Suspense | Sunday

The victim: Devashish “Dev” Mitra, 54, CEO of Horizon Aeronautics. Cause of death: Exsanguination due to a single, precise incision along the carotid artery. Location: His penthouse study, locked from the inside. Time of death: 8:15 PM last Sunday.

“What?”

Arjun stood, pulling on his coat. “That’s the question. And tonight is the third Sunday of the month. If the pattern holds, someone, somewhere, is already waiting for their visitor.” Sunday Suspense

Arjun took a slow sip. His son, Rohan, now fifteen and dangerously curious, sat cross-legged on the rug. “So, it’s a locked-room mystery, Baba. The killer must have never been in the room.”

“Then how did the blood get on the wall?” Arjun asked, not looking up. The victim: Devashish “Dev” Mitra, 54, CEO of

The door had been bolted. The windows were on the 42nd floor, sealed shut. No vents, no secret passages. The security cameras in the hallway showed no one entering or leaving between 7:00 PM and 10:00 PM.

Inside, Dev Mitra had been found slumped over his mahogany desk, a glass of wine toppled beside him, and on the wall behind him—written in what appeared to be his own blood—the words: THE THIRD SUNDAY. Time of death: 8:15 PM last Sunday

“No. A memory. Or a conscience.”