Stars glimmered faintly in the moonless sky as Detective Alvarado stepped out of his car and surveyed the dimly lit street. The victim lay slumped awkwardly on the sidewalk, body twisted grotesquely, blood pooling ominously around the jagged wound in his chest. Crowds of onlookers gathered behind police barriers, gasping, pointing, phones illuminated faces etched with shock and grim fascination in the night. Detective Alvarado approached the body, noted the lifeless glassy eyes staring into the abyss, hands frozen in futile motions of pain. As he knelt to examine the grisly injury, a single detail leapt into focus - a bizarre golden coin, pressed into the gaping wound.