Run: 2026-07-01-01KWE8Q30CHN1GWC20JST5N655

The bell above the door jingled as Margaret shook rain from her umbrella, the smell of cinnamon and fresh bread wrapping around her like a blanket. "You're soaked through. Sit, I'll get you something warm." "I can't stay long. I just needed to ask you something." "About the Hendricks woman? I heard you found her cat wandering the alley behind the shop." "Word travels fast." "This is Millbrook. Word travels before it even happens." A cup of tea appeared, steam curling upward. Margaret wrapped her fingers around it gratefully. "Did she come in yesterday? Before it happened?" "Every day at three, like clockwork. Ordered the same thing—a blueberry scone and black coffee." "Did she seem different? Worried, maybe?" "Now that you mention it, she kept checking her phone. Wouldn't answer it, though. Just stared at the screen like it might bite her." "Do you remember what time she left?" "Quarter past three. Same as always. Why does that matter?" "Because the police think she died at four. Which means whoever she was avoiding found her within the hour." The baker's hands stilled over the register, flour dusting the counter like snow. "That poor woman. She seemed so frightened."