the floor.”
I retrieved the camera and finished photographing the body. Then I inserted a new roll of film and shot a series of pictures of the tool collection and the hammer. As I worked, Ash quietly wandered the museum, pausing at the different displays, and eventually returned to the antique teddy bears.
She said, “Call me crazy, but I think these teddy bears are somehow involved.”
“Sweetheart, there’s no evidence that you’re insane, other than your decision to marry me.” I took a final picture of the hammer and lowered the camera. “In fact, this investigation would be dead in the water here if it weren’t for you. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
Ash took a deep breath. “Well, I’ve checked out all the exhibits in this room and, if we’re using dust as an indicator, the only things that were disturbed were the bears and the hammer. Nothing else seems to have been touched.”
“The teddy bears are worth a hefty chunk of change, but it’s pretty fur -fetched to think that three Yakuza would come halfway around the world to steal stuffed animals. Hell, their airline tickets would have cost more than the bears are worth.”
“But they didn’t steal them, even if they killed Mr. Merrit. I couldn’t understand how they might be connected, until I started thinking about that supposed antique quilt.”
Suddenly, I understood what she was suggesting. “Do you think these teddy bears are bogus?”
“It’s worth looking into. Teddy bear collecting is extremely popular in Japan. There’s even a very nice teddy museum near Tokyo.”
“Somehow, I don’t see those three mobsters as teddy bear collectors.” Then a far more obvious theory occurred to me and my jaw sagged. “But, what if some other Japanese collector, who wasn’t too particular about legalities, hired the Yakuza to come here to get a Michtom and a Bruin bear—”
“And they stole the originals and replaced them with fakes.” Ash cut in. “But Merrit saw them and tried to interfere and they killed him.”
“However, that presumes the Yakuza were able to enter the museum carrying two good-sized counterfeit teddy bears without Merrit noticing.” I glanced from the body toward the doorway leading to the foyer. “That’s possible, but not real probable.”
“Okay then, maybe they came here to steal the bears but realized they were phony.”
“How could they tell a counterfeit antique teddy bear from the genuine article? I spend more time around teddy bears than most guys and I sure couldn’t.”
Ash shrugged. “I don’t know, but we might learn a little more if I could handle them.”
“Let me take some pictures of them and the mantle and then you can examine them.” I leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. “Hey beautiful, you’re turning into one heck of a homicide detective.”
“That’s because I have an excellent instructor.”
I took some overview photos of the bears and then dragged a Shaker-style wooden chair over to the fireplace, intending to stand on it to snap some overhead shots. Or at least that was my objective, but with my bum leg you’d have thought I was making the final ascent of the Matterhorn while suffering from an acute case of vertigo. I finally had to swallow my pride and ask Ash to climb up on the chair and take the photos, which she did while I held a small flashlight at an oblique angle to bring out the marks in the dust.
Afterwards, she hopped from the chair, handed the camera back to me, and grabbed the Michtom teddy with her gloved hands. I kept quiet as she scrutinized the bear’s face and then slowly turned it to examine the seams. Next, she squeezed the teddy’s torso fairly hard and lifted the bear to sniff its tummy.
Her nose wrinkled and she said, “This is a first-class reproduction. Whoever made this did a great job artificially aging it, but there’s something you just can’t fake.”
“What’s that?”
“The smell. Most of the early teddy bears were
I retrieved the camera and finished photographing the body. Then I inserted a new roll of film and shot a series of pictures of the tool collection and the hammer. As I worked, Ash quietly wandered the museum, pausing at the different displays, and eventually returned to the antique teddy bears.
She said, “Call me crazy, but I think these teddy bears are somehow involved.”
“Sweetheart, there’s no evidence that you’re insane, other than your decision to marry me.” I took a final picture of the hammer and lowered the camera. “In fact, this investigation would be dead in the water here if it weren’t for you. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
Ash took a deep breath. “Well, I’ve checked out all the exhibits in this room and, if we’re using dust as an indicator, the only things that were disturbed were the bears and the hammer. Nothing else seems to have been touched.”
“The teddy bears are worth a hefty chunk of change, but it’s pretty fur -fetched to think that three Yakuza would come halfway around the world to steal stuffed animals. Hell, their airline tickets would have cost more than the bears are worth.”
“But they didn’t steal them, even if they killed Mr. Merrit. I couldn’t understand how they might be connected, until I started thinking about that supposed antique quilt.”
Suddenly, I understood what she was suggesting. “Do you think these teddy bears are bogus?”
“It’s worth looking into. Teddy bear collecting is extremely popular in Japan. There’s even a very nice teddy museum near Tokyo.”
“Somehow, I don’t see those three mobsters as teddy bear collectors.” Then a far more obvious theory occurred to me and my jaw sagged. “But, what if some other Japanese collector, who wasn’t too particular about legalities, hired the Yakuza to come here to get a Michtom and a Bruin bear—”
“And they stole the originals and replaced them with fakes.” Ash cut in. “But Merrit saw them and tried to interfere and they killed him.”
“However, that presumes the Yakuza were able to enter the museum carrying two good-sized counterfeit teddy bears without Merrit noticing.” I glanced from the body toward the doorway leading to the foyer. “That’s possible, but not real probable.”
“Okay then, maybe they came here to steal the bears but realized they were phony.”
“How could they tell a counterfeit antique teddy bear from the genuine article? I spend more time around teddy bears than most guys and I sure couldn’t.”
Ash shrugged. “I don’t know, but we might learn a little more if I could handle them.”
“Let me take some pictures of them and the mantle and then you can examine them.” I leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. “Hey beautiful, you’re turning into one heck of a homicide detective.”
“That’s because I have an excellent instructor.”
I took some overview photos of the bears and then dragged a Shaker-style wooden chair over to the fireplace, intending to stand on it to snap some overhead shots. Or at least that was my objective, but with my bum leg you’d have thought I was making the final ascent of the Matterhorn while suffering from an acute case of vertigo. I finally had to swallow my pride and ask Ash to climb up on the chair and take the photos, which she did while I held a small flashlight at an oblique angle to bring out the marks in the dust.
Afterwards, she hopped from the chair, handed the camera back to me, and grabbed the Michtom teddy with her gloved hands. I kept quiet as she scrutinized the bear’s face and then slowly turned it to examine the seams. Next, she squeezed the teddy’s torso fairly hard and lifted the bear to sniff its tummy.
Her nose wrinkled and she said, “This is a first-class reproduction. Whoever made this did a great job artificially aging it, but there’s something you just can’t fake.”
“What’s that?”
“The smell. Most of the early teddy bears were
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