Run: 2026-02-20-01KHY9EC08CGF5ZDHQ9RC3J40D

The scent of cinnamon and warm apples clung to everything. A dusting of flour coated the counter, and a small bell chimed as someone entered. “Morning. Usual, please?” A sigh, a brief rustle of paper. “You know me too well. Though, truthfully, a blueberry scone would be lovely today.” “A change of pace, then? Seas are calm, I presume?” “Calm enough. Though I did find old Mrs. Hawthorne’s prize-winning roses trampled this morning. Quite a mess. Seems like something… deliberate.” “Deliberate? Who would target roses?” “That’s what has me puzzled. She practically guarded those blooms with her life.” A pause. “Have you seen young Timmy Higgins about?” “He was helping his mother with the deliveries earlier. Bright and early, as always.” “Right. Bright and early. I just thought… he’s been acting peculiar lately. A certain shifty look about him. And he did have a rather suspicious smudge of dirt on his knees.” A small, hesitant laugh. “Probably nothing. Just a boy being a boy.”