The Saddle Stitch

The cold open

Midnight rain drums against the clerestory windows of the Oakes Atelier, where the rich scent of vegetable-tanned bridle leather hangs heavy in the shadowed air. Beneath the brass task lamps of the central cutting bench, master trunkmaker Bramwell Oakes lies sprawled across a hide of dark oxblood leather, his linen apron soaked through with crimson from a single, precise puncture wound delivered to his chest by a diamond-point harness knife.

The victim

Bramwell Oakes, 54, master trunkmaker and luxury leather goods atelier director

The lineup

• Tristan Varga
• Cleo Fontaine
• Malcolm Devereux