Read Online The Case of the Three Rings by John R. Erickson - Free Book Online Page A

childish pranks on his dogs. We give them the best years of our lives and that’s what we get.
    Fine. Tub Time had turned into a bitter disappointment and I dashed back into the living room. Drover was curled up in a ball and raised his head at the sound of my feet. “Oh, hi. How was it?”
    â€œIt was none of your business.”
    â€œYou’ve got water dripping off your nose.”
    I held him in a steely gaze. “Drover, are you trying to make a mockery of my life?”
    He grinned. “No, but I knew he’d do something. Hee hee.”
    â€œOkay, pal, you get two Chicken Marks for that. This will go into my report.”
    He shrugged and went back to his nap. I sat there in the middle of the room, brooding about injustice in the world and listening to the water dripping off my chin.
    Ho hum. Time dragged and all at once I became aware of the ticking of the clock.
    Slim needed to start getting ready. I mean, he still had to dry off, comb his hair, jump into his clothes, and drive three miles down the creek to Viola’s place. He really needed to get moving. Had he fallen asleep?
    I made my way back to the bathroom. He seemed to be in a dreamy state of mind, lying there in water up to his chin. The clock said 5:20, and that made me uneasy.
    Would you like to hear what he was doing? I guarantee that you won’t believe this, but I was there and watched the whole thing from start to finish.
    Okay, let’s see if I can describe it. There he was, up to his chin in warm bathwater and humming a tune. He lifted his left foot out of the water and wiggled his toes. A grin flashed across his mouth and he moved his big toe toward the water spigot—while I watched with a rising sense of alarm.
    Surely he wouldn’t…this was crazy !
    He stuck his big toe into the water spigot , into the hole where the water comes out. Five seconds later, it dawned on him that the toe was stuck and HE COULDN’T GET IT OUT!
    Why would a grown man who was supposed to be someplace in thirty minutes stick his big toe into a water spigot?
    I don’t know. It defies explanation. All I can say is that if you leave Slim Chance alone in a tub, sooner or later he’ll get into trouble.
    What a bonehead! I could have pinched his head off.
    Now what?

Chapter Ten: An Incredible Mess

    F ellers, he’d really done it this time. The guy had survived a charging buffalo and a bronc ride through a clothesline, but this mess promised to shut him down for a long time—and probably destroy a marriage that hadn’t even happened yet.
    All at once, his so-called mind came roaring back to the present. He sat up in the water and moved his foot around…harder and harder…and let out a squawl of pain. “Ow!” He leaned forward and took a double hand-grip on the spigot, leaned back and…I don’t know, maybe he thought he could jerk the spigot out of the wall.
    Guess what, it didn’t work. Duh.
    Then his eyes swung around to me and (this is a direct quote) he said, “Good honk, I can’t get my toe out!”
    Oh brother. You know, there are times when a dog is left speechless by the behavior of his human friends. I mean, there are people walking this earth who would say that dogs are dumb, but show me a dog who would stick his toe into a water spigot.
    No dog would ever do that. No dog would even think about doing that.
    It left me feeling so depressed, I went back into the living room. Behind me, I heard Slim yell, “Hank, don’t quit me now!” I tried to push his words out of my mind, went over to the spot where Drover was napping, and woke him up.
    â€œDrover, wake up, I have some terrible news.” He sat up and I told him what had happened.
    He stared at me for a long moment, then burst out laughing. “Hee hee hee. It’s a joke, right?”
    â€œI’m afraid it’s not a joke, son, and we must start preparing for what comes next.”
    His