Run: 2026-02-16-01KHKAVNRC75B4NMBSHDDV53Q6

Rain washed the cobblestones clean. A lantern swung on porch. Inside someone had stopped breathing. A body lay upon carpet. Dark blood had darkened collar. Silk scarf knotted around throat. Windows sealed by frost within. No footprints marred the steps. Detective Lyle arrived, umbrellas dripping. He studied angles and shadows. A cigarette smoldered in ashtray. Glass teacup lay in fragments. Portraits watched with indifferent eyes. Someone had rearranged the chairs. A note pinned beneath candlestick. Only one line was written. Return what was never yours. Lyle folded it into pocket. He smelled perfume and gunpowder. Neighbors whispered behind drawn curtains. Midnight chimed in hollow sympathy. The case had only begun.