Run: 2026-09-23-01M37HS236CBDHZAYDNY9DE9CJ

At midnight, Detective Mara Vale arrived at Blackthorn House, where every clock had stopped and the front door stood open. Inside, the guests gathered around a dinner table set for eight, though nine chairs scraped against the polished floorboards. The ninth chair held a folded coat, a silver pocket watch, and a note bearing Mara's name in red ink. Beyond the dining room, someone began playing the piano, slowly enough for Mara to hear a man's footsteps between notes. She followed the music upstairs and found Lord Blackthorn beneath his portrait, dead with a black ribbon around his throat. His youngest daughter stood nearby, holding a candle, and asked Mara why she had taken so long to come tonight. Mara looked at the note again; she had received the invitation only that morning, three days after its writer died.