How to break bad news !

The husband’s on a week long business trip and gets a call from his wife:

W: “Hello, sweetheart!”
H: “Ah yes, darling, I’m busy. Is there a problem?”
W: “Um, I  just called to tell you that the parrot died”
H: “My parrot? Dead? The one that won the competition?”
W: “That’s the one.”
H: “Damn ! That’s a pity! I spent a small fortune on that bird. Oh
well…How did he die? “
W: “From eating rotten meat.”
H: “Rotten meat? Where did he get rotten meat?”
W: “He ate the meat of one of the dead horses.”
H: “Dead horses? What dead horses?”
W: “Why, those pure breed ones that you had. They died from all that work pulling the water cart.”
H: “Are you insane? What water cart?”
W: “The one we used to put out the fire.”
H: “Good Lord! What fire are you talking about, woman?”
W: “The one at our house! A candle fell and then the curtain caught on fire.”
H: “What the…!!! But there’s electricity at the house! What was the
candle for ???”
W: “For the funeral.”
H: “WHAT BLOODY FUNERAL ?!!”
W: “Your mother’s! She showed up one night out of the blue and I thought she was a thief, so I shot her!