“There is no connection between the reassignment and my brother’s death. I can assure you of that.” Matthías’s face reddened and his breathing quickened.
Halldór pressed on. “In your brother’s diaries there is an entry to the effect that you had been involved in some sort of disreputable activity in 1928, and that you had left the country as a consequence. What can you tell me about that?”
“Sir,” Matthías said. “It is now 1973, forty-five years have passed since that time. What in heaven’s name is the purpose of stirring all this up?”
“I am simply demonstrating that you cannot be trusted.”
“This is inappropriate talk,” Matthías declared.
Halldór ignored his protests and continued. “You told my associate that it was not true that you and your brother were involved in the so-called royal affair. We have, however, found unequivocal confirmation of this involvement in your brother’s diaries.”
Matthías was quiet for a while, and then said, “So now you know. So what? Will I be charged with treason? Hardly. The only thing that can come out of this is cheap tittle-tattle that will make money for unscrupulous gossip writers, who will distort the story and misrepresent it, and a family name that would otherwise soon disappear from history will become synonymous with some fantasy of treason and dark deeds. High ideals and the struggle to bring them to reality would be made to appear absurd and ridiculous. I think it is in our nation’s interest to keep this quiet. Mark my words, mister policeman!”
Halldór sighed and then looked down at his list. There was nothing left to address, so he stood up and beckoned Egill to accompany him outside.
“What do you think?” he asked when they were out in the corridor.
“We’ll have to do a search of his home. Maybe we’ll find the gun,” Egill replied.
“Yes, possibly.”
“Let’s lock him up in Sídumúli in the meantime so he can think things over. We’ll talk to him again this evening and see what he’s got to say then,” Egill suggested.
“Do you think that’s necessary?”
“It’s bound to work. Guys like him start to talk when they see the inside of a jail.”
Halldór mulled this over. He was very disappointed in Matthías; he had begun to like the man, and now he turns out to be nothing but a liar and a homosexual. It was impossible to distinguish truth from falsehood in his testimony. Egill was right: they had to search for the weapon in Matthías’s home, and it wouldn’t hurt to demonstrate the seriousness of their intentions.
“All right then, but treat him gently,” Halldór warned and then added, “Take Marteinn along with you.”
Diary XVI
July 14, 1938. Matthías met us on the quay here in Hamburg, and we proceeded directly to the railroad station. We are waiting to set off for Berlin…
July 15, 1938. Arrived in Berlin (Anhalter Bahnhof), early this morning. Went to the hotel and then to a meeting with Birgir Valdal. He invited us to supper in a restaurant called Die Grüne Traube on Kurfürstendamm. Birgir has arranged interviews with three aristocrats of this country, men he feels are suitable candidates for kingship…
July 16, 1938. Everything is in place regarding the setting up of Isländische Bahn AG. Helmut Klee arranged for an attorney to finalize the documents, and they are now ready for signing. Matthías, as a resident of this country, will sit on the board on my behalf. He had been planning to move to America, but I have prevailed upon him to put those plans on hold and he has agreed…
July 20, 1938. Living conditions here in Germany seem, at first glance, to have improved a great deal since the last time I was here. Mortality rates among children and adolescents have fallen within a short period, and are now lower than in England. Tuberculosis and other diseases are much less prevalent. Judges have never had so little work, and there have never been so few prisoners in jails. It is a pleasure seeing young people looking so sturdy and healthy. The poor are now better dressed than ever before and their faces reflect an attitude change…
July 21, 1938. Birgir Valdal took us to see Herr von Kuppel. He is a high-ranking official in the Department of the Interior and was very agreeable, a tall and handsome man. His wife is of an Austrian noble family and they have three children, two sons and one daughter. He knew of our business and received us warmly. He is prepared to go to Iceland and introduce himself. This could happen as soon as next summer. He invited us to a Youth League rally tomorrow…