This sounds like good material for a novel…
Then one morning it happened. A bank robbery in broad daylight. The country was in shock.
Wait a minute, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard about that.
Maybe not, no. After all, this was before you were born, but people had never experienced anything like it, not in quiet little Iceland.
There must surely have been bank robberies in the past?
Not many armed robberies, not in those days. And that wasn’t all: one of the bank staff died.
Oh, I see. That’s terrible.
Things went dreadfully wrong. A victimless crime, they’d said. But a brave cashier – maybe he was a security guard too – tried to resist them and a shot was fired.
Wait, you knew about this…?
Yes, I knew about it, not precisely when it was supposed to happen, but I knew about the preparations and of course I knew the names of the bank robbers. The name of the killer. But I didn’t say anything. Remember what I said just now: when do we stop standing by our friends? What do you say to that, Kristín?
Weren’t they ever caught?
One of the robbers was caught, yes. But only one. He was sentenced to prison for murder; he got sixteen years.
What’s his name?
His name was Einar. He was a good friend of mine, a sweet boy, from a hard-up family. Like me, he meant to become a lawyer. He was a good student. Perhaps he was led astray by the money… as if it could ever pay to rob a bank.
Is he dead?
Yes, he died a long time ago.
What happened? Did he serve his full sentence?
He served ten and a half years, or thereabouts. Then he was released on parole. You know, I never went to visithim in prison. I didn’t dare, didn’t want to get involved. I had long ago given up my law studies; I couldn’t continue – for various reasons, including this. I was afraid. I wanted to try and live my life in peace without being implicated, even indirectly, in a bank robbery and murder. I just wanted to forget about it, but of course it’s been preying on my mind ever since. I didn’t do anything wrong except keep quiet. But sometimes that’s a big enough sin on its own.
What happened to Einar?
He just wasted away in prison. He couldn’t take it. I’m told his health gradually broke down. Yet he survived long enough to walk free for a brief time, only to die shortly afterwards. There was no single reason, it was the whole situation. I didn’t have the courage to visit him even when he got out of prison, I kept putting it off…
Didn’t he ever reveal his accomplice’s identity?
Never said a word. Friends stand by one another, you see. He was unlucky; the police caught him. I suppose he must have known his life was ruined, but he didn’twant to wreck anyone else’s. I think I can understand that. He might have received a more lenient sentence, though he’d always have had to do a long, long stint inside. Still, a shorter sentence might have saved his life. Because who would be able to cope with the prospect of being locked up for sixteen years?
What about you, Elín? If you don’t mind my asking… why did you never speak up?
I’ve often wondered that. I think there were a lot of reasons. They were my friends, my best friends, and, to be honest, I wasn’t sure it was my job to report them. I hadn’t done anything wrong, I’d only heard about their plans and hadn’t taken them seriously, but when it was all over, of course I knew what had happened. What would you have done? Should I have rung the police and sent my friends to prison? The poor cashier was already dead. It was too late to save anyone’s life. But as the years wore on I came to the realization that I couldn’t take a secret like that to my grave. Perhaps I should have written about it in fictionalized form, but that didn’t seem appropriate. My books are an outlet for my imagination, my creativity and artistictalents, whereas what had happened was all too real.
But it’s all right for me to tell people about this in the interview?
Yes, when the time comes. I trust you to do justice to the story. The truth needs to come out.
Your friend, Einar, who was arrested and died. Wasn’t he guilty?
Yes, certainly, he was involved. But it wasn’t his idea. And I know he didn’t fire the gun.
But wasn’t he convicted for that?
Yes, and he never pointed the finger at anyone else. Maybe I should have intervened at that stage, but I didn’t have any proof, only the testimony of my friends about what had happened. Einar committed armed robbery, but he didn’t kill anyone.
