stuffed with excelsior.”
“Sort of a wood fiber, right?”
“Right.” She sniffed the bear again. “Old excelsior stuffing gives antique bears a very distinctive aroma and this one doesn’t smell as it should.”
“Well, of course not. It has an embroidered nose, so it doesn’t have any nostrils. It can’t smell at all.”
“Brad.”
“Okay, I’m focusing. That one doesn’t smell like an old bear.”
“No. As a matter of fact, it doesn’t really have an odor at all, which tells me the artist used new excelsior.” She handed me the bear. “See?”
I’d just buried my nose in the bear’s torso to take a big sniff when Tina came back into the museum, carrying the new broom and dustpan.
Cocking an eyebrow at me, Tina said, “I’m not interrupting anything here, am I?”
“Behave. This may look strange—”
“Just a little.”
“But it’s actually vital to the investigation.”
“If you say so.”
“Really, Tina, this is very important.” Ash took the Bruin bear down from the mantle and gave it a sniff. “I’m pretty certain both these bears are counterfeit. One of the best ways you can tell is by the smell.”
“Counterfeit teddy bears? You’re kidding.”
I said, “Nope. Antiques are big money and crooks will counterfeit anything these days, including toys.”
“But what does this have to do with the murder?”
“Maybe nothing,” said Ash. “But somebody did move them recently and a fanatical bear collector would pay a lot of money for these teddies.”
“So it’s possible the Yakuza were hired to come here to steal them.” I added. “Merrit objected and he ended up dead. It isn’t a perfect theory, but it’s the only motive we’ve got for now.”
“But if the bears are fakes, how’d they end up in the museum?”
“I don’t know, and we can’t ask him.” I glanced over my shoulder at Merrit. “So, that’s something we’re going to have to look for in the acquisition records when we search Merrit’s office, which is our next stop once we finish here.”
“Well, I hope you have better luck in there than I just had with the FBI.”
“Trouble with the vaunted Bureau? I’m utterly shocked.” Like most street cops, I consider the only thing more useless than the FBI is the inflatable life vest tucked beneath a jet airliner’s seat. “Did you know the initials stand for Famous But Incompetent?”
“I didn’t, but I do now.” Tina was simmering. “I spoke with the regional duty agent, who talked to me as if I was retarded and suggested I was overreacting. He told me to call back on Monday.”
“Your tax dollars at work. Any luck with customs?”
“I left a message, but haven’t heard anything back yet.”
“And Olympus?”
“Same thing. I’m waiting for a callback from someone in their legal department.”
“You knew that was coming. Has Allsop collected that cigarette butt yet?”
“Just a minute ago.”
“Did he notice the brand?”
“Winston. Is that important?”
“It might be, at some point.”
Tina held out the broom and dustpan. “You wanted these?”
“Thanks. If you’ll help Ash collect these bears and the quilt as evidence, I’ll start sweeping up the broken glass and china.”
It didn’t take long to sweep up most of the debris and pour it into an evidence bag. However, I made no effort to collect the glass shards and pieces of broken dishes that lay scattered on Merrit’s body. That stuff would go into the body bag with the corpse. I’d just begun dusting the cupboard for fingerprints when the ME’s transportation team arrived with a metal gurney. Five minutes later, they and the body were on their way to Roanoke.
Ash came into the dining room and watched for a moment as I moved the fingerprint brush in a swirling motion. She asked, “Anything?”
“Nah, all I’m doing is making a mess. Between the old furniture oil and dust, you couldn’t find King Kong’s latents. Where’d Tina go?”
“Out to
“Sort of a wood fiber, right?”
“Right.” She sniffed the bear again. “Old excelsior stuffing gives antique bears a very distinctive aroma and this one doesn’t smell as it should.”
“Well, of course not. It has an embroidered nose, so it doesn’t have any nostrils. It can’t smell at all.”
“Brad.”
“Okay, I’m focusing. That one doesn’t smell like an old bear.”
“No. As a matter of fact, it doesn’t really have an odor at all, which tells me the artist used new excelsior.” She handed me the bear. “See?”
I’d just buried my nose in the bear’s torso to take a big sniff when Tina came back into the museum, carrying the new broom and dustpan.
Cocking an eyebrow at me, Tina said, “I’m not interrupting anything here, am I?”
“Behave. This may look strange—”
“Just a little.”
“But it’s actually vital to the investigation.”
“If you say so.”
“Really, Tina, this is very important.” Ash took the Bruin bear down from the mantle and gave it a sniff. “I’m pretty certain both these bears are counterfeit. One of the best ways you can tell is by the smell.”
“Counterfeit teddy bears? You’re kidding.”
I said, “Nope. Antiques are big money and crooks will counterfeit anything these days, including toys.”
“But what does this have to do with the murder?”
“Maybe nothing,” said Ash. “But somebody did move them recently and a fanatical bear collector would pay a lot of money for these teddies.”
“So it’s possible the Yakuza were hired to come here to steal them.” I added. “Merrit objected and he ended up dead. It isn’t a perfect theory, but it’s the only motive we’ve got for now.”
“But if the bears are fakes, how’d they end up in the museum?”
“I don’t know, and we can’t ask him.” I glanced over my shoulder at Merrit. “So, that’s something we’re going to have to look for in the acquisition records when we search Merrit’s office, which is our next stop once we finish here.”
“Well, I hope you have better luck in there than I just had with the FBI.”
“Trouble with the vaunted Bureau? I’m utterly shocked.” Like most street cops, I consider the only thing more useless than the FBI is the inflatable life vest tucked beneath a jet airliner’s seat. “Did you know the initials stand for Famous But Incompetent?”
“I didn’t, but I do now.” Tina was simmering. “I spoke with the regional duty agent, who talked to me as if I was retarded and suggested I was overreacting. He told me to call back on Monday.”
“Your tax dollars at work. Any luck with customs?”
“I left a message, but haven’t heard anything back yet.”
“And Olympus?”
“Same thing. I’m waiting for a callback from someone in their legal department.”
“You knew that was coming. Has Allsop collected that cigarette butt yet?”
“Just a minute ago.”
“Did he notice the brand?”
“Winston. Is that important?”
“It might be, at some point.”
Tina held out the broom and dustpan. “You wanted these?”
“Thanks. If you’ll help Ash collect these bears and the quilt as evidence, I’ll start sweeping up the broken glass and china.”
It didn’t take long to sweep up most of the debris and pour it into an evidence bag. However, I made no effort to collect the glass shards and pieces of broken dishes that lay scattered on Merrit’s body. That stuff would go into the body bag with the corpse. I’d just begun dusting the cupboard for fingerprints when the ME’s transportation team arrived with a metal gurney. Five minutes later, they and the body were on their way to Roanoke.
Ash came into the dining room and watched for a moment as I moved the fingerprint brush in a swirling motion. She asked, “Anything?”
“Nah, all I’m doing is making a mess. Between the old furniture oil and dust, you couldn’t find King Kong’s latents. Where’d Tina go?”
“Out to
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