Run: 2026-02-24-01KJ8WAZGP39Q9TC9Q3KNYVVMY

The body lay crumpled beneath the grand staircase, one pale hand still clutching a small torn piece of dark velvet. Detective Mara Cole stepped through the front door of the Ashworth mansion, brushing rain from her long black leather coat. The grandfather clock in the hallway had stopped at precisely eleven forty-seven, and nobody in the house could explain why. She knelt beside the victim, a wealthy old man named Gerald Ashworth, whose eyes were still wide open with terror. A crystal glass lay shattered on the marble floor nearby, and the sharp scent of bitter almonds filled the air. Seven guests had been invited to dinner that evening, and every single one of them had a reason to kill. Mara stood slowly and surveyed the room, noting the overturned chair, the scattered papers, and the blood on the wall. Someone in this house had committed a terrible act, and the storm outside meant that no one could leave tonight. She pulled her notebook from her pocket and began to write, knowing that the truth was hiding among the living. The dead always spoke to those who listened carefully enough, and Detective Cole was very good at listening to them.