Three on a Match

"Bad things happen in threes."

This is a modernization of the phrase "three on a match," a superstition dating from the Crimean War that was popularized during the First World War. It was purported that if three soldiers shared a match for their cigarettes, the length of time it would take for all three to be lit was long enough for an enemy sniper to pinpoint their shared location. The flame from the first man sealed the fates of the second and third who were illuminated by the light.

A f...