Майкл Ридпат - The Wanderer

‘It all depends what you call “discover”,’ said Federico.

Guido frowned. ‘But if that letter is real, it would mean that Columbus knew all about America before he went there.’

‘Er, yes,’ said Federico.

‘That would be awkward.’

‘It certainly would.’

‘Is that why the Vatican say it’s a forgery?’

Federico shrugged.

Guido raised his eyebrows. ‘So what are you going to do?’

‘There’s not much I can do. It’s up to others to decide if the letter is authentic. I’m sure if it is they will let me know. And I know nothing about the Vikings myself. My supervisor was pretty firm that I should ignore it.’

‘That’s a shame,’ said Guido.

‘That’s right. I mean, it’s not every day you discover something like this, is it? If they can prove it’s a fake, fair enough. But until then, someone should do some checking.’

Guido finished his coffee and glanced at his watch. ‘Look, I’ve got to go. But there’s a girl I know from home in Milan who is studying archaeology at Padua. She’s a real expert on the Vikings. And she’s nice; I’m sure she’d be helpful. Why don’t you get in touch with her?’

‘OK. Thanks, Guido, I might just do that.’

‘Look her up on Facebook and tell her I said you contact her. Her full name is Carlotta Mondini.’

Carlotta responded enthusiastically to Federico’s approach, and three days later she took the train from Padua to Bologna and met him at the same café. Federico was immediately taken with her: slender body, long dark hair, quick, intelligent eyes. It was hard not be flattered by her eagerness to meet him.

He had printed off the images he had taken of the letter, and had polished up his translation of the Genoese with the help of a friend. She took the copy of the letter from him eagerly, and then scanned the translation.

‘This is amazing!’ she said. ‘If this is true and Columbus knew about America all along...’

‘I know,’ said Federico. ‘ If it’s true.’

‘Have they analysed the paper?’

‘The Vatican are working on it.’

‘But you said they have determined it’s a forgery?’

‘That’s their initial opinion. And my supervisor agrees with them.’

‘And why is that?’

‘They just think it is implausible that the Icelanders could have known about America at that time. Even if some of them did travel there four hundred years before, they were just a peasant society, very poor and illiterate, and they would have forgotten it by then. That’s assuming Columbus was even able to communicate with them about it.’

Carlotta burst out laughing.

Federico couldn’t help smiling in response, but he also coloured with embarrassment. ‘What is it?’

‘That’s so typical! Nobody in this country takes the Vikings seriously.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘There are two sagas which describe the discovery of Vinland, as the Norse called America. Some of the most beautiful copies of those sagas come from the fifteenth century, which is when Columbus visited Iceland. Literacy was as high in Iceland as anywhere else in Europe at the time. So yes, the locals would certainly have known about the discovery of Vinland. And their priests would have been able to speak to Columbus in Latin.’

‘So you think Columbus did hear about Vinland?’

Carlotta paused. ‘Thinking about it, if he did visit Iceland, it’s hard to see how he couldn’t have done. What’s fascinating is the navigational descriptions in this letter about where the Vikings went in Vinland. I reread the two sagas yesterday, and this is more detailed.’

‘So you think the letter could be real?’

‘It could,’ said Carlotta. ‘Obviously if they find the paper is modern, then that would rule it out, but to discount it just because they think the Icelanders would have forgotten about Vinland in 1477 is plain wrong.’

‘Oh,’ said Federico.

‘Aren’t you excited?’ Carlotta asked.

‘Oh, yes. Yes, of course.’

‘Let me guess,’ said Carlotta. ‘Your supervisor doesn’t want you to get involved?’

Federico nodded.

‘Well, thank you for showing it to me anyway,’ Carlotta said. She pointed to the images of the letter. ‘Can I take these with me?’

‘Sure,’ said Federico. ‘I’d like you to. I think someone should take this seriously. Just keep my name out of it if you can.’

‘Did you see Carlotta again after that?’ Magnus asked

‘No. That was the only time. But she sent me a couple of emails to let me know how she was getting on.’

‘Did she authenticate the letter?’

‘She did. It turned out the paper was made in the fifteenth century in Venice. Apparently she got some experts to go to the Vatican and examine it, and they said it was real. The handwriting looked like Columbus’s, although he didn’t usually write in Genoese. I was expecting to hear a lot more about it — I was relieved when I hadn’t — until I got an email from a British TV company who are doing a documentary on a Viking woman who went to America. They wanted to interview me; I said no.’

‘Why?’

‘It’s clear my supervisor doesn’t want to know; the whole faculty doesn’t want to know. It’s a sensitive subject. And I have my career to think about.’

‘Why is it so sensitive?’ Magnus asked.

Federico shifted in his chair. ‘For us Italians, Columbus discovering America is a big deal. He might have been working for the Spanish government, but we view him as one of ours: he is one of the greatest Italians. I mean, we know he was actually looking for a route to China, and he probably didn’t realize he had discovered a new continent, but it was a great achievement. We are all proud of him from the time when we are little kids and we first hear about him at school.’

Federico was becoming animated. His body was moving, as were his hands.

‘If it turns out he actually knew about America all along from the Icelanders, it would be...’ He grimaced. ‘It would be a betrayal of all we knew. It would be a disaster.’

‘But aren’t professional historians supposed to be seeking out the truth?’

‘Oh, yes,’ said Federico. ‘Yes, certainly. And the Vatican has experts; the faculty here are experts. I am sure they are correct when they say it is a fake.’

Magnus was silent.

‘Look. The only reason I came to you was because Guido told me the poor woman has been murdered,’ said Federico. ‘I don’t want to start a battle with my own faculty.’

‘I understand,’ said Magnus. ‘Thank you for getting in touch with us.’

As Federico’s image faded from the screen, Magnus wondered whether Einar knew about Federico’s discovery. He must do. The whole TV crew must do.

Magnus needed to get to Ólafsvík.

It was two and a half hours from Reykjavík to Ólafsvík, and Magnus was glad that Vigdís was willing to do the driving. They retraced Magnus’s route of that morning north to Borgarnes, and then they took the dramatic road along the west coast through lava fields and beneath glowering mountains towards Snaefellsnes. On a clear day, Magnus could see the snow-topped peak of Snaefellsjökull floating above Faxaflói Bay from his window in police headquarters in Reykjavík. But that afternoon, the mountains that formed the spine of the peninsula were covered in thick grey cloud.

Magnus filled Vigdís in on the details of the case as they drove, and spoke to Árni on his phone for updates from Saudárkrókur. The only information of any note was that a couple of French tourists had seen a lone young woman with short, streaked blonde hair standing next to a small blue car parked in a lay-by a few kilometres east of town, looking out at the island of Drangey. They had pulled up next to her to share the view. They reckoned the time was between eight and eight-thirty on Monday evening.