# The Midnight Garden The body lay beneath the rose arbor, pale moonlight casting shadows across features frozen in eternal, silent surprise. Detective Sarah Chen knelt beside the victim, her gloved hands carefully examining evidence while thunder rumbled ominously overhead tonight. "Time of death approximately two hours ago," the medical examiner murmured, adjusting his glasses with fingers that trembled slightly. Blood had pooled beneath the woman's silk evening gown, the crimson stain spreading outward like some grotesque, blooming flower. Sarah noticed the victim's emerald necklace was missing, though the clasp remained intact, suggesting the killer knew her well. "Her name is Victoria Ashworth," Officer Martinez reported, consulting his notepad under the dim glow of his trembling flashlight. The renowned philanthropist had been hosting her annual charity gala when she disappeared from the crowded ballroom without explanation earlier. Fifty guests remained inside the manor, each claiming ignorance, each harboring secrets, each potentially guilty of this calculated crime tonight. Sarah stood slowly, her keen eyes scanning the garden path for footprints, finding only carefully raked gravel and confusion. A single white camellia lay clutched in Victoria's hand, its petals unstained, its presence inexplicable, its meaning yet unknown.