Run: 2026-07-25-01KYD638P6VE6Q4DE2375T8GKK

The bell over Honeycutt's Bakery jingled, ushering in cold October air and the scent of wet maple leaves. Loaves of sourdough cooled on racks, and the chalkboard still cheerfully read - Judging at Noon! Good Luck Mabel! But the front display was wrong. In the center pedestal, where Mrs. Abernathy's prize apple crumble should have been waiting for the Harvest Festival judges, there was only an empty plate and a trail of cinnamon crumbs leading toward the back door. "Well, looks like someone wanted an early breakfast." "Or someone didn't want her winning a blue ribbon three years straight. That crumble was supposed to go straight to the mayor's table." "Come on, this is Bramblewick. The biggest crime last week was Mrs. Finn stealing Luther's garden gnome." "And yet I found this on the floor by the pantry." "What is it?" "A button. Shiny, brass, official-looking. Like from a uniform. And there was powdered sugar smeared on the windowsill, like someone climbed out in a hurry." "Deputy Miller was here at six, said he just wanted coffee. Keeps saying he hates apples, though." "Exactly. Why dust a man who hates apples with cinnamon and sugar?"