Mrs Adderly was expecting the local plumber who was supposed to come at ten o’clock.
Ten o’clock came and went; no plumber; eleven o’clock, twelve o’clock, one o’clock; no plumber.
She concluded he wasn’t coming, and went out to do some errands along the High Street. While she was out, the plumber arrived.
He knocked on the door. Mrs Adderly’s parrot, who was at home in a cage by the door, said, “Who is it?”
He replied, “It’s the plumber.”
He thought it was Mrs Adderly who’d said, “Who is it?” and waited for her to come and let him in. When this didn’t happen he knocked again, and again the parrot said, “Who is it?”
He said, a bit louder, “It’s the plumber!”
He waited, and again the lady didn’t come to let him in. He knocked again, and again the parrot said, “Who is it?”
He shouted, “It’s the plumber!!!!!!!!”
Again he waited; again she didn’t come; again he knocked and again the parrot said, “Who is it?”
“Aarrrrrrgggggghhhhhhh!!!” he said, flying into a rage; he pushed the door in and ripped it off its hinges. He suffered a heart attack and fell dead in the doorway.
A little later Mrs Adderly came home from her errands, only to see the door ripped off its hinges and a corpse lying in the doorway.
“A dead body!” she exclaimed, “Who is it?!”
The parrot looked at her with a beady eye and said, “It’s the plumber.”
