Run: 2026-07-01-01KWE9YNNE1ZDKHBVD8QJTV4FF

The smell of cinnamon rolls hung thick in the air as Margaret wiped down the counter for the third time, though it was already spotless. "You heard about Constance Whitfield, didn't you?" "Heard what?" "She's not paying her tab anymore. Says she found a better bakery two towns over." "That's ridiculous. There isn't a better bakery within fifty miles." "Try telling her that. She was in here Tuesday complaining about everything—too sweet, too dry, too expensive." "Constance complains about breathing if she thinks someone's listening." "True enough. But then Old Pete told me she's been seen driving to Millbrook every morning. Same time, every day, rain or shine." "Maybe she's got a doctor's appointment." "For three weeks straight? At seven in the morning?" The bell above the door chimed, and both women fell silent, watching as a stranger in a gray coat stepped inside, glancing around the shop like he was memorizing every corner. "That's the fourth one this week." "Fourth what?" "Fourth stranger asking about the old Hendricks property. Something's going on in this town, and I intend to find out what." "You and your theories." "My theories solved the case of the missing church funds, didn't they?"