Key facts

My sister and brother-in-law came up from Somerset to stay for a few days. This morning when the time came to drive home. b-i-l couldn't find his keys. Everybody was involved in the search, down the back of every chair he had sat in, in pockets etc. In the end he decided he knew where they were . . . he had been working on his car yesterday and had the bonnet up, and thought he had put the keys on a ledge in the engine, then shut the bonnet. On his ancient car you can only open the bonnet using a key, and the key was inside - how daft is that?

I drove him to the nearest agent,but of course they only had sales staff on duty. We phoned various "Locked yourself out of your car?" firms - they don't work on Sundays. In desperation he phoned his daughter in Somerset and asked her to bring him a spare key from home. Amazingly she agreed, she said her son needed the driving practice before he takes his test.

Three hours later daughter, bless her, appears with the key. Great jubilation and ceremonial opening of the bonnet and, you've guessed it, there was no bunch of keys inside.

"I'd better go and have another look for them indoors" says b-i-l whereupon he finds them, clipped to a different pair of trousers.

How he wasn't slaughtered on the spot I'll never know!