The Draining Lake Read online

  'Why was he a broken man?'

  'Because she disappeared,' Hannes said. 'Ilona was arrested in Leipzig and never seen again. He was totally destroyed by it. He told me Ilona was pregnant when she went missing. Told me with tears in his eyes.'

  'And he came to see you again later?' Erlendur asked.

  'That was quite strange actually. Him coming after all those years to reminisce. I'd forgotten the whole business really, but it was obvious that Tómas had forgotten nothing. He remembered it all. Every detail, as if it had happened yesterday.'

  'What did he want?' Elínborg said.

  'He was asking me about Emil,' Hannes said. 'If he'd worked for Lothar. If they'd been in close contact. I don't know why he wanted to know, but I told him I had proof that Emil needed to get into Lothar's good books.'

  'What kind of proof?' Elínborg asked.

  'Emil was a hopeless student. He didn't really belong at university, but he was a good socialist. Everything we said went straight to Lothar, and Lothar made sure that Emil received a good grant and good marks. Tómas and Emil were good friends.'

  'What proof did you have?' Elínborg repeated.

  'My engineering professor told me when I said goodbye to him. After I was expelled. He was hurt that I wasn't allowed to finish the course. All the teaching staff talked about it, he said. The teachers disliked students like Emil, but couldn't do a thing. They didn't all like Lothar and his ilk, either. The professor said that Emil must have been valuable to Lothar, because there was hardly a worse student around, but Lothar ordered the university authorities not to fail him. The FDJ sanctioned the move and Lothar was behind it.'

  Hannes paused.

  'Emil was the staunchest of us all,' he said after a while. 'A hardline communist and Stalinist.'

  'Why . . .' Erlendur began, but Hannes continued as if his mind were elsewhere.

  'It was all such a shock,' he said, staring ahead. 'The whole system. We witnessed absolute dictatorship by the party, fear and repression. Some tried to tell the party members here about it when they got back, but made no headway. I always felt that the socialism they practised in East Germany was a kind of sequel to Nazism. This time they were under the Russian heel, of course, but I pretty quickly got the feeling that socialism in East Germany was essentially just another kind of Nazism.'

  30

  Hannes cleared his throat and looked at them. They could both tell that he found it difficult to talk about his student days. He did not appear to be in the habit of recalling his Leipzig years. Erlendur had forced him to sit down and open up.

  'Is there anything else you need to know?' Hannes asked.

  'So Tómas turns up years after he left Leipzig and asks you about Emil and Lothar, and you tell him you have proof that they were operating together,' Erlendur said. 'Emil performed for him the important task of monitoring and informing on the students.'

  'Yes,' Hannes said.

  'Why was Tómas asking about Emil, and who is Emil?'

  'He didn't tell me why and I know very little about Emil. The last I heard, he was living abroad. I think he did ever since we studied in Germany. He never moved back as far as I know. I met one of the students from Leipzig a few years ago, Karl. We were both travelling in Skaftafell and we started talking about the old days, and he said he thought Emil had decided to settle abroad after university. He hadn't seen or heard of him since.'

  'But Tómas, do you know anything about him?' Erlendur asked.

  'Not really. He did engineering at Leipzig but I'm not aware that he worked in the field. He was expelled. I only met him once when he got back from Germany, that one time he came to ask about Emil.'

  'Tell us about it,' Elínborg said.

  'There's not much to tell. He dropped in and we reminisced about the old days.'

  'Why was he interested in Emil?' Erlendur asked.

  Hannes looked at them again.

  'I should make some more coffee,' he said and stood up.

  Hannes told them how he had been living in a new townhouse in the Vogar district of Reykjavík at the time. One evening the doorbell rang. When he opened it Tómas was standing on the steps. It was autumn and the weather was rough, the wind shook the trees in the garden and sheets of rain lashed against the house. Hannes did not recognise the visitor at first and was taken aback when he realised it was Tómas. He was so astonished that it did not occur to him at first to invite him in out of the rain.

  'Sorry to disturb you like this,' Tómas said.

  'No, it's fine,' Hannes said. Then he realised: 'What awful weather. Come on in, come on.'

  Tómas took off his coat and greeted Hannes's wife; their children came out to look at the guest and he smiled at them. Hannes had a small study in the basement and when they had finished their coffee and chatted about the weather he invited Tómas down. He sensed that Tómas was ill at ease, that something was preying on him. He was jumpy and a little awkward about having called on people he really did not know at all. They had not been friends in Leipzig. Hannes's wife had never heard Tómas's name mentioned.

