"Sticky Wicket at Blandings" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared, under the title "First Aid for Freddie", in the United States in the October 1966 issue of Playboy magazine.
[3] Freddie Threepwood is back at Blandings on Dog-Joy business, and his wife Aggie, finding country life a little dull, has headed to the French Riviera.
As Freddie leaves with his gift, Gally hears worrying news - his sister Connie is thinking about sacking venerable butler Beach, who has become a little wheezy in his old age.
Freddie gets a telegram from his wife, informing him of her plan to return to Blandings the following day, and in his shock on reading it tumbles down the stairs, taking Gally with him.
Beach then informs him that Colonel Fanshawe has telephoned, requesting Lord Emsworth's judicial services as he has caught a prowler lurking outside his house.