Run: 2026-09-23-01M37HARQRJCJJJ3CW3X5FXMA8

Molly spread a floor plan across the café table. It was drawn in crayon and labeled THE CASTLE OF BIRTHDAY. “Your intelligence source is a child?” Bill asked. “My intelligence source is the child’s grandmother. This is what she had in her handbag.” “The grandmother drew it?” “She said the birthday girl did. See that purple blob? Kitchen.” “I thought it was a dragon.” “The dragon is in the kitchen. It’s a themed party.” Bill lowered his voice. “Remind me why we’re stealing presents from a seven-year-old.” “We’re not. We’re stealing them from the parents who accidentally had them delivered to the wrong address.” “All of them?” “We don’t know which one contains the emerald.” “So our plan is to steal every present at a children’s party.” “Temporarily. We unwrap them, find the emerald, and return the rest.” “That’s not a plan. That’s an apology with logistics.” Molly tapped the drawing. “Party starts at two. We arrive at two fifteen, dressed as entertainers.” “I’m not wearing the unicorn costume again.” “You wore it beautifully.” “A child tried to feed me a carrot through the eyehole.” “Because you stayed in character.” “Because I couldn’t find the zipper.” A waiter approached. Molly folded the map, revealing a menu beneath it. They ordered coffees and waited until he left. “Fine,” Bill said. “What am I wearing?” “Knight’s armor.” “That’s worse. I’ll sound like a drawer full of cutlery.” “Perfect. They’ve booked a princess party. Nobody will question a knight.” “They might question a knight carrying a sack of presents.” “You’ll carry a laundry bag.” “Oh, that’s much less suspicious.” “I’ll announce a surprise game. Everyone puts their gifts in the bag. Then I take them to the ‘royal vault’ for safekeeping.” “Where’s the vault?” “Guest bathroom.” Bill studied the crayon drawing. “That purple blob?” “Dragon. The bathroom is the green rectangle.” “Then why does it say POTTY DRAGON?” “Because the dragon has a name.” He leaned back. “We need a better exit. The front door faces the garden.” “Side gate?” “Locked.” “Fence?” “I’m wearing armor.” “Take it off.” “In the bathroom with forty stolen gifts?” “Borrow the dragon’s wings.” Their coffees arrived. Bill waited until the waiter was gone, then whispered, “What if the emerald isn’t there?” “Then we put everything back before cake.” “And if someone catches us?” “We say it’s pass-the-parcel.” “With every parcel?” “Birthday deluxe.” