The Mystery of Men
By Guy Bellamy
By the time Julian Wyatt painfully jogs his way to the Oasis of Sanity for his nightly orange juice, Oscar Mansfield is already on his fourth whisky.
One sight of the overwrought, perspiring executive gives the magnanimous Oscar a brilliant idea. A guaranteed earner, with a touch of the lottery thrown in …
Four of them drink regularly at the aptly-named Oasis. The fact that one is the owner is neither here nor there. What if they were to gamble on each other’s longevity? What if there was an insurance policy, payable to the three survivors in the event of one of them having an early demise?
Within days, the deal is struck.
Contrary to appearances, each of the four has still to come within a boundary of his personal half-century. By their own admission they are all in the prime of life. And each has his own reasons to be cheerful at the thought of thirty grand tax-free cash. If a friend has to die, so be it…
The Mystery of Men is a riotous, cautionary tale for anyone who recognises the symptoms…