Run: 2026-07-25-01KYD6X0X8WH543N2DJ2WTV5Z8

The bell above the door jingled as wind scattered flour dust across the counter. Morning light pooled on the glass case where lemon tarts sat in neat rows—except for one empty spot. "You're baking early, even for you." "Couldn't sleep. Not after what I found behind the shop last night." "The note?" "Folded into a scone bag. Someone went to a lot of trouble to warn me about the Henderson fundraiser." "Or to scare you away from it." "Margaret, half the town is bidding on those antique recipe cards. If something's wrong with them—" "Then we'd better figure it out before Saturday." She reached under the counter and pulled out a second note, edges browned with age. "This was tucked inside my grandmother's old ledger. Same handwriting. Same message." "You've been holding out on me." "I was hoping I was wrong. But look—'the third card holds the truth.' Your note says the same thing." "Then somebody's been planning this for years." "Years, dear. Decades, maybe." The oven timer chimed. Neither of them moved. "We need to get into that auction early." "Before whoever left these does." "And before anyone else ends up with flour on their hands for the wrong reason."