Molly paced the dimly lit room, her eyes fixed on the blueprint of the house on the desk. "Bill, have you scoped out the place? Do we know how many brats there will be at this party?" Bill shrugged, lighting a cigarette. "Couple dozen, from what I heard. But who cares? More presents for us." Molly sighed. "You're such an idiot, Bill. We need to be precise. One kid notices us, the whole party is on us faster than you can say 'pinatas'. And then the cops." "Gees, relax. It's a kid's party, not Fort Knox. No alarms, no armored guards." "How do you know that?" Molly snapped. "The flyers, dummy! 'No outside food or drinks.' If they were worried about a break-in, they'd have some security." Molly chewed her thumbnail, considering. "Alright, you may have something there. But we need to be quick. In, out, done. Hard enough to steal a bunch of My Little Ponies without that creep McGruff the Crime Dog sniffing around." Bill laughed. "Molly, you're such a worrywart. We've pulled off bigger heists than this. Remember the zoo job?" "Where you almost got eaten by a tiger? Yeah, that was real smooth." "Hey, who's gonna feed that tiger a burgler when there's a dozen punk kids to snack on instead?" Molly shook her head. "You're hopeless. But what's the plan then, Mr. Bigshot? How do we get into this kiddie shindig without raising suspicion?" "Costumes, of course! We put on some mascot duds, show up as the clown and the magician. All smiles and tricks for the kiddies." "And when they open presents, we just brazenly grab the goods and make a run for it?" "Really Molly, do you even have to ask? And I was thinking, while they're occupied, we could stash the presents in our suits, just to avoid drawing attention." "I don't know, Bill. That's a lot of moving parts. Those things are hot and sweaty, what if the sweat smarts in our eyes?" "Heh, maybe we'll find some gold chains and sashes in the loot anyway. Real thief digs." Molly sighed, giving in. "You know, you really are infuriating. Alright, you've got yourself a partner in crime. But if this violates any kiddie laws, don't come crying to me." Bill smirked. "Aww, that's why I love ya, Molly. Stick in the mud till the end. Cheers to a good haul!" He raised an imaginary cup to her. "Let's just get it done so I can take a bath. We'll be the talk of the black market, I'm tellin' ya. Piles of frilly pajamas and porcelain dolls just waiting for Daddy long lion." "Ooh, make that the next book title! Daddy Long Lion and the Festival of Fabulous Loot. I can see it now!" Molly rolled her eyes, stifling a smile. In the end, maybe Bill's charms didn't outweigh his flaws. But it certainly made their hijinks never boring. "Alright, kids eat cake at 4PM. We've got two hours. Now go put on some clown shoes and stop wasting my time."