I'm a retired teacher and one of the best excuses (actually a reason) for homework not being turned in was from a mom who dropped by to say that her son had left his exercise book with the completed homework in it on the stove. She turned on the wrong burner to heat some chicken soup, setting the paper on fire. She panicked and the first thing she could think of to do, was grab the pan of soup and dump it on the burning homework.
She was an honest person, plus that story is so far in left field that you have to believe it.