Run: 2026-02-24-01KJ8WE3GH6ATR68VW7JF5ZQEC

The smell of cinnamon and warm bread drifted through Honey & Crumb as the morning light stretched across the checkered floor. The glass case gleamed with fresh pastries, and the old copper bell above the door had been quiet for a blessed ten minutes. "You heard about Gerald Finch, I suppose." "Hard not to. Half the town was whispering about it before I'd even unlocked the door this morning." "They're saying his shop was cleaned out. Every last piece of inventory, gone." "Cleaned out or just... moved?" A pause. The sound of tongs lifting a croissant onto wax paper. "What do you mean by that?" "Well, Gerald owed money to at least three people I can name without thinking too hard. Could be he moved it himself before anyone came collecting." "Or someone got there first." "Exactly what I said to my sister." The bell above the door chimed, and both women straightened instinctively, arranging their expressions into something more neighborly. "Morning, Deputy Reeves. The usual?" "Please. And make it two — Sheriff's in a mood today." He lowered his voice. "Don't suppose either of you knew Gerald Finch well?" The silence that followed was just a second too long.