The grandfather clock struck midnight as Detective Sarah Chen stepped into the dimly lit Victorian mansion's grand foyer. Blood pooled beneath the crystal chandelier where renowned art collector Marcus Whitfield lay motionless on the marble floor. His evening guests stood frozen in the drawing room doorway, their champagne glasses trembling in their pale hands. The butler's face had turned ashen white as he stammered about discovering the body just moments before midnight. Thunder crashed outside the towering windows while rain pelted against the glass in an ominous, rhythmic drumbeat pattern. Detective Chen knelt beside the victim, noting the ornate letter opener protruding from between his shoulder blades. "Nobody leaves this house tonight," she announced firmly, her sharp eyes scanning each suspect's terrified and guilty face.