  When they had settled down in the basement they reminisced about their Leipzig years for a while; between them they knew where some of the students were now, but not others. Hannes sensed how Tómas was inching towards the purpose of his visit, and he thought to himself that he would have liked him if he'd known him better. He remembered the first time he saw him at the university library. Recalled the impression of polite bashfulness that he gave.

  Well aware of Ilona's disappearance, he remembered the previous time Tómas had visited him, just back from East Germany and a changed man, to tell him what had happened. He felt nothing but pity for Tómas. He had sent him a message written in a moment of anger, blaming him for his expulsion from Leipzig. But when his rage had died down and he was back in Iceland he realised that it was not Tómas's fault, but as much his own for defying the system. Tómas mentioned the note and said it was preying on his mind. He told him to forget it, that it had been written in a fit of pique and did not represent the truth. They were fully reconciled. Tómas told him he had contacted the party leaders about Ilona and they had promised to make inquiries in East Germany. He was severely reproached for being expelled, for abusing his position and the trust he had been shown. Tómas had admitted to it all, he said, and repented. He told them whatever they wanted to hear. His sole aim was to help Ilona. It was all in vain.

  Tómas mentioned the rumour that Ilona and Hannes had been going out together at one time and that Ilona wanted to marry in order to leave the country. Hannes said that was news to him. He had been to a few meetings and seen Ilona there, then given up all involvement in politics.

  And now Tómas was sitting there again, in his home. It was twelve years since they had last faced each other. He had begun talking about Lothar and finally seemed to be getting to the point.

  'I wanted to ask you about Emil,' Tómas said. 'You know we were good friends in Germany.'

  'Yes, I knew,' he said.

  'Could Emil have, say, had a special connection with Lothar?'

  He nodded. Although he disliked maligning people, he was no friend of Emil's and felt he understood what sort of character he was. Hannes repeated the professor's words about Emil and Lothar. How it confirmed his suspicions. That Emil had been actively engaged in interactive surveillance and had benefited from his loyalty to the student organisation and the party.

  'Do you ever wonder if Emil played a part in your expulsion?' Tómas asked.

  'That's impossible to say. Anyone could have grassed on me to the FDJ – more than one person, more than two. I blamed you, as you remember. I wrote you that note. It gets so complicated talking to people when you don't know what you're allowed to say. But I haven't been dwelling on it. It's over and done with long ago. Buried and forgotten.'

  'Did you know that Lothar is in Iceland?' Tómas suddenly asked.

  'Lothar? In Iceland? No, I didn't.'

  'He's involved with the East
German embassy, some kind of official there. I met him by chance – actually I didn't meet him, I saw him. He was on his way to the embassy. I was walking down Aegisída. I live in the west of town. He didn't notice me. I was some way off but it was him, large as life. I accused him back in Leipzig of being involved in Ilona's disappearance and he said to me: "Take a closer look." But I didn't understand what he meant. I think I understand now.'

  They stopped talking.

  He looked at Tómas and could tell how helpless and alone in the world his former fellow student was, and wanted to do something for him.

  'If I can help you with . . . you know, if I can do anything for you . . .'

  'Did the professor say that Emil was operating with Lothar and gained from it?'

  'Yes.'

  'Do you know what became of Emil?'

  'Isn't he living abroad? I don't think he came back when he graduated.'

  They fell silent again for a while.

  'That story about me and Ilona, who told you it?' Hannes asked.

  'Lothar,' Tómas said.

  Hannes was unsure how to proceed.

  'I don't know whether I should tell you this,' he said eventually, 'but I heard something else just before I left. You were so upset when you got back from Germany and I didn't want to spread gossip. There's plenty of that anyway. But I was told Emil had been trying to get off with Ilona before you started going out together.'

  Tómas stared at him.

  'That's what I heard,' Hannes said, seeing Tómas turn pale at the news. 'There's not necessarily any truth in it.'

  'Are you saying they went out together before I . . . ?'

  'No, more that he was trying. He used to snoop around her, did voluntary work with her and . . .'

  'Emil and Ilona?' Tómas groaned in disbelief, as if unable to grasp the idea.

  'He was only trying, that was all I heard,' Hannes hurried to say, immediately regretting his words. He could tell from Tómas's expression that he should never have mentioned it.

  'Who told you this?' Tómas asked.

  'I don't remember and it needn't be true.'

  'Emil and Ilona? She didn't fancy him?'

  'Not at all,' Hannes said. 'That was what I heard. She wasn't interested in him. But Emil was hurt.'

