Run: 2026-07-25-01KYCXQFHJW5BSP6EGFT0MT5MY

The bell above the door chimed, bringing in a gust of cinnamon-scented air. "You're early. The sourdough isn't out for another ten minutes." "I didn't come for bread." "Then you came for gossip. Everyone else does." "There's talk about the missing ledger from the library auction." "And you're asking me? I knead dough, not detective novels." "Mrs. Peabody said she saw someone in a flour-dusted coat leaving through the back alley last Tuesday." "That could be half the town. We all wear white." "This wasn't a baker's coat. It was wool. Dark gray." "Dark gray wool in July? That'd be suspicious, all right." "Exactly. And she mentioned a sweet smell, not lavender—almond extract." The mixer hummed in the background. A tray of croissants slid onto the cooling rack. "Almond extract. That's my grandmother's glaze recipe. Only three people have it." "Name them." "Not until you buy a danish. I'm not running a charity interrogation." "Fine. One raspberry. Now—who are the three?" "Me, my sister in Vermont, and old Mr. Holloway before he... well. Before." "Before he died?" "Before he stopped returning my calls. There's a difference." "Not in a court of law there isn't." "Are you accusing me?" "I'm accusing the croissant of being too flaky. That's all."