The Cinnabar Cordial

The cold open

Midnight settled over the gilded wainscoting of the velvet-curtained tasting parlor, where crystal decanters caught the low amber glow of shaded brass sconces. Leopold Vance sat frozen in his high-backed leather wing chair, his throat seized, foam dried at the corners of his cyanotic lips, and an overturned cordial goblet staining the Turkish runner beneath his outstretched hand. The bitter metallic tang of concentrated monkshood tincture hung heavy over the still, airless room.

The victim

Leopold Vance, 57, rare vintage spirits broker and private high-stakes creditor

The lineup

• Haddon Thorne
• Pascaline Dubois
• Orson Kroll