Run: 2026-05-29-01KSSJPVMJD7XP7DC93ZMCN586

The bell above the door chimed as the morning light spilled across the flour-dusted counter. "You're here early. The cinnamon rolls aren't even out of the oven yet." "I'm not here for the rolls. I heard about Margaret." A long pause. The scrape of a tray being set down. "Everyone's heard about Margaret. The whole town's been whispering since they found her." "Then you'll know why I came. You were the last one to see her, weren't you? Tuesday night, after closing." "Who told you that?" "Does it matter? Were you?" The hiss of the oven door opening filled the silence. The warm scent of cinnamon drifted between them. "She came in for her usual order. Two dozen for the church bake sale. We talked, she left. That's all." "That's all? People are saying you two had words. Loud ones." "People say a lot of things. Doesn't make them true." "So you weren't arguing about the money?" The tray clattered against the counter. "How do you know about the money?" "I don't. But you just told me there was some." A chair scraped back. Footsteps, slow and deliberate. "You should leave now. Before you say something you'll regret." "Or before you do?"