Open and shut case

An opening to an imaginary novel so magnificently bad that it would repel any would-be reader

Was this the calm before the storm? If so, why was my heart palpitating paradoxically? They were keen as mustard to catch me red-handed with my fingers in the fire but I still had an ace up my sleeve. It was time to go back to the drawing board which, in retrospect, I should have done beforehand. I figured Delores was probably behind what lay ahead of me unless I could get out of what I’d got into. Well, I wasn’t born yesterday and tomorrow would prove it provided I could get my act together and not fall apart in the meantime. They say it’s darkest before the dawn and it dawned on me that I had to burn my bridges and get through the eye of a needle if I wasn’t to be stitched up. The chips were down and I knew the score.