Run: 2026-07-25-01KYD6KM6VXM1V5SAZRXH3KWJ0

The diner booth smelled of burnt coffee and poor decisions, which made it Bill's favorite office. He spread a crayon drawing across the table, flattening it against the ketchup stains. "That's the target?" Molly squinted at the wobbly purple rectangle. "That's the Hendersons' house. I got intel from the inside." Bill tapped a green blob. "This is the bouncy castle. We approach through it." "We approach *through* the bouncy castle?" "Nobody suspects the bouncy castle, Molly. That's Heist Rule Number One." "I thought Heist Rule Number One was 'never work with clowns.'" "That's Rule Two now. I updated the list." Bill sipped his coffee gravely. "Saturday. Two o'clock. Little Timmy Henderson turns seven, and every kid in the neighborhood is bringing a present. Do you know what kids get for their seventh birthday these days?" "Sticker packs?" "Tablets, Molly. Gaming consoles. One kid's bringing a drone. A *drone*. At a seven-year-old's birthday party. What's he going to do with a drone? File his taxes?" Molly leaned back, arms crossed. "So let me get this straight. You want to rob a child's birthday party." "I want to *liberate* roughly three thousand dollars in unopened electronics from a suburban backyard. The child's incidental." "Bill, this is a new low, and I was there for the Easter egg job." "The Easter egg job was profitable!" "They were chocolate, Bill. Everything melted in the van." Bill waved this away like a man swatting a fact. "Here's the plan. You go in dressed as a party entertainer. I found you a costume." He reached under the booth and produced a sequined vest and a plastic wand. "I'm not a magician." "You're a *magic assistant*. There's a difference. The magician has skills. You just hold the hat and go 'ooh.'" He demonstrated, a noise somewhere between a seal and a haunted kettle. "And what are you doing while I'm holding the hat?" "Catering." He puffed out his chest. "I carry the presents table to the van. One trip. Clean." "Bill. People will notice the catering guy walking off with forty wrapped presents." "Not if I'm carrying a tray of juice boxes on top. Misdirection, Molly. It's practically magic too. We should get matching vests." Molly pinched the bridge of her nose. "What's the escape plan?" "Piñata." "That's not a plan, that's a candy dispenser." "You break the piñata, every kid in the yard stampedes one direction, and we walk calmly the other way. It's a smokescreen made of children." "You're using children as a smokescreen." "I'm using their *enthusiasm*. Very renewable resource." Molly stared at the crayon map for a long moment. The green blob did, admittedly, look strategically sound. "What's my cut?" "Sixty-forty." "I want the drone." "You'll crash it into a tree." "I want the drone, Bill." "Fine. But you have to do the 'ooh.' Every time I pull a scarf out of something, you 'ooh.'" "Deal." She grabbed the wand. "And I'm keeping the vest." "Everyone says that. Nobody ever returns the vest."