It must have been about two in the morning when I returned home. I tried to
wake up my wife by ringing the doorbell, but she was fast asleep, so I got a
ladder from the shed in the garden, put it against the wall, and began
climbing towards the bedroom window. I was almost there when a sarcastic voice
below said, 'I don't think the windows need cleaning at this time of the
night.' I looked down and nearly fell off the ladder when I saw a policeman. I
immediately regretted answering in the way I did, but I said, 'I enjoy
cleaning windows at night.'#
'So do I,' answered the policeman in the same tone. 'Excuse my interrupting
you. I hate to interrupt a man when he's busy working, but would you mind
coming with me to the station?'#
'Well, I'd prefer to stay here,' I said. 'You see, I've forgotten my key.'#
'Your what?' he called.#
'My key,' I shouted.#
Fortunately, the shouting woke up my wife who opened the window just as the
policeman had started to climb towards me.&