The mist curled like a ghost through the empty train station. Detective Sarah Morgan sipped her coffee, watching the motionless platform intently. A single red shoe lay abandoned beneath the wooden bench. Blood stained the concrete, creating patterns like a macabre artwork. The station clock ticked loudly, counting seconds since the murder. Four twenty-seven in the morning was a time for sleep. Not for discovering a corpse behind the ticket office window. The victim's eyes remained open, staring at the ceiling above. Station manager Thomas Reed had worked here for thirty years. Now his throat was cut from ear to ear cleanly. Sarah photographed the scene carefully, documenting every crucial detail methodically. No witnesses, no cameras, no obvious motive for the killing. Only a business card placed deliberately in the dead man's hand. The calling card bore a simple message: "One of five."