Run: 2026-02-24-01KJ8VV2DQ6EP6DHG1YHDC0XDF

The morning sun slanted through the front windows of Sweet Crumb Bakery, warming the glass case where rows of cinnamon rolls glistened under their glaze. The bell above the door chimed, and muddy boots tracked across the checkered floor. "You heard about Gerald, I suppose." "Heard he didn't show up to open the hardware store this morning. That's not like him." "That's not the half of it. Sheriff found his back door wide open and the cash register emptied out. No sign of Gerald anywhere." A long pause filled the space between them, broken only by the soft thud of a coffee mug being set on the counter. "He owed money to some people. Everybody in Millbrook knows that." "Owing money is one thing. Vanishing is another." "You think something happened to him?" "I think someone should check on that fishing cabin he keeps out past the Hendricks property. He mentioned it to me last Tuesday when he came in for his usual sourdough. Said he'd been fixing it up. Said he might need a place to disappear for a while." "He said *disappear*?" "His exact word. I remember because it struck me as odd. Now it strikes me as something else entirely."