Run: 2026-09-10-01M25DFBJNM5PWPG4PXKY9WA85

Rain hammered the mansion windows while Detective Mara Voss stepped through the heavy oak doors alone and weary at midnight. The butler met her with trembling hands and whispered that Lord Ashcombe had been found dead upstairs only moments ago. Mara climbed the grand staircase, noting the portraits whose painted eyes seemed to follow her every move silently and strangely. At the end of the hall, a door stood open, revealing the study bathed in cold moonlight and faint shadows. Lord Ashcombe lay sprawled beside his desk, a silver letter opener buried deep within his chest, blood soaking his shirt. His eyes remained wide open, staring at the ceiling as if accusing the cold silent darkness above him now forevermore. Mara knelt beside the corpse, her breath steady, then slowly examined the strange purple mark upon his pale throat carefully. The wound on his chest seemed clean, but that purple bruise suggested poison had already stopped his heart before death. A grandfather clock in the corner ticked loudly, though its hands remained frozen at exactly twelve minutes past three forever. On the desk lay a glass of whiskey, a crumpled note, and a key oddly shaped like a black raven. Mara read the note aloud and whispered softly, "You were never supposed to inherit this estate at all, dear brother." Outside, thunder rolled suddenly, and somewhere deep within the old mansion, a single floorboard creaked under a very careful footstep. Mara rose slowly, drew her weapon, and turned toward the corridor where the unseen watcher waited in cold patient darkness. Someone in this old house had killed Lord Ashcombe, and Mara truly intended to discover exactly who before the dawn.