Read Skull Session for Free Online Page B

course, I've heard bits and pieces from Kay."
    He hesitated, remembering Aster's warning. "Well, there isn't that much to tell. I was a self-employed carpenter and furniture maker for twelve years. Three years ago I went back to school for a master's in education. Married, divorced. Now I'm with a woman I met at Dartmouth."
    "Education! Well—a noble calling. And your health is good? You're happy?"
    "Yes, I'm very happy."
    "I take it you've recovered from those neurological problems you had when you were a boy?"
    "The early stuff went away. The Tourette's is still with me. But I've learned to live with it. Not a major problem."
    "That's good. I remember how hard Ben used to work with you. He was such a devoted father. And now you're a father yourself. I understand you have a son—is he a good boy? Healthy? None of those troubles you had?"
    He hedged: "There is a genetic factor, an inherited predisposition, but Mark hasn't shown any symptoms." Not of Tourette's anyway.
    Mark's condition wasn't anybody's business but his parents'—he'd be damned if he was going to elaborate for the sake of Vivien's morbid curiosity.
    "Well, I'm sure the family is very glad." Vivien's voice had a smile in it, as if his hesitation had revealed something to her.
    "What about you? I'm amazed to hear you're in San Francisco."
    "No more than myself, I assure you. Every day I am astonished to find myself here. I'm living in a hotel now, a lovely suite. Everything is so convenient, after Highwood. It's quite delightful, Paulie. Or perhaps you'd like me to call you Paul, now that you're grown up?"
    "Either one. Family calls me Paulie, everyone else Paul."
    "Which leaves me to decide just how 'family' you and I are. You're very clever. Tell me—do you take after your mother or your father? Did you get the Skoglund nose?"
    "After my mother, I guess." She'd turned the questions around again, revealing nothing of herself. He felt the familiar pressure building. He camouflaged a bark by turning it into a cough.
    "Well, you're lucky. Your mother's a very handsome woman. How I envied her figure—those nice delicate bones. And me built like a Morgan horse."
    It was true. Vivien was one of those disconcertingly large women, nearly six feet tall, like the women you saw in photos of the more obscure branches of the British royal family—the large-boned, patrician, fox-hunting type, that tribe of lady big-game hunters, aviatrixes, Channel swimmers. Even as a child, he'd noticed how dissimilar the half sisters were, in size as well as temperament. He hadn't been surprised when his mother explained that they had had different mothers.
    "Anyway—" he said.
    "Time for business? Very well. I take it Kay has explained my predicament."
    "She said the house had been broken into and that there was some vandalism, yes."
    "The Lewisboro police called me. I understand there are windows broken, and perhaps some things taken." For the first time, her voice showed signs of sincere concern. "And I left everything I own at the house. You see, my California adventure was just going to be a vacation. Then I fell in love with it here, and I simply haven't had the time or energy it takes to go pack the place up."
    "So why not have Dempsey do it?"
    "Among other reasons, dear Dempsey is too old. Also, I'd feel better if a family member helped me with this." She paused and then continued as if choosing her words carefully: "You see, Paulie, I did leave everything there. My family photos, papers, financial records. Private things. And valuable things, as you may recall. Obviously, I need someone I can . . . trust to help me. People one can trust seem to be in increasingly scarce supply."
    Paul went back upstairs. On the surface, the conversation with Vivien had gone well. She'd been more than receptive to his working on the place and hadn't blinked at his fee. He'd agreed to go down on Wednesday, when Lia had the day off, so the whole deal could commence almost immediately.
    He'd get