At dawn the telephone rings. "Hello, Señor Rod? This is Ernesto, the caretaker."
"Ah yes, Ernesto. What can I do for you? Is there a problem?"
"Um, I am just calling to advise you, Señor Rod, that your parrot, he is dead".
"My parrot? Dead? The one that won the international competition?"
"Si, Señor. That's the one."
"Damn! That's a pity! I spent a small fortune on that bird.
What did he die from?"
"From eating the rotten meat, Señor Rod."
"Rotten meat? Who the hell fed him rotten meat?"
"Nobody, Señor. He ate the meat of the dead horse."
"Dead horse? What dead horse?"
"The thoroughbred, Señor Rod."
"My prize thoroughbred is dead?"
"Yes, Señor Rod. He died from all that work pulling the water cart."
"Water cart? What water cart?"
"The one we used to put out the fire, Señor."
"Good Lord! What fire are you talking about, man?"
"The one at your house, Señor! A candle fell and the curtains caught on fire."
"What the hell?
Are you saying that my mansion is destroyed because of a candle?!"
"Yes, Señor Rod."
"But there's electricity at the house! What was the candle for?"
"For the funeral, Senor Rod."
"WHAT BLOODY FUNERAL??!!"
"Your wife's, Señor Rod". She showed up very late one night and I thought she was a thief, so I shot her with your new Kreighoff Limited Edition Custom Gold Engraved Trap Special with the Custom Wenig Exhibition-Grade Stock.
Very long pause. . .
"Ernesto, if you scratched that shotgun, you're in deep shit."