He's the world's first black bear detective, and he's sure of himself.
"I'm not trying to say anything bad about them,"
Bearstone said, "But if a couple of schlemiels like my
cousins Winnie and Paddington can make it by screwing
things up, think what a bear detective could do."
"Bear detective?" I asked.
"Sure," he said. "What did you think, I was going to
stand in the park selling balloons to three-year-olds?
What kind of smarmy pap would that be?"
I shrugged.
"See, that's what's wrong with people, especially when
it comes to storybook characters," he said. "They take all
that Mother Goose and Brothers Grimm stuff and they
treat it like it's gospel like that's the way it all went
down. They won't even do that for the New York
Times."
"And somehow, you know differently?" I asked.
"Believe me, I'd look into that stuff and get the real
info," he said. "A lot of these so-called kids' stories need
an adult's oversight."
He nonchalantly took a croissant out of a bag from the
Hungry Bear Donut Factory and took a bite. He offered a
croissant to me. It was a delicious buttery bribe.
"Bearstone Blackie, detective," he said. "I represent
the Bear With Us Detective Agency in El Bruno."