# The Missing Recipe The morning sun slanted through the front windows of Sweet Crumb Bakery, casting warm rectangles across the flour-dusted counter. The scent of cinnamon and fresh sourdough hung thick in the air while a tray of croissants cooled on the wire rack. "You're telling me it just vanished? A recipe card doesn't sprout legs and walk out of a bakery." "I'm telling you exactly that. I locked up at six, and when I came in this morning, the box was open and Great-Aunt Mabel's brown butter pound cake recipe was gone. Everything else was untouched." "That recipe won you the Harvest Festival three years running. Someone wanted it badly enough to break in." "Nothing was broken. That's what bothers me. Whoever did this had a key." "How many copies exist?" "Just the one. Mabel wrote it on lavender cardstock in 1962. I never digitized it because she made me promise to keep it handwritten. Said it preserved the magic." "That's charming and deeply impractical. Who else has keys to this place?" "Only two people. You and my ex-husband." A long pause filled the space between them, heavy as unbaked dough. "Well. This just got uncomfortable."