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"It's too early in the day for a man in his sixties to partake of heavy spirits. I'd doze away the afternoon."
"Where is this second obsidian skull you mentioned?"
"In Fredericksburg."
"I assumed that."
"It belongs to a very nice ol
d lady by the name of Christine Mender-Husted. Her great-grandmother obtained the skull when her husband's whaling ship was trapped in winter ice in Antarctica. A gripping story. According to family history, Roxanna Mender became lost on the ice pack one day. When her husband, Captain Bradford Mender, master of the whaler Paloverde, and his crew rescued her, they discovered a derelict English East Indiaman sailing ship. Intrigued, they boarded and searched the ship, finding dead crew and passengers. In a storeroom, they found a black obsidian skull and other strange objects, which they had to leave behind because the ice pack began to break up and they had to rush back to their ship."
"Did they save the black skull?"
Perlmutter nodded. "Yes, Roxanna herself carried it off the derelict ship. It's been a family heirloom ever since."
Pitt stared idly through the window of the Rolls at the green, rolling countryside of Virginia. "Even if the two skulls are identical, without markings they tell us nothing of who created them or why."
"Comparing the skulls is not why I set up an appointment to meet with Mrs. Mender-Rusted."
"So what's your scheme?"
"For ten years I've been trying to buy the Mender family letters pertaining to Captain Mender's whaling days. Included are the logbooks of the ships he served aboard. But the piece de resistance of the collection, the object I'd give my few remaining teeth to get in my hands, is the log of the derelict they found in the ice."
"The Mender family has it?" Pitt asked, his curiosity rising.
"My understanding is that Captain Mender took it when they made their dash across the ice pack."
"Then you have an ulterior motive for this trip."
Perlmutter smiled like a fox. "I'm hoping that when Mrs. Mender-Husted sees your skull, she might relent and sell me hers along with the family archival collection."
"Don't you feel ashamed when you look at yourself in the mirror?"
"Yes." Perlmutter laughed diabolically. "But it soon passes."
"Is there any indication in the derelict ship's log where the skull came from?"
Perlmutter shook his head. "I've never read it. Mender-Husted keeps it locked away."
Several seconds passed, Pitt lost in his thoughts. He couldn't help wondering how many other obsidian skulls were hidden around the world.
Moving silently along at the posted speed, the Rolls-Royce made the trip to Fredericksburg in an hour and a half. Mulholland steered the majestic car onto a circular drive that led to a picturesque colonial house on the heights of the town above the Rappahannock River, overlooking the killing field where 12,500 Union soldiers fell during one day in the Civil War. The house, built in 1848, was a gracious reminder of the past.
"Well, here we are," said Perlmutter, as Mulholland opened the door.
Pitt went around to the rear of the car, raised the trunk lid, and lifted out the crate containing the skull.
"This should prove interesting," he said, as they walked up the steps and pulled a cord that rang a bell.
Christine Mender-Husted could have passed for anyone's grandmother. She was as spry as they came, white-haired, with a hospitable smile, angelic facial features, and twenty pounds on the plump side.
Her movements came as quick as her sparkling hazel eyes. She greeted Perlmutter with a firm handshake and nodded when he introduced his friend.
"Please come right in," she said sweetly. "I've been expecting you. May I offer you some tea?"
Both men accepted and were led to a high-ceilinged, paneled library and motioned to sit in comfortable leather chairs. After a young girl, who was introduced as a neighbor's daughter who helped out around the house, served the tea, Christine turned to Perlmutter.
"Well, St. Julien, as I told you over the phone, I'm still not ready to sell my family's treasures."
