Day Is Night

By Reed Norman

Day Is Night: a crime story (6,910 words)

Curtis feels trapped in a dull and, for quite a while now, loveless marriage. When he runs into his lovely neighbor, Margot, he starts dreaming of a new life not controlled by his overbearing wife. But is it even possible, feasible? Can there be a way out? 
Everything is not what it looks like, though, and his curiosity about Margot will get him into more trouble than he bargained for, and into a new sort of entrapment, with retribution and murder in its midst.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Reed Norman
• Release date: Jun 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9781513090535

Book preview

How sweet it is my dead Lorraine. Curtis fantasized about Nat King Cole, just crooning for him about her once sweet, and now dead, Lorraine, Lorraine, Lorraine. It wasn’t even a very satisfying exercise, as daydreams go. But it helped defuse the frustration of having to deal with Lorraine on a daily basis and almost never being able to score a measly point in their daily battle scoreboard.

The day had proved particularly trying and now, as a sad low-water mark, he had to endure Lorraine’s and Sandy’s jives about the evening’s events, the rather dull pot-luck function, and every single one of his shortcomings, as they drove back home. Sandy, being the older sister, had taken Lorraine under her wing since she announced her engagement five years ago, and made sure Lorraine would never cut him a single break.

Lost in memory were the days when he’d refute all charges leveled against him by Lorraine during their bickering skirmishes and would try to win arguments. At some point, regardless of the argument’s merits, Lorraine would end the exchange short with a lapidary, you don’t know what you are talking about.

It all had started unraveling unexpectedly early in their relationship, when soon after their return from their Hawaii honeymoon, Curtis failed to secure his financial advisor position at Merrill Lynch, and instead had to settle for a much smaller and uneventful job at a local firm. He had expected Lorraine to show some understanding and cut him some slack, but she had no disposition to afford him either. So, in Curtis view, right from the moment the ball had started rolling it went downhill. And now, with no possible argument to the contrary, it was reaching the deepest recesses in the valley of their relationship. Its peak remaining immaculate, out of reach.

His original sin, he came to realize too late, had been overselling his chances of making it into the big leagues. He never gave her too many details about his ambitions but also never tried to disabuse her dreams of hobnobbing with people in high circles, especially with