Run: 2026-09-03-01M1KCXQD819E8RVQXT4H7ZH3Z

The manor's grandfather clock struck midnight, echoing through empty halls. Detective Arden Cole stepped over the threshold, rain soaking him. A single candle flickered beside the body near the hearth. No one heard the shot over the storm's violent roar. A woman in a crimson dress knelt close, hands shaking. Cole knelt beside her, studying the wound without touching it. "The bullet entered just below the left eye," she whispered. "Then our killer knew exactly where he was aiming tonight." A brass key lay inches from the dead man's hand. It bore the initial V, polished to a dull gleam. Cole picked it up, turning it toward the flickering light. "V for Victoria," he said, "or perhaps for vengeance tonight." A floorboard creaked above them, and every eye looked upward.