  They paused.

  'Ilona never mentioned this to you?'

  'No,' Tómas said. 'She never did.'

  'Then he left,' Hannes said, looking at Erlendur and Elínborg. 'I haven't seen him since and actually I have no idea whether he's dead or alive.'

  'That must have been a nasty experience for you in Leipzig,' Erlendur said.

  'The worst things were being spied on and the endless suspicion. But it was a good place to be in many ways. Maybe we weren't all happy to see the glorious face of socialism up close but most of us tried to live with the drawbacks. Some of us found it easier than others. In terms of education it was a model institution. The overwhelming majority of students were the children of farmers and workers. Has that happened anywhere before or since?'

  'Why did Tómas turn up after all those years and ask you about Emil?' Elínborg said. 'Do you think he went on to meet Emil again?'

  'I don't know,' Hannes said. 'He never told me.'

  'This girl Ilona,' Erlendur said, 'is anything known about her?'

  'I don't think so. Times were strange because of Hungary, where everything later erupted. They weren't going to let that happen in other communist countries. There was no leeway for exchanging views, for criticism or debate. I don't think anyone knows what became of Ilona. Tómas never found out. I don't think so anyway, although it's not really anything to do with me. Nor is that period in my life. I put it behind me a long while ago and I don't like talking about it. They were awful times. Awful.'

  'Who told you about Emil and Ilona?' Elínborg asked.

  'His name's Karl,' Hannes said.

  'Karl?' Elínborg said.

  'Yes,' Hannes said.

  'Was he in Leipzig too?' she asked.

  Hannes nodded.

  'Do you know of any Icelanders who could have been in possession of such a thing as a Russian listening device in the 1960s?' Erlendur asked. 'Who could have been dabbling in espionage?'

  'A Russian listening device?'

  'Yes, I can't go into details but does anyone occur to you?'

  'Well, if Lothar was an attaché to the embassy he would be a candidate,' Hannes said. 'I can't imagine that . . . are you . . . you're not talking about an Icelandic spy, are you?'

  'No, I think that would be bizarre,' Erlendur said.

  'Like I say, I'm just not in the picture. I've hardly had any contact with the group from Leipzig. I don't know anything about Russian spying.'

  'You wouldn't happen to have a photograph of Lothar Weiser, would you?' Erlendur asked.

  'No,' Hannes said. 'I don't have many mementoes from those years.'

  'Emil seems to have been a secretive character,' Elínborg said.

  'That may well be. As I told you, I think he's lived abroad all his life. Actually I . . . the last time I saw him . . . was after Tómas paid me that weird visit. I saw Emil in the centre of Reykjavík. I hadn't seen him since Leipzig and I only caught a glimpse, but I'm sure it was Emil. But as I say, I don't know anything else about the man.'

  'So you didn't talk to him?' Elínborg asked.

  'Talk to him? No, I couldn't. He got into a car and drove away. I only saw him for a split second, but it was definitely him. I remember it because of the shock of suddenly recognising him.'

  'Do you remember what kind of car it was?' Erlendur asked.

  'What kind?'

  'The model, colour?'

  'It was black,' Hannes said. 'I don't know anything about cars. But I remember it was black.'

  'Could it have been a Ford?'

  'I don't know.'

  'A Ford Falcon?'

  'Like I said, I only remember it being black.'

  31

  He put the pen down on the desk. In his account of the events in Leipzig and later in Iceland, he had tried to be as clear and succinct as possible. It ran to more than seventy carefully written pages which had taken him several days to produce, and he had still not finished the conclusion. He had made up his mind. He was reconciled to what he was going to do.

  He had reached the point in his narrative where he was walking along Aegisída and saw Lothar Weiser approach one of the houses. Although he had not seen Lothar for years, he recognised him at once. With age Lothar had put on weight and now walked with more of a plod; he did not notice the onlooker. Tómas had stopped dead and stared at Lothar in astonishment. Once the surprise wore off, his first reaction was to keep out of sight, so he half-turned away and very slowly retraced his steps. He watched Lothar go through the gate, shut it carefully behind him and disappear behind the house. He presumed that the German had gone in through the back door. He noticed a sign saying 'The Trade Delegation of the German Democratic Republic'.

  Standing outside on the pavement, he stared at the house, transfixed. It was lunchtime and he had gone out for a stroll in the good weather. Normally he would use his lunch break for an hour at home. He worked for an insurance company in the town centre. He had been there for two years and enjoyed his job insuring families against setbacks. With a glance at his watch he realised he was due back.