Run: 2026-07-25-01KYCPMCVEHFP3D3PZ487N62AW

Rain hammered the windows of Blackwood Manor that October night. Detective Inspector Marlowe stepped over the threshold and removed his hat. The body lay sprawled across the library's faded Persian rug. Lord Everett Ashcombe had died with his eyes wide open. A silver letter opener protruded from beneath his left collarbone. Blood had dried into the pages of an open ledger. Marlowe crouched low and studied the dead man's clenched fist. Three strands of long blonde hair were caught between fingers. The clock on the mantel had stopped at half past eleven. Someone had wound it backward, then smashed the glass face. Outside, seven guests waited in the drawing room, saying nothing. Each of them had reason to want the old man gone. Marlowe straightened up slowly and buttoned his damp wool coat. He had until morning before the London train arrived again. Whoever killed Lord Ashcombe was still inside this locked house.