The old mansion stood at the end of Blackwood Lane, its windows dark and lifeless against the cold November sky. Detective Sarah Chen stepped out of her unmarked sedan and pulled her coat tighter against the bitter wind howling outside. A uniformed officer met her at the iron gate, his face pale and troubled beneath the flickering yellow porch light. "The body is in the study on the second floor, and I have to warn you that it is bad." She nodded without speaking and walked up the crumbling stone steps, her heels clicking sharply on each weathered gray surface. The front door hung open like a mouth frozen mid scream, revealing a grand foyer thick with dust and heavy shadows. A crystal chandelier swayed gently overhead, though no window was open and no breeze could possibly explain its strange subtle movement. She climbed the wide staircase and turned left down a hallway lined with portraits of the wealthy and long since dead. The study door was ajar, and warm golden light spilled across the dark oak floor like blood pooling from a wound. Inside, Professor Edward Holloway sat slumped at his mahogany desk, a single red rose placed carefully in his still right hand.