A Third Example

I think I get the idea now, says Pliny. Have you a third example? It's always a clincher to have three.

I do, I reply. In fact I probably have more than three. But I'm not sure why we're even talking about this. It's not that grand an idea really, and you were the one who triggered it off.

Then perhaps I am the third example, says Pliny.

No you aren't, I say firmly. Here is a third example for you, since you want one.

There is a silence.

Go on, says Pliny.

I'm thinking, I say. There are so many. ( But in fact I haven't thought of even one).

At last it comes to me.

Well, Pliny, every time I walk down that quiet leafy street behind Marryatville High School, the one that leads to the wooden bridge over the creek, I think of Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock Holmes! exclaims Pliny. The man I admire most in modern times! Why do you think of him?

Because, I say mysteriously, I met him there, three times.