Run: 2026-07-25-01KYCQVNRVE5M64Z39Z32AXE7Y

The bell over the door jangled, and the smell of cardamom buns thickened as the oven cracked open. "You're early. I haven't even glazed the morning batch." "I'm not here for buns. Well. I'm here for buns, but also for information." "Those cost extra." "Put it on my tab. Margery Pike told the entire quilting circle that she saw a light on in the old Hadley place at two in the morning." "Margery Pike also saw a mountain lion behind the Presbyterian church, and it turned out to be Doreen's cat." "That cat is enormous." A tray landed on the counter with a soft clatter. Steam curled between them. "Fine. Say there was a light. What would that prove?" "That someone's been inside. And that whoever took the church silver didn't drive it out of town like the constable's been insisting." "Or that the Hadley boy came home and nobody told us." "Nobody tells us anything. That's precisely why we have to guess." "Sit down. Eat that while it's warm, and don't get glaze on the ledger." "You keep the ledger under the counter now?" "I keep everything under the counter now. Ever since somebody started asking questions in my bakery at half past five in the morning."