***
Jephthah Mottram is a wealthy businessman whose life is insured by a policy which pays a huge sum to his beneficiaries should he die before the age of 65, and after that provides an annuity. During his annual fishing retreat at a rural and decrepit Midlands inn, he dies one night of gas poisoning. There are complications. What is to be made of his attempt to negotiate a settlement with the insurance company because of a diagnosis he had received before his holiday? And what of the disposition of the three gas taps in his bedroom at the hostelry?