Run: 2026-07-25-01KYCRHDV7SFQNCTCKMC0GZZY1

Molly spread the napkin across the diner table and smoothed it flat with the side of her hand. "That's the perimeter," she said. "Ketchup bottle is the bouncy castle." "Why is the bouncy castle relevant?" "Everything's relevant, Bill. The bouncy castle is where they put the shoes." "Shoes." "Fourteen pairs of light-up sneakers, unsupervised, and children who cannot tell their own shoes apart. You could start a franchise." Bill set down his coffee. "We're not here for shoes. We're here for presents. You said presents. You called me at six in the morning and said, and I'm quoting, 'Bill, the greatest score of our careers, wrapped and stacked and labeled.'" "They are stacked. That's the beauty. Aunt Deborah stacks them on the folding table by the sliding door, and Aunt Deborah goes home at two because of her hip." "How do you know about Deborah's hip?" "I've been to three of these parties. Reconnaissance." "You crashed children's birthday parties." "I brought a card each time. I'm not an animal." Molly moved a sugar packet onto the napkin. "Here's the piñata. Here's the moment. When the blindfold goes on, every adult in that yard turns to watch a six-year-old swing a bat in a crowd. That's not a party, Bill, that's a hostage situation. Nobody's looking at the gift table for ninety seconds." "Ninety seconds isn't enough." "It's plenty if the van's on the alley side and you stop asking me questions about shoes." Bill rubbed his forehead. "Can I say something?" "You're going to anyway." "These are children." "Statistically, yes." "It's a birthday. There's a kid in there who's turning seven and thinking today's the best day of his life." "Her life. Priya. Turning eight, actually, and she's getting a scooter, a karaoke machine, and roughly nine hundred dollars in gift cards, because her father's a dentist and dentists cannot conceive of a gift under fifty dollars." "Nine hundred?" "In cards. Gift cards, Bill. Untraceable, unmarked, no fence required. It's cash that comes with a cartoon bee on it." Bill was quiet for a second. "That's very clean money." "It's the cleanest money there is." "I hate that I'm thinking about it." "That's how I know you're a professional." "And nobody's hurt." "Nobody's even sad, not really. You know what happens when you steal eight-year-olds' presents? The parents feel guilty and buy them better ones. We're not thieves, Bill. We're an upgrade program." "That's the worst thing anyone's ever said to me." "I said it to you last April about the wedding." "And I said it then too." He picked up the sugar packet, turned it over, and put it back on the piñata's spot. "Fine. But we leave the scooter." "Why?" "Because a scooter's the thing you remember. You don't remember gift cards. You remember the scooter." Molly looked at him for a long moment. "You are the softest criminal in this hemisphere." "We leave the scooter." "We leave the scooter." She folded the napkin into her pocket. "Wear the clown nose. Deborah loves a clown."