The rain pattered on the windows as the clock struck midnight. Evelyn gazed at the body on the floor, a look of horror frozen on her face. "I didn't do it," she whispered hoarsely, sinking to her knees. "I swear I didn't do it." She stared at the knife clutched in her trembling hand, its blade slick with crimson. With a shuddering gasp, she let it tumble from her fingers to clatter against the hardwood floor. The shrill ring of the telephone shattered the suffocating silence. Evelyn flinched as if struck and scrambled to her feet, stumbling blindly toward the hall. Her fingers fumbled uselessly with the doorknob before finally grasping it. She wrenched open the door and fled down the darkened corridor, the phone's incessant ringing echoing in her ears. Heart pounding, she burst into the foyer and snatched up the receiver. "H-hello?" The single word emerged as a strangled rasp. Evelyn listened for a long moment, then slowly replaced the handset and slumped against the wall. Tears streamed down her face as the horrible realization crashed over her in icy waves. There was nowhere left to run. Nowhere to hide. The police would come for her now. They would hear her side of the story, surely. They would understand that she was innocent. Innocent of this terrible crime, even as the evidence condemned her. Evelyn squeezed her eyes shut, trying desperately to blot out the grisly scene that still lingered behind her eyelids. But it was no use. The image of the dead man's sightless eyes remained seared upon her vision. And with a choked sob, she sank to the floor and began to weep, her anguished cries muffled by the heavy folds of her dress. In the suffocating darkness, she waited for the inevitable arrival of the authorities and the start of her long nightmare to begin...<|end_of_text|>