Run: 2026-09-23-01M36WGSGQSEZ2AS8P30TE5WW0

Molly spread the blueprints across the hood of the car. They were stolen from the municipal recreation center, printed on official letterhead, and detailed every corridor of the Hargrove Community Hall. Bill leaned over her shoulder with a pair of reading glasses that were definitely not his. "Molly, I have to say it again. This is a children's party." "And?" "And we're stealing from children." "We're stealing from their parents. Children don't buy presents. They don't even understand the concept of currency." "My cousin's kid handed me a nickel and told me it was worth a million dollars." "Exactly my point. Unreliable consumers. Now look here. The present table is on the south wall near the bouncy castle." "The bouncy castle. Of course there's a bouncy castle." "Bill, there are sixteen gift bags, nine wrapped boxes, one suspiciously heavy bag from Build-a-Bear, and a suspiciously light bag from Build-a-Bear." "What's the light one?" "Kid stuffed the bear with tissue paper and kept the animal. We're not touching that one. That kid has integrity." "You're doing a background check on children now?" "I do my homework. Now, the party starts at two. We arrive at two-fifteen dressed as clowns." "No." "Dressed as clowns, Bill." "I said no." "Every good party has clowns. It's in the Geneva Convention or something. Nobody questions a clown." "Every person alive questions a clown." "Then they question them and then they move on because the pizza is here and little Brayden is trying to blow out his candles again. Brayden has weak lungs. It's sad but it gives us a window." "What kind of clown are you talking about?" "Honk horn, big shoes, wigs. We steal the costumes from the theater department at the university. They won't notice. They don't notice anything. They put on a play last month with the wrong ending." "How do you even know that?" "I keep my ear to the ground." "To the ground at the university theater department?" "The ground is everywhere, Bill." "Okay. Say we do this. Say we're clowns at a children's party stealing presents. How do we leave? We can't just walk out with six bags of merchandise in clown shoes." "We don't leave. Not right away. We participate." "You want to participate in the party." "One of us does a magic show. Distraction. The other loads the presents into the supply closet on the west wall. From there, through the service corridor to the parking lot. The van is already there." "We have a van?" "We have a van." "When did we get a van?" "Tuesday." "It's Tuesday." "Then we got a van today." Bill removed the reading glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked at the blueprints. He looked at Molly's handwritten notes in the margins. There were little drawings of balloons and a diagram labeled BRAYDEN'S LUNG CAPACITY — ESTIMATED. "I want to be the magic show clown." "You can't do magic." "I can do one thing. I can pull a coin out of someone's ear." "That's a counterfeit nickel, isn't it? Your cousin's kid." "He gave me a million dollars. I intend to use it." Molly folded the blueprints and tucked them under her arm. She was already walking toward the car. "Two-fifteen. Big shoes. And for God's sake, practice the coin thing."