Run: 2026-07-01-01KWE8X8R5GHN863SXJWKDA4JY

The bell above the door jingled as Margaret shook the rain from her umbrella, eyeing the empty display case where the lemon tarts usually sat. "You're out early. Or someone else got here before me." "Cleaned me out by seven. Every last tart, gone." "That's not like the Tuesday crowd." "Wasn't the Tuesday crowd. It was a stranger. Paid cash, didn't say two words, and asked me to box them up separate—like gifts." "That's odd. Did you get a look at him?" "Tall. Wore a coat too heavy for this weather. And here's the thing—he asked about Eleanor. Wanted to know if she still lived above the hardware store." "Eleanor hasn't lived there in years. Not since the fire." "That's what I told him. He just nodded, paid, and left." "You don't think this has anything to do with what happened at the Historical Society last night?" "The missing ledger?" "The missing ledger. Eleanor used to keep the town records, remember? Before she disappeared." "She didn't disappear. She moved to Ohio." "Did she? Or is that just what everyone assumes?" The coffee machine hissed behind the counter, filling the silence between them like a held breath.