It was a Saturday night. That was Clancy's night to howl. He had to be very careful though. The Chief told him to stop the howling in town. It set the dogs off. So, Clancy had to be careful and quick. He didn't get anything out of howling in the country. Besides, the farmers took shots at him.

Clancy never howled any other time. He also never drank any other time. The two were related. Clancy's biggest problem was that drunk he thought he was more watchful and quicker than he was. He thought he'd howl from the middle of the bridge. That way he could see the Chief coming from either direction and get out of his way.

The Chief, who was sober and smarter, knew this. Wasn't that hard to figure out. What the Chief would do when he heard the dogs get howling was leave his house before the phone calls started. He'd drive out Carson Street. This put him under the bridge. He'd then climb the steps which put him in the middle of the bridge.

There'd be Clancy howling away. The Chief sneaked up on him and snatched him. Now, the Chief wasn't about to arrest Clancy. That wouldn't stop him the next drunken Saturday night. So, the Chief hung Clancy over the bridge by his ankles. Clancy would toss up most of his booze. He also couldn't howl upside down. He could only squeal.

The Chief got a call at home from Frank at Frank's Bar and Grill. Frank was very upset.

"That Clancy just left here. He was drunk as a skunk. I took his keys away from him but he didn't care. I think he's goin' howling".

"Yea, okay, Frank. I'll get in the cruiser. He won't be hard to track down. Just have to follow the sound of the dogs".

"Nah, I know where he went. He went to St. Paul's. Man, he starts up howling there God is going to send him to hell for sure".

"St. Paul's? Why would he do that? No one could hear him in there with doors closed and - the bell tower!". Click.

The Chief could hear the dogs baying as he approached St. Paul's. He went in and opened the door to the old bell tower. He then fell over a chair. That idiot, he thought. You can't block a door that opens out with a chair. The Chief climbed up the rickety old steps. He could hear Clancy howling. When he got to the top he saw the tower trapdoor was open. Then he saw the old rope to the bell. The Chief wondered if it still worked. It did. It sure did.

Clancy came flopping and plunging through the trapdoor. The Chief got him and screamed at him. Then he realized that Clancy really couldn't hear him. Heck, the Chief was having trouble hearing.

The Chief put Clancy in the cruiser. Then he told him, "Listen, you dunderhead, I don't want you throwing up in- man! Well, in the morning you're the one cleaning this mess up".

Mrs. Grumble was noticeably upset as she talked to the Chief. She lived right next door to the graveyard. She was spooked most of the time anyway. She wouldn't sell out and move because no one else wanted to live that close to a graveyard. She also said it was real quiet.

"I'm telling you I hear a dog howling. There ain't no full moon so he got no reason to be doin' that. I want you to come out and shoot that dog", she told the Chief.

"Well, maam, that's a little much. I will investigate though", he replied.

"Yea? Well, I don't want to hear no more howlin'. I want to hear gunfire".

The Chief went out to the graveyard and, sure enough, he heard the howling. He knew it wasn't a dog. He knew it was Clancy. It didn't sound exactly like him but that could be the wind. He went to where he heard the howling. The howling stopped. He flashed his light around and didn't see anything. Then he heard the howling from the other side of the graveyard. Oh. he thought, Clancy wants to play games. Well, maybe I'll play a game on his head.

He finally caught up with the howling man after four tries. The Chief was really pissed by this time. He grabbed Clancy and it wasn't Clancy. It was Clancy's boy, Gus.

"Gus? What are you doing? You trying to be like your old man?"

"Nah, Chief. It's just that dad is sick with the flu and I thought it'd make him feel better if someone howled tonight".