Rain lashed against the library windows, a relentless torrent mimicking the turmoil brewing inside Eleanor's chest. Professor Elmhurst, renowned historian and notorious curmudgeon, lay sprawled on the Persian rug, his monocle shattered like a fallen star. A gasp escaped Eleanor's lips as she surveyed the scene, her heart hammering a frantic rhythm against her ribs. An antique letter opener, its ivory handle stained crimson, protruded from the professor's chest, a macabre punctuation mark to his final chapter.