Run: 2026-02-20-01KHXQG3F1M6EXMG48T5HQNW7Y

The rain hammered against the cobblestones, turning the gaslight’s glow into a hazy, golden smear. Detective Harlow adjusted his hat, watching the water pool around his polished, black leather shoes. A scream sliced through the night, sharp as the knife still clutched in the victim’s hand. The body sprawled across the alley, limbs twisted like a marionette cut cruelly from its strings. Blood mixed with rainwater, swirling into the gutter where a single pearl earring glinted. Harlow knelt, ignoring the cold seeping through his trousers, and studied the lifeless, staring eyes. The victim’s coat bore a monogram—*E.V.*—stitched in silver thread near the torn pocket. A shadow shifted near the bakery’s awning, but when Harlow looked, only darkness answered. The scent of fresh bread lingered, oddly sweet against the metallic tang of death in the air. A constable arrived, breathless, his lantern casting long, trembling fingers across the grim scene. “No witnesses yet,” the young officer muttered, his voice barely louder than the drumming rain. Harlow’s fingers brushed the knife’s hilt, noting the absence of fingerprints in the slick blood. A torn scrap of paper peeked from the victim’s sleeve, ink smudged but legible: *Midnight. Dock 12.* The alley’s mouth yawned open, swallowing the last of the fading scream into its hungry silence. Harlow stood, his mind already racing, knowing this murder was just the first thread of something darker.