2012 #2
Helgi leaned forwards over the table. This felt almost like being in one of Elín’s novels, in a plot she had spun.
‘What condition?’ he asked eagerly.
‘The interview wasn’t to appear until after her death.’
‘OK.’
‘That’s why I asked if the police believed she was dead when we met…
because of the interview, not the inheritance.
It took me a while to assimilate what had happened.
And I had to do a lot of thinking before coming here today.
I didn’t want to break trust. You have to tread carefully when it comes to sources, even in a case like this which doesn’t involve anonymity so much as a rather unusual condition.
I wasn’t at all sure I ought to discuss it with you, but in the end I felt it was the right thing to do.
I could hardly sleep last night I’ve been so worried.
The interview has been preying on my mind ever since you told me yesterday that Elín had gone missing. ’
‘Thank you for coming in, Kristín. I appreciate it. Finding Elín is our priority, but, to be blunt, I’m afraid she may be dead.’
The uncharitable thought occurred to Helgi that choosing this moment to break confidentiality would suit Kristín very well if, as a result, the police could confirm that Elín was dead.
First, though, he wanted to know if there had been anything potentially enlightening in the interview, assuming she was going to let him read it.
‘When she talked to you, did she reveal anything startling or of particular interest? I mean, can you understand what would have prompted her to make such an odd request?’
As he spoke, he became aware of the rain again. Far from letting up, it sounded as if it was intensifying.
‘Yes. She was very frank about a number of things. For example, she told me she was writing another series, under the pseudonym Marteinn Einarsson.’
‘Ah, yes.’
‘You don’t seem surprised. I thought it was a well-kept secret?’
‘I suppose that’s now’ – Helgi paused to count – ‘a total of maybe seven people who are in the know.’
‘I haven’t said a word to anyone, but I’ve always bought the books when they came out. Great stories, though quite different from the old series.’
‘Of course, that could be the explanation…’
‘Of what?’ Kristín asked.
‘The reason why she didn’t want the interview to be published in her lifetime.’
‘Well, possibly, but I don’t think so. Because that wasn’t the biggest secret.’
‘Oh?’
‘Yes. You see, she dropped a complete bombshell at the end. I’m sure that’s why she wanted to delay publication. Some secrets are too explosive to reveal.’
‘Can you tell me in spite of that? At least give me a brief account of what she said. Or let me read the interview for myself?’
‘I haven’t transcribed it; I never got round to that.
There didn’t seem to be any point, since Elín was still going strong.
’ Kristín sighed. ‘I have to admit that it’s been weighing on my mind.
I’m not sure Elín fully appreciated how hard it is to carry around a timebomb like that year after year, my thoughts constantly coming back to her.
I’ve taken great care of the recording. When she originally offered me the interview, I thought maybe she was ill, even dying, but clearly that wasn’t the case.
She just rang me out of the blue, then proceeded to tell me her life story, pretty much.
She was an unusual person. But she made an impression on me and I found myself sympathizing with her.
A great subject for a feature interview, that’s what I remember thinking at the time.
And I’ve often thought about her since then but never got round to picking up the phone. ’
‘It’s often the way.’
‘I regret it now, though – God, how I regret it. If she is dead…’
‘Don’t feel too bad, Kristín. I very much doubt she was waiting for a phone call from you. You kept her secret for her and—’
Kristín shook her head and, to his surprise, Helgi noticed a tear trickling down her cheek.
When she didn’t say anything, he seized the chance to ask: ‘Can I listen to the recording?’
Kristín nodded.
‘Yes, I was intending to let you hear it.’
‘Thanks,’ he said, and waited. He mustn’t give her the idea that he was putting pressure on her. It seemed the recording might hold some answers, but Kristín was clearly distressed by the situation and he didn’t want to risk frightening her off.
‘I listened to it myself yesterday evening, after you came to see me at the studio,’ she said at last. ‘I hadn’t heard it for years, though the conversation had stayed with me.
I felt as though I remembered some of what she’d said word for word, but maybe it wasn’t always like that.
I’ve got it here in my bag. The cassette player and the tape. ’
‘OK.’
‘But there was something else I wanted to talk to you about first, if that’s all right?’
‘Sure.’
‘As you can imagine, I’ve been going over and over this in my head, Helgi. You talked about a lot of money, and even her house too. It’s completely over the top, such a mad thing for her to have done.’
‘Yes.’
‘Anyway, as I said, I went back and listened to the tape. Then I read up on Elín again. Found some old interviews. There were no real clues there. You see, I’d spotted – or at least I believed I’d spotted – certain clues in my conversation with Elín. And I had to follow them up…’
She was silent for a long moment. Helgi didn’t say a word, just tuned in to the drumming of the rain.
Finally, Kristín continued: ‘I needed a little time to pluck up my courage.’ She laughed and wiped the tear from her cheek. ‘There I was, an adult, too afraid to confront the truth. Ridiculous.’
