Run: 2026-06-01-01KT1H4AHBCNQSKKXA1AKBPTJE

The bell above the door chimed as warm air rushed out, thick with cinnamon and sugar. "You're here early. Couldn't sleep either?" "Who can sleep after what happened? Poor Mr. Abernathy, found right there by the war memorial." "Keep your voice down. Half the town's already whispering, and I'd rather not add to it." "I'm only saying what everyone's thinking. He wasn't exactly beloved, was he? Always complaining about the noise, the parking, the bakery smells drifting into his shop." "That hardly makes someone a murderer. Besides, the police said it could've been his heart." "At two in the morning? Outside? In November? Use your head." "Here, take this cruller and stop speculating before you talk yourself into trouble." "You don't find it strange, then? That his ledger went missing the same night?" "How could you possibly know about the ledger?" "Margaret told me. She cleans the office next door, and the door was wide open when she arrived. Drawers pulled out, papers everywhere." A long silence stretched between them. Somewhere in the back, a timer dinged. "That's my scones. Don't go anywhere." "Wait—you're not telling me everything, are you? You knew him better than most." "Some things, dear, are better left in the oven."