Run: 2026-04-24-01KQ0P5TKR9SZBQ3B71R730FMM

Rain hammered the glass roof of Blackthorn Station as Inspector Vale arrived, summoned by a telegram without signature tonight alone. Inside, the midnight train stood steaming, its first class carriage locked, curtains drawn, and every brass handle wiped perfectly clean. The stationmaster waited beneath the clock, twisting his cap, while a porter sobbed silently beside abandoned trunks near platform seven alone. Vale saw the blood first, a narrow ribbon escaping beneath the compartment door and darkening the polished floorboards like ink. No passenger admitted knowing the victim, though six held tickets purchased together under a name nobody recognized at the office. From within the sealed carriage came a woman's laugh, soft, impossible, and followed immediately by three deliberate knocks against wood. Vale ordered silence, raised his lantern, and noticed snow melting across the threshold, though no snow had fallen that week. When the key turned finally, the door opened inward upon Lord Harbury, dead, smiling, and clutching a violet between fingers. Pinned to his lapel was a card reading, Vale, forgive me, but tonight you must suspect everyone, including the dead.