Run: 2026-02-20-01KHXQCZHCEXJJ8MTF08KPW6Q5

The bell above the door jingled as the scent of cinnamon and buttery pastry wrapped around the newcomer like a warm hug. "Took you long enough. I was starting to think you’d gotten lost in your own backyard." "Very funny. You know I had to stop by the post office first. Mrs. Henderson cornered me with another story about her prize-winning dahlias." "Again? That woman could talk the ears off a scarecrow. What’d you do, nod and smile?" "Of course. What else could I do? She had me trapped between the stamp display and the lost-and-found bin." A chuckle rumbled as a sugar-dusted scone was slid across the counter. "Here. You’ve earned this after that ordeal." "Bless you. Did you add extra currants?" "Would I ever deprive you?" The first bite was met with a satisfied hum. "You’re a saint, you know that?" "Don’t let the choir hear you say that. They’ll start asking me to sing solos again." "Now *that* would be a crime. Worse than whatever’s been going on with the missing blueberry pies." A pause. A slow, knowing glance over the rim of a teacup. "Speaking of crimes… you hear about the footprints behind the church?"