The monthly guest was recently visited by the police, investigating report of a violent fight in his home. Since the worst that ever happens in his marriage is the occasional shouting match, he’s not sure what could have provoked the call to the police and suspects it’s a practical joke by one of his poker buddies, but none of them could possibly have done it.

Perhaps I’m being over-generous to this story; perhaps the fact that my wife has taught piano in the past prejudices me towards it, or maybe it’s the story’s appearance in the bittersweet Return of the Black Widowers. The down side here is that the suspects are a bunch of blue-collar poker players, and since I tend not to hang around that kind of person myself, I not have a lot of natural sympathy towards them. In any event, the story has a nice bit of misdirection in it which makes it worthwhile.

Found In

	The Return of the Black Widowers