Run: 2026-05-22-01KS86GJC3SCG0SRJYY8ZJ7B98

The scent of toasted pecans and browned butter hung heavy in the morning air. Flour dusted the scarred butcher-block counter like a fresh snowfall, settling over the rolling pins and copper mixing bowls. "You’re absolutely certain it was bitter almond?" "Positive. The fondant on his wedding cake tasted exactly like it. I swiped a piece from the trash before the forensics team arrived." "But the groom was notoriously allergic to tree nuts." "Which makes the cyanide angle much more interesting, doesn't it?" A wire cooling rack clattered loudly against the stainless steel prep table. "Keep your voice down. Mrs. Higgins is picking up her sourdough in ten minutes, and the walls in this kitchen are paper-thin." "Let her hear. She’s the one who baked the groom's cake in the first place." "She’s also the one who holds the mortgage on this bakery." The antique brass cash register dinged sharply just as the industrial oven timer went off. "Then we’d better find the real killer before she forecloses on us." "Or before she decides to bake us into the next batch of snickerdoodles." A dusting of powdered sugar drifted down from the rafters, settling over the cooling racks like a silent shroud.