Free Switchback Stories by Iain Edward Henn

arms.
    Still reeling from the icy shock to his system, he hadn’t been thinking about romance this evening. But the brush of Lyn’s lips on his, and the touch of her smooth, naked skin against his body brought all his senses racing back.
    Lyn woke him the following morning, ‘Wake up, sleepy head. Your diamond awaits you.’
    He mumbled something incoherent and turned over.
    ‘Come on.’ Lyn placed her arms around his shoulders and gave him a gentle shake. ‘You said you wanted to be up and away from here first thing. You promised me Barcelona.’
    Grant rubbed his eyes, then lifted his head and looked at the diamond. The glare was dazzling. A thousand points of brilliance danced laser-like before him. His vision descended into mottled shades of red and black.
    He was blinded.
    ‘Damn! I can’t see!’
    ‘Well now, that’s a problem,’ said Lyn.
    ‘Where the hell did all that light come from?’ There was panic in his voice.
    ‘The skylight, darling. There’s nothing quite like sunlight streaming down, is there? I had the diamond positioned directly underneath it. Just as well I kept those museum sunglasses with me.’
    He hadn’t paid much attention to the skylight the evening before. It had amused him watching Lyn set the diamond up on a small table at the foot of the bed so it could be the first thing he saw when he woke.
    He’d laughed at the way she’d fussed.
    ‘You did this deliberately?’ he said now.
    ‘You make it sound so terrible.’ She took the diamond from the table and placed it in her carry bag. ‘You should be proud, you’re the one who’s done such a damn fine job of teaching me everything you know.’
    She was dressed and standing by the bedroom door.
    ‘Now don’t you worry about those eyes, lover. Remember what the museum people said. If you catch a direct glimpse of the diamond when it’s fully illuminated it will temporarily blind you. But the effect wears off eventually.’
    She was at the front doorway now. ‘I can’t tell you how relieved I was that the weather people got their forecast right. Clear, hot day. Sunrise at 5.46. The angle of the sun over the apartment just perfect for…well, for
this
.’
    Grant was out of the bed, on his feet, trying to feel his way forward in the unfamiliar room.
    Her car was ready and sitting right outside. By the time Grant was fully operational again she’d have lost herself in a city of millions of people.
    She looked back at him one last time as he staggered out of the bedroom.
    ‘You know, Grant, I really like this apartment. I think I’ll buy one just like it with my new-found wealth. I just
adore
that skylight. A very nice touch, don’t you think?’

THE NEWS FLASH
    A twist of fate had given him the chance to commit the perfect murder. He stood alone in the living room with the long, sharp kitchen carving knife held tightly in his grip. His wife, Michelle, lay sleeping in the bedroom.
    All he need do was to plunge the cold blade into the gently breathing shape on the bed, then dispose of the body in the backyard’s huge incinerator. The beauty of it was that no-one would ever come looking for the body. No-one would even suspect she’d been murdered.
    Fate had delivered another, unexpected reason for her death.
    As he had so many times before, Brian Redding had spent the afternoon at Anna Johnson’s apartment.
    ‘The trouble with murder,’ Anna had said, ‘isn’t so much with the act itself. It’s trying to explain the sudden disappearance of the victim when the cops come snooping.’
    It was this matter-of-fact, cold-heartedness, coming from the angelic face with the wide, blue eyes that many men had found so intriguing.
    Brian had never contemplated murder before. He was surprised how natural a move it seemed, when suggested by Anna; and by the easy manner in which they discussed a variety of ways for ending Michelle’s life.
    It had begun when Brian said; ‘I won’t consider divorce. I’ve spent too many years