Midnight shadows whispered across the abandoned manor grounds as Detective Hawthorne approached the creaking front door with cautious, steady determination. A distant thunderclap rattled broken windows while cold wind carried faint cries echoing down darkened hallways into the brooding silence. Inside the grand foyer, a shattered chandelier cast fragmented light upon the marble floor stained with fresh, ominous crimson droplets. Detective Hawthorne knelt beside a lifeless body draped across an oriental rug, fingers grazing a bloodied pocket watch ticking relentlessly. Moonlight slipped through broken panes, illuminating ghostly footprints trailing from spilled whiskey to a distant study door, ominously ajar, silent. A low sigh escaped Detective Hawthorne’s lips as he recognized the chilling signature left at every previous sinister crime scene.