Run: 2026-03-25-01KMJ8MQM41HY435R7FTCAQ8ZD

The morning sun slanted through the bakery window, dust motes dancing above baskets of cinnamon rolls and sourdough loaves. The bell above the door jingled as it closed. “You’re in early. Everything alright?” “Saw something strange last night. Down by the old mill path.” “Again? What this time, glowing eyes in the woods?” “Funny. No, it was Martha Hargrove’s cat. Sitting right on Judge Pembleton’s porch. Dead center. Like it was waiting.” “That cat’s been missing for weeks. Poor Martha’s putting up posters everywhere.” “And now it’s on that crotchety man’s porch like a macabre doorstop. He wasn’t home. At least, no lights.” “You think someone put it there on purpose?” “Why? What would that prove? Unless… unless it’s a clue.” “A clue? To what, a missing feline caper?” “Don’t scoff. That cat vanished the same night old man Willoughby turned up with his prize marigolds uprooted. And you remember how he blamed the Pembletons?” “You think this is marital sabotage by proxy?” “Or something worse. That cat knew things. Heard things. Pets always do.” “You’ve been reading too many detective novels.” “Or I’m onto something. Either way, somebody moved that cat. Somebody who didn’t want it found in the creek where I found it yesterday.” “You didn’t tell me that.” “Because now it’s on a porch. And nothing in this town ends up somewhere without meaning.”