it’s not there. It’s unlike the Kieler menfolk not to have everything in place.”

“Put it in your report, then,” Hrefna suggested skeptically.



Diary V


January 3, 1919. Sent a telegram to Miss Annie Barker that I have arrived in England. I presume that she will arrange for me to meet Elizabeth…


January 4, 1919. Received an invitation at the hotel to come for supper to Mr. and Mrs. Barker’s home tomorrow evening…


January 5, 1919. I arrived at the Barkers’ home a short while before Elizabeth. When she came in and saw me, we stood and gazed at one another, not able to utter a word. Finally we shook hands. She was pale but very beautiful. She has matured and now looks like a rose that has just come into bloom. Elizabeth is complimentary about my knowledge of English; she says I speak just like an American…This time I shall not hesitate. Tomorrow I am going to ask for Elizabeth’s hand in marriage. I am not going to make the same mistake twice in my life…


January 6, 1919. I dressed in my best clothes and took a carriage to the home of the Chatfield family. I asked to see Elizabeth and immediately put the question to her whether she would permit me to ask her father for her hand in marriage. She said yes. Mr. Chatfield has agreed to see me tomorrow…


January 7, 1919. I met Mr. Chatfield at his club. He made me tell him my life’s history and describe my family. Then he asked me about my future plans. I told him that it had always been my determination to go to Iceland and build railroads there. I showed him my letters of recommendation…


January 8, 1919. I was summoned to the Chatfield residence very early this morning. Mr. and Mrs. Chatfield were having breakfast. Mr. Chatfield said that he and his wife were prepared to agree to our marriage if my affairs proved to be in order. The engagement is to last for six months. Then I was allowed to see Elizabeth…