Lesson interrupted by cat in distress

Picking up the phone to make a call a few days ago, I discovered an extension somewhere in the house to be off the hook. A brief search unveiled the bathroom phone to have been knocked into the toilet by a cat. Possibly two cats working together. I fished it out, grateful that it hadn’t shorted out and that the toilet had been flushed. An hour later, in the middle of a dance lesson, a police car rolled up and two of Oakland’s finest marched up the stairs. There has been a lot of recent crime in my neighborhood and I was worried about my out of town neighbors whose cat I was tending. “We got a 911 hang up from this house,” explained one of the cops. “Are you sure?” I said, stupidly. “Was it my number?" He checked. Yes, that was the number. I asked when it had come in and he said an hour ago. (Aren’t you glad that if you manage to dial 911 before the bad guys disconnect you that you only have to wait an hour for the police to drop in?) “Well,” I said, giggling in spite of myself,“an hour ago my cat knocked the phone into the toilet, but I can’t imagine she dialed 911 before doing so.” It’s not as if I’d locked her in the bathroom after all. Right on cue, Fred sauntered into the room and looked inquiringly at the cop. He looked at Fred. “Is that the culprit?” he deadpanned. My students where in stitches and I couldn’t believe the police were buying this story. I wouldn’t have bought it. But lucky for me, it appears that there is an explanation, although I have to admit I didn’t understand it. There is a way that the circuits can get confused when a phone lands in a toilet and 911 can somehow get triggered. “It happens,” said the cop.