Run: 2026-07-25-01KYD7A2VEVCKA34CHA3JRVGXG

The bell over Sugarloaf Bakery jingled, even though the CLOSED sign still hung in the window. Afternoon light cut through flour dust in the air, and in the middle of the empty display case sat a small white bakery box tied with black twine. "You're telling me nobody saw who left it?" "Not a soul came through the front. And it wasn't here when I went to the pantry for butter. Two minutes, tops." "You didn't open it, did you?" "Do I look like an amateur sleuth? Of course not. Well, I lifted one corner. Just one." "And?" "And there's a single earring sitting on a pile of the most perfect almond crescents I've ever seen. Real diamonds. The same one Mrs. Finch reported missing the night her husband disappeared." "Almonds again. That's the second time this week someone's tried to use them as a weapon." "The sheriff said her husband had a severe allergy." "Who in Maple Hollow would know that and bake a whole batch anyway? And leave the evidence in your shop?"