Run: 2026-04-25-01KQ2JT8QD54B3B15S1YV0DYDS

The smell of fresh cinnamon and yeast wrapped around the small space like a well-worn blanket. A tray of croissants sat forgotten on the counter between the two figures, their golden tops slowly cooling under the light. “You’ve been polishing that same display case for twenty minutes, and you haven’t touched the fingerprint.” “It’s not a fingerprint. It’s a smudge. Probably from a sticky toddler.” “A sticky toddler wearing size eleven loafers and carrying a grudge? Because that smudge is right next to the lock, and the lock was picked.” “You don’t know that. Maybe Gertie forgot her keys again and jimmied it with a bobby pin.” “Gertie has been entering the Founder’s Day Bake-Off for thirty-seven years. She knew Margaret was going to switch from vanilla to cardamom. She was seen buying a jar of the stuff at the market yesterday morning, right before Margaret’s recipe card went missing and her kitchen window was found open.” “That’s circumstantial.” “It’s a motive. And it’s the only lead we have before the judges arrive.”