Run: 2026-03-18-01KM09TN6NHJDEHC97A4VZ5QGT

Rain stitched the town square into silver threads as Detective Mara Vale approached the mansion, already smelling money and fear. A bell tolled inside, though the front doors stood open, and a woman in black waited beside a shattered vase. She did not introduce herself, only pointed at the staircase where crimson droplets climbed the banister like deliberate punctuation marks. Mara crouched, touched the nearest drop, and felt the wet certainty of fresh violence beneath the mansion's expensive perfume there. From the ballroom came a single scream, abruptly cut short, and every guest turned toward the darkened archway at once. Mara rose slowly, because murders rarely announced themselves this neatly, and someone in the house was still pretending innocence tonight.