Run: 2026-09-23-01M36SS69Z4D0XJZECRJZF9HQ2

Morning light pooled on the bakery tiles, pale as spilled milk. The usual clatter of pans was missing. Only the coffee urn sighed. "You said the back door stuck." "It does. Has since February." "Then explain the footprints in the flour. Small. Careful. They stop at the pie case." A cloth twisted between nervous hands. "The blackberry lattice is gone. Everything else is exactly where I left it." "Including the money." "Every bill. I counted twice before I called you." Outside, a delivery truck grumbled past the square and faded. The town had not woken enough to notice a missing pie, but the town always noticed eventually. "Who knew she ordered it for the council breakfast?" "Half of Main Street. She announced it like a verdict." "And who had a reason to make her look foolish this morning?" Silence held, warm and yeasty. "You're thinking of the new clerk." "I'm thinking of whoever wiped the knob and forgot the windowsill." A smear of dark jam glinted there, already drying. "We should call the sheriff." "We should plate the muffins first. If this is a message, it can wait until after the rush. Messages always do, in a place this small."