The shopkeeper, who was resting in the accounting room, suddenly shivered uncontrollably and sat up from his bed stool. As he reached to rub his nose, he muttered to himself, "How can I suddenly feel so cold in such hot weather?"
Just at that moment, the sound of footsteps approached from afar.
"Knock, knock, knock...!"
A flurry of urgent knocking followed by a shop assistant shouting, "Shopkeeper, Shopkeeper."
"What's the matter?"
"It's terrible!" came the panicked voice.
"What's making you cause such a fuss?" the shopkeeper asked, somewhat impatiently.
"The county magistrate is having guests over tonight at our tavern."
"What's so strange about that? The official is a regular at our tavern," the shopkeeper said as he leisurely walked to the door, opened it, and spoke with visible impatience.
"No, it's not like that."
The assistant had run all the way here, somewhat out of breath. He paused, then added, "The guest he's inviting is the man we deceived this morning."
