Run: 2026-10-06-01M48VRZ801WCXSQ9C9FKDQY0W

The antique clock in the hallway struck thirteen times as Detective Mara Voss stepped through the front door that evening. She noticed immediately that the dining room chandelier had been shattered across the Persian rug below it. Three guests sat frozen at the dinner table, their faces pale with shock and something else entirely. The victim, renowned art dealer Julian Blackwood, lay sprawled beside his untouched plate of coq au vin. His silver pocket watch had stopped at exactly nine seventeen, though no one could remember hearing any gunshot. Mara photographed the scene carefully before anyone could disturb the fragile evidence scattered across the room. A single white rose lay on Blackwood's chest, its stem snapped cleanly and dripping crimson onto his silk shirt. The butler, Henderson, stood by the kitchen door with trembling hands and a story he clearly wanted desperately to tell. Outside, rain began falling against the tall windows, washing away footprints that might have led toward the garden gate. Mara asked each guest to remain exactly where they were until she finished her preliminary examination of everything. The murder weapon, she suspected, was still hidden somewhere within these walls, waiting to be discovered by her.