Run: 2026-04-24-01KQ0P5XD8NCYBJ4VCPGDJFD4D

Molly flattened the crayon-scribbled map on the dashboard and pinned it with a half-eaten doughnut. “Right,” she said. “Target: the Henderson twins’ seventh birthday party. Location: community hall. Security: one grandmother, two balloon arches, and a magician named The Amazing Plonko.” Bill peered through the windshield at the hall, where paper dinosaurs bobbed in the breeze. “I don’t like it.” “You never like it.” “I liked the biscuit factory job.” “You got trapped in a vat of custard.” “Warm custard, Molly. There’s a difference.” She tapped the map. “Presents are here, beside the cake table. We go in disguised as children’s entertainers, create a diversion, and remove the parcels.” Bill lifted a sequined top hat from his lap. “I still say my clown name should be Sir Honks-a-Lot.” “It sounds like a goose with a mortgage.” “Fine. Professor Giggles.” “You’re not a professor of anything.” “I’ve studied snacks extensively.” Molly opened a canvas bag and pulled out juggling pins, a fake moustache, and a clipboard. “Listen carefully. We are not actually stealing the presents.” Bill blinked. “We’re not?” “No. We’re retrieving them.” “From children?” “From Derek ‘Sticky Fingers’ Doyle. He’s posing as Uncle Derek, and he’s already swapped half the gifts for empty boxes. Mrs. Henderson hired us to catch him quietly before the children notice.” Bill sat straighter. “So we’re heroic thieves?” “Consultants.” “With masks?” “No masks.” “With capes?” “Absolutely no capes.” “Then how will people know we’re heroic?” “They’ll know because we don’t fall over the punch bowl.” Bill considered this. “That’s a high standard.” Molly shoved the top hat onto his head. “Your job is to keep the children watching the puppet show.” “I don’t do puppets.” “You own six.” “They’re colleagues.” “Your colleagues are going to save a birthday.” He sighed and pulled a sock puppet from his pocket. “Reginald hates pressure.” “Reginald is a sock.” “Say that to his face.” Inside the hall, the air smelled of frosting, crisps, and sugar-fuelled chaos. Children shrieked around a bouncy castle shaped like a dragon. At the far wall, a heap of bright presents glittered beneath a banner reading HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LUCY AND LEO! Molly smiled at a woman in a dinosaur apron. “Mrs. Henderson?” The woman whispered, “Thank goodness. Uncle Derek is by the gift table. Blue shirt. Suspicious knees.” Bill glanced over. “His knees do look criminal.” “Places,” Molly said. Bill leapt onto a small stage. “Ladies, gentlemen, and persons currently wearing cake! I am Professor Giggles, and this is Reginald the Remarkably Tax-Aware Ferret!” A child shouted, “That’s a sock!” Reginald bobbed. “And yet I have better manners than you, small sir!” The children erupted with laughter. Even The Amazing Plonko paused mid-card trick. Molly slipped toward the present table, clipboard raised. Derek was crouched beside a sack, sliding a shiny parcel inside. “Uncle Derek,” she said brightly, “quick inventory for the thank-you notes.” He froze. “What?” “Name of gift?” “Er… box.” “Lovely. From?” “Me.” “To?” “Birthday.” Molly clicked her pen. “Very convincing.” Onstage, Bill shouted, “Who wants to see Reginald escape from the Castle of Doom?” Every child roared, “Me!” Derek stood, sweating. “I was just tidying.” “Into a sack marked DEREK’S LAUNDRY?” “It’s my laundry.” “It jingles.” “My socks are festive.” Molly yanked open the sack. Out tumbled dolls, books, puzzles, and one remote-control dinosaur that immediately began roaring and ramming Derek’s ankle. Bill, still performing, pointed dramatically. “Behold! Reginald has summoned justice!” Mrs. Henderson gasped. “Derek!” Derek tried to run, slipped on a paper plate, and landed sitting in the bouncy castle entrance. The dragon swallowed him up with a wheeze. The children cheered. Molly gathered the recovered presents. “No harm done.” Bill bowed as Reginald waved. “Another successful mission, partner.” Molly glanced at his bulging jacket. “Bill.” “What?” “Why is there a cupcake in your pocket?” He looked offended. “That’s not theft. That’s evidence.” Reginald nodded. “Delicious evidence.”