Run: 2026-02-16-01KHKAAZ2XDC95NSRAAZJV67YT

The storm snuffed the lighthouse as midnight swallowed the bay. Detective Mara Quinn parked, headlights dying, and listened for sirens. Instead, gulls shrieked, frantic confetti above the blackened docks tonight. A single bulb trembled outside Herriman's Fish, casting jaundiced ellipses. Inside, the floor glittered with ice and broken glass everywhere. The smell mixed ocean brine, diesel, and something copper, sweet. Mara stepped carefully, boots whispering, her flashlight combing the crates. A knife stood upright in thawing salmon, humming with flies. Beyond the counter, a body leaned against scales, eyes absent. Snow gathered on his shoulders, although there was no snow. It drifted from the freezer, shimmering like ash in moonlight. Her radio crackled; dispatch mumbled static, then someone laughed softly. She muted it, throat dry, counting footprints in melting slush. Two entered, none left; the ledger confirmed midnight deliveries stopped. On the corpse's palm, sea salt traced letters, slowly dissolving. They spelled HARBOR, though the harbor roared outside without secrets. A footprint glittered, sparkling with glass, leading toward the office. Mara touched the doorknob and felt heat beneath frost there. The lock clicked open, though the keychain lay beside him. Inside the office, photographs waited, smiling through salted fingerprints everywhere. Rain began suddenly, marching sideways, erasing everything but blood trails. And somewhere outside, the lighthouse blinked awake, as witnesses gathered.