Free The False-Hearted Teddy by John J. Lamb

violence.
    What would your opinion of Tony be?”
    Ash looked thoughtful. “Jovial, bordering on manic and a bit of a blabbermouth, but basically harmless.”
    “Exactly and that’s how he would appear to a new girlfriend during the courtship phase of their relationship.
    She wouldn’t know that their future together was going to include being used as a punching bag.”
    “I see what you mean.”
    There was a chime from overhead and the door opened. We left the elevator and headed toward our room.
    “So, what if Tony’s found his sole mate—and I’m talking about someone new that he can wipe his feet on—
    and wants to be free of Jennifer? If the contracts with Wintle and that cartoon company are written in a certain way, and I’ll bet they are because Jennifer was smart, di-vorce wouldn’t be an option.”
    “But murder would be, if you made it look like a severe allergic reaction to medication.” Ash shook her head, her expression reflecting both disgust and wonderment.
    The False-Hearted Teddy
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    “Right. Maybe he was hoping that, due to Jennifer’s past medical history, there wouldn’t be an autopsy. And perhaps there wouldn’t have been if you hadn’t noticed that chemical smell,” I said as we arrived at our room.
    “But it’s time for a big reality check. We don’t know if she’s even dead, and if she did die, that she was murdered, and most importantly, I’m not a cop anymore. So there’s really no point in any further speculation.”
    “Not that it’s ever stopped you in the past,” Ash said sweetly.
    I unlocked the door with the card key and held it open for Ash. After I washed my hands, she went into the bathroom to clean her face, reapply her makeup, and fix her hair. Ten minutes later, she emerged looking perfect and we went back downstairs. The crowd was larger outside the exhibit room door and we paused to show our event IDs to an organizer.
    Inside the hall, we paused for a moment to look at the Cheery Cherub Bear booth. It was dark and the arched entrance was blocked with a couple of folding chairs. I noticed a single long-stemmed yellow rose lying on the seat of one of the chairs—evidence that either there was fresh news from the hospital or that at least one of the breakfast attendees hadn’t believed my cautiously hopeful and fraudulent spin on the incident. The affectionate message embodied in the flower reminded me of Todd and I wondered if he’d heard the awful news yet.
    As is so often the case, Ash was thinking along the same lines and said, “Where do you suppose Todd went?”
    “Probably the hospital. Do you think there was any truth to the stuff Tony said?”
    “That Todd and Jennifer were having an affair? Of course not.” Ash sounded incredulous.
    “How can you tell? From the brief conversation I had with him, it was pretty clear he was in love with her.”
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    John J. Lamb
    “He may have been, but she didn’t feel the same way about him. Most women can tell when another woman is attracted to a man, even if the other woman is playing it completely cool.”
    “Really? Is that why—”
    “Yes, that’s why I reacted so strongly to the judge making the ‘big one’ crack. She’d better keep her distance from you. I’ve got one of the few good men on the planet and I’m not about to share.”
    “She was flirting with me? You’re kidding.”
    “No, and for an otherwise extremely intelligent man, you’re clueless when it comes to recognizing when a woman is hitting on you.”
    “Which should be very reassuring to you because it means that I’m not paying that sort of attention to any woman but you.” I took her hand and kissed it. “Now, let’s get to our table because I know that you want to rearrange everything before the collectors are allowed in.”
    I wasn’t exaggerating. Ash is a perfectionist and the absence of the snow tiger and Dirty Beary had ruined her original eye-pleasing design. That meant starting over from scratch. I sat down