Run: 2026-02-20-01KHXPHD8PB1CXA4P12JCPSRF5

The grand estate loomed under storm clouds, its gilded gates creaking ominously as thunder rolled across the desolate moors. Detective Harlan adjusted his damp coat, eyes narrowing at the flickering candlelight spilling from shattered second-floor windows. A butler with hollow cheeks stood rigid, his gloved hands trembling while whispering something about the master’s locked study. Bloodstains marred the Persian rug, leading to an overturned chair where a silver letter opener glinted beneath the chandelier’s dim glow. The victim’s wife clutched a lace handkerchief, her red-rimmed eyes darting toward the servants’ quarters as police boots echoed down the hall. A clock struck midnight, its brass pendulum swinging wildly, as if counting the seconds since the body had been discovered in disarray. Harlan knelt beside the corpse, noticing the peculiar scent of bitter almonds clinging to the stiffened fingers and crumpled cufflinks. The coroner’s assistant muttered about cyanide, but the detective’s gaze locked onto a half-burned photograph tucked beneath the desk’s edge. Outside, the wind howled through skeletal trees, carrying the faintest sound of a woman’s sobs from the overgrown garden maze. Somewhere in this house, a killer waited, watching, as the detective’s fingers brushed against a monogrammed pocket watch stopped at nine.