“Tell me a bit more about that trip.”
“We took Jacob’s car and headed east. I went with the Germans on foot through the Threngsli Pass, while Jacob drove over Hellisheidi to pick us up and drive us up through Biskupstungur all the way to Lake Hvítárvatn. From there we, the Germans and I, continued northward on foot, along the Kjalvegur track and down into Blöndudalur, while Jacob turned back, drove up through Borgarfjördur, and met us in the north, where we then drove on to Akureyri.”
“Wasn’t it difficult to keep all this secret?”
“We were careful.”
“What was the outcome of the journey?”
“The Germans were very happy with our plans, and gave positive feedback when they got back home.”
“What happened then?”
“Jacob devised a way to utilize the Germans’ contribution, involving an independent limited company he set up in Germany to own the trains and lease them to the company here. The trains were built in Germany so it didn’t cost the Germans any foreign currency, which they were very short of during those years. Most of the Iceland Railroad Company’s capital was then used to buy cross ties in Norway and rails in Germany. They were ready on the quay in Hamburg when the war broke out.”
Halldór brought out the picture of the train.
“Have you seen this picture before?”
Kristján took the picture.
“Yes, Jacob showed it to me. We were very pleased about it at the time.”
“Were you aware of Jacob’s illness?”
“What illness?”
“Depression.”
“Jacob wasn’t mentally ill; he just needed to rest from time to time and think things through. Who says that he was mentally ill?”
“Thórdur.”
“I might have known. Why does he have to blacken Jacob’s memory after all that’s happened?”
“Are you and Thórdur not on friendly terms?”
“I didn’t particularly like him.”
“Why was that?”
“I didn’t feel he was sincere about the railroad project. He was continually trying to discourage Jacob with all sorts of pessimistic notions. He wasn’t happy until he had dissolved the company after Jacob’s death.”
“Were you against that?”
“Yes, there was no reason for the company to cease trading, and I would never have agreed to it if Elizabeth herself hadn’t asked me to sell her my stock.”
“So were you then paid this twenty percent?”
“No, that would have been blood money. I gave Elizabeth my stock. There were others who got a lot of money, but I’m not naming names.”
“Can you remember Jacob’s death?”
“Yes, as if it had happened yesterday.”
“Were you working for him then?”
“No. He came to the office on the morning of July tenth and told Thórdur and myself that he planned to close the business for a few days. We were to take time off. I went to visit my parents, and was busy baling hay on my parents’ farm when I heard the news.”
“You remember the date remarkably well.”
“Yes, it was my birthday, my fiftieth. It was also really unusual. We were not in the habit of taking time off at what was our busiest time of year.”
“Have you any idea who might have shot Jacob?”
“No, though hardly a day has passed these twenty-eight years when I haven’t thought about it, but I have never been able to understand it.”
“Did anybody benefit from Jacob’s death?”
“It seems to me that Thórdur has done all right after getting the engineering firm for next to nothing.”
“Have you had any contact with the family since that time?”
“No, I haven’t been to Birkihlíd since he died. I met Elizabeth only once, and that was when she came to me and asked for the shares.”
“You haven’t met Jacob Junior either?”
“No.”
Halldór got up to leave, and held out his hand for the photo.
“I wonder if it’s possible to get a copy of this?” said Kristján, looking at the picture lying in his lap.
“You can probably talk to the beneficiaries about that when the investigation is over,” Halldór replied, “unless they would rather keep the existence of this train quiet. You never know.”
“I would really love to have a picture like this one,” Kristján said, handing it back. “What irks me most,” he added, “is that I have never been abroad…I have never traveled on a train.”
Diary XI
September 12, 1930. We had some very tragic news today. Our motor car went off the road on Kambar Hill and overturned. My father ended up under the car and died instantly. Hallgrímur, the shop assistant, survived, but with injuries to his head and arms. The Árnessýsla County sheriff telephoned us and then the parish pastor visited us. My mother has taken to her bed…