WHY DID I EVER LISTEN TO YOU? 1991 ST LOUIS - Leo Kraszewski aka Dingus has come to visit his army pal, Francis Lenihan, now a busy process server. It's been 19 years but Dingus is still the same-impulsive, foolish, quick with a wisecrack, uncouth yet worldly. Dingus leads Francis to Southern Illinois, the town of Bunting, where spoils from World War II-the Speer Collection-may lie hidden in a peculiar private museum. The story has legs as Dingus aka Hercules is given a task by Anselm, the museum's curator and a stand-in for King Eurystheus of yore, to retrieve a stolen historical artifact. Dingus does Anselm's bidding, at a dear price. Meanwhile Dingus' court date for cannabis distribution looms. Will Francis wrangle a lawyer for his penniless friend? Will Dingus negotiate the comedic twists and turns of Fate and retrieve the treasure for his schatzie, Hilde, who waits in Germany? A lively cast of characters join in-a high school detective, the next Nancy Drew; a witch doctor cast from the halls of academia, a scholarly recluse, a malevolent sheriff's deputy, a bawdy masseuse, an angry rapper and his entourage, and the beer-soaked regulars at Murphy's Tavern in Dogtown St. Louis

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