Helgi gave her an encouraging smile.
‘That’s nothing to be ashamed of. It must require quite an adjustment, learning about an inheritance like that, the whole thing so—’
She interrupted him, as if she wasn’t even listening: ‘ You never asked. ’
Helgi opened his mouth to say something, but Kristín went on:
‘ You never asked. That’s what my parents said to me when I went to see them early this morning.
And they also said they’d promised never to tell.
The whole thing was meant to be kept quiet.
But it’s not as important now, and we can’t stay silent for ever , my dad said to me.
Or something like that. I don’t remember the exact words, but then I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything as shattering as this morning’s revelations. ’
‘You don’t mean…’
Kristín nodded.
‘Yes. They say I’m adopted.’ Another tear began to slide down her cheek. ‘Mum and Dad. Now they tell me. I don’t think they ever would have let on if I hadn’t asked.’
‘So you believe Elín’s your mother?’
‘I know for a fact she is. They told me. They’ve known all these years.’
‘That must have been quite a shock,’ Helgi said, and then it dawned on him why Kristín had appeared so familiar the first time he saw her. She reminded him, quite simply, of Elín.
‘You can say that all right. And I don’t know if I’ll ever get a chance to meet her again…
All I have is that interview, nothing else…
I don’t understand why she didn’t say anything, why she didn’t get in touch.
Though apparently she’d promised my parents never to tell me – that was the condition they made.
They wanted to decide for themselves when and if they should break it to me.
Like I say, I don’t think it would ever have happened if I hadn’t demanded an answer. ’
‘Well, with any luck, Elín’s OK. I’m confident that you’ll still have a chance to see her again,’ Helgi said, against his better instincts.
Kristín shrugged.
‘Did they say anything about… your father?’ he asked, conscious of how delicate a subject this was.
‘Could we open a window?’ Kristín asked abruptly.
‘Sure.’ Helgi rose to his feet and let in some fresh air. The soothingly monotonous sound of the rain carried into the room, bringing with it a strange sense of peace.
‘They don’t know,’ Kristín said after a moment.
‘Haven’t a clue. Elín didn’t tell them, and I doubt I’ll ever find out now.
Except maybe through a DNA test, I suppose.
But I don’t even know where to start looking.
’ She leaned forward, burying her face in her hands.
‘I just feel completely lost. Like Elín.’
‘Should we maybe listen to the recording now?’ Helgi asked.
His thoughts were racing. He would have a lot of decisions to make after this conversation was over.
Like whether to reveal Elín’s secret to her friends.
Unless they were already aware of the existence of a child?
And who the hell was Kristín’s father? Two men immediately sprang to mind: Thor and Baldur the lawyer.
The list of possibilities might be much longer, though.
Chances were it was someone Helgi had never heard of.
‘She went to ísafjordur,’ Kristín said, as if she hadn’t heard his question. ‘She referred to the fact in our interview. She was there for just over a year, teaching at the school. So I must have been born there: the timing appears to be right.’
Rut had told Helgi about Elín’s sojourn in the West Fjords, about her disappearing act.
She had gone to ísafjordur – to have a baby, as Helgi now knew.
After all, she had been unmarried and times had been different then, but, even so, Helgi found it hard to understand why she had decided to go into hiding and conceal her pregnancy like that.
Certainly, none of her friends had said a word to him about Elín being pregnant while at university. Perhaps she hadn’t let on to a soul.
One riddle had been solved, but this had only resulted in another.
It seemed that Elín’s life was like that: one big conundrum.
‘I’ve never been there,’ Kristín said. ‘To ísafjordur. Elín asked me if I had, all the time aware that I’d been born and spent my first weeks of life there. It was clever of her to invite me to take that interview with her. It’s so obvious that she wanted to get to know me, don’t you think?’
‘Yes,’ Helgi said consolingly. ‘Quite obvious. She gets to meet you and tell you her life story, then puts you in her will. I’m guessing she must have thought about you a lot. And still does. Hopefully.’
Kristín smiled.
‘Shall we listen to it?’
She reached for her bag and took out a battered cassette player.
‘Luckily, it still works. But I need to make a copy, to be on the safe side.’
‘We can do that for you,’ Helgi said gently. He had no intention of letting her take the recording off the premises, especially if there was something on it that could shed light on Elín’s whereabouts.
‘Yes, maybe. Obviously, I need to have a copy of the interview.’ After a moment, she added: ‘And if she’s dead, I’ll have to publish it, as she asked. I can’t let her down.’
Helgi hadn’t thought that far. No doubt he could withhold the recording if necessary, in spite of any objections Kristín might make, but he could hardly prevent the interview from appearing in the press, sooner or later. But maybe that wouldn’t hurt.
‘Here it is.’
She pressed a button and turned up the volume. The hissing of the tape was in perfect harmony with the noise of the rain outside.