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She and Caesar had been at a charity event six weeks ago, exactly teeks before his death

Caesar was always doing charity work for the Latino community, and this event had been no different Well, except for one small occurrence, an occurrence that Allison didn’t think was small at all It was an occurrence, in fact, that she was quite certain had been very big indeed

So big that it killed Caesar

Or so she felt

It had been a charity fight A professional boxer against a martial artist And he was not just anykarate chah for the first few rounds Lots of posing and light punches Lots of ducking and juking and sliding and laughing Good ti it And ouldn’t they? Two pros at the top of their respective worlds, weretechniques, wits, and punches

Until it happened

The Punch, as Allison thinks of it

Onecushy punches The karate cha a few kicks that Caesar easily avoided After all, this was a charity event The punches and kicks weren’t meant to land And if they did, there wasn’t much force behind the to a friend, when the fight suddenly took a very strange turn

"He punched hiarette and sitting back on the couch

"Who punched wholish I was a varammarian If that was even a word

"The karate chaing light punches -off each others’ shoulders - and the next" She paused, looked at uy, this asshole, punches Caesar hard Iit It was a charity event, for crissakes The first few rounds were light and easy In fact, it was only a three-round charity match There was only like twenty or so seconds left in the third round It was almost over"

I perked up "And this happened teeks before his death?"

"Yes"

"What happened to Caesar after the punch?"

"It laid hi his bare fists Caesar had gloves on The fight was just for laughs A joke Nothing serious Just two guys lending their na,here I could feel it Whether or not this so in or my detective instincts, I didn’t know Soested that the punch had occurred far too early - teeks, in fact - for it to have any ill effects on Caesar’s health

And yetit just felt right

"Hoas Caesar after the fight?" I asked

"Woozy The punch really rang his bell Reuy was like a five-time karate champion The dude kno to throw a punch But there’sup another cigarette myself, but didn’t want to smell too much like smoke around the kids Taood chance she was allergic to the sarettes

I can’t buy a break, I thought

When Allison had gathered her thoughts, she said, "I haven’t told anyone this, mind you"