Run: 2026-10-09-01M4FYN627NCGR0SYF58N14T35

The rain fell hard on the silent manor tonight. Detective Marcus Hale stepped carefully across the wet gravel. Behind him, the flashing police lights painted the hedges red. Nobody had expected the body in the library today. Lady Evelyn Ashworth lay motionless beside her overturned chair. A single crystal glass rested near her outstretched hand. Marcus knelt slowly and studied the faint smell of almonds. Someone had poisoned her tea before the guests arrived. The butler, Thomas Reed, stood trembling by the doorway. His hands were stained with something dark and sticky. Marcus noticed a muddy bootprint leading toward the garden terrace. Whoever left it had been here very recently indeed. He looked up at the grand staircase above them. Three guests had quarreled bitterly over dinner that very evening. Now every one of them was hiding a secret. Marcus pulled out his notebook and began writing carefully. The first question was simple, yet deeply troubling. Who had wanted Lady Evelyn dead so badly?