Run: 2026-03-25-01KMJ8RFJXPH4PGH02EWFX2C05

The rain fell in steady sheets, drenching the cobblestones beneath the flickering gaslight of the quiet street. Detective Alden stepped from his carriage, coat pulled tight, eyes scanning the shadowed townhouse with practiced suspicion. Footsteps echoed behind him—Inspector Greaves, breath visible, hand resting cautiously near his hidden revolver. The front door stood ajar, revealing darkness within, faintly illuminated by a single trembling candle upstairs. A maid knelt by the threshold, shivering, clutching a silver locket she claimed she found near the body. No one had heard the scream, the neighbors said, though the walls were thin and nights always noisy. The victim lay sprawled across the library rug, silk robe stained crimson, a poker lodged in the floor beside him. His watch had stopped at eleven, but the clock on the mantel read half past twelve with unwavering precision. A half-written letter sat on the desk, addressed to “My Dearest Evelyn,” words ending abruptly in a smudged blot. The window latch was broken, yet nothing was stolen, and the footprints outside led only in one direction—away.