Run: 2026-09-23-01M37HJKQQ47HWD7ATG144TNGM

At midnight, the church bells rang thirteen times, and everyone in Blackthorn House pretended they had heard only twelve chimes. By morning, the host lay beneath the dining table, his white gloves stained red, though the blood belonged elsewhere entirely. Inspector Mara Vale noticed the missing place setting first, then the fresh scratches beneath the dead man's silver wedding ring. No one admitted inviting a thirteenth guest, although an extra coat still dripped rainwater onto the spotless white marble floor. Outside, the gates remained locked, and the snow beyond them bore no footprints except those of the dead man's daughter. She had arrived yesterday by train, according to her mother, who now insisted the railway had closed three years ago. Then Mara found a ticket tucked inside the corpse's mouth, punched for a departure scheduled precisely thirteen minutes after midnight. On its back, written in the dead man's familiar hand, were six words: Do not let her leave again. Mara turned toward the daughter, but the girl's chair was empty, and her coat still hung beside the locked door.