Run: 2026-09-02-01M1H5EG17Z18YZMP0X396705B

The bell above the door jangled as the smell of cinnamon drifted through the shop. "Marjorie, you're here early. The ovens haven't even warmed up yet." "I know, I know. I just couldn't sit at home another minute. Did you hear about Harold?" "Harold from the hardware store? What about him?" "He's gone. Packed up in the middle of the night, supposedly. Left his front door wide open and his cat on the porch." "That doesn't sound like Harold. He'd never leave Whiskers behind." "My point exactly. And get this—Ruth saw his truck parked outside the fairgrounds at eleven o'clock. But by six this morning, it was gone." "Maybe he went fishing. He does that sometimes." "At midnight? In the rain? With a thunderstorm rolling in?" "Well, when you put it that way..." "And here's the strangest part. His kitchen light was on all night. Dot across the street watched it until two." "You've been talking to Dot already? It's barely six-thirty." "She called me. She was frightened, said she saw a second silhouette in the window around one." "Harold doesn't have houseguests. Ever." "Precisely. Now hand me an apron. If we're going to solve this, we'll need coffee. And those morning glory muffins before the church crowd arrives."