Run: 2026-02-24-01KJ8WHXXWWGSAWV3N1YPGDXG4

The body lay crumpled at the foot of the grand staircase, a single red rose clutched in her left hand. Detective Maria Vasquez ducked beneath the yellow crime scene tape and studied the body with her sharp, quiet, unforgiving eyes. The mansion had hosted a lavish party the night before, and now its marble halls echoed only with grieving silence. No one had heard a scream, or so they claimed, yet the walls of this old house were remarkably thin. The victim was Eleanor Ashworth, the sole heiress to a shipping fortune and beloved wife of the man weeping downstairs. Her silk gown was torn at the shoulder, and a bruise darkened her throat like the shadow of something terrible. Vasquez knelt beside the body and noticed that Eleanor's emerald necklace was missing, though its clasp still marked her skin. Someone at that party had wanted Eleanor dead, and Vasquez intended to find out which of them had done it. She stood, brushed off her coat, and turned to face the twelve shaken guests waiting in the dim drawing room. Each of them had motive, and before this long night was over, she would make certain the truth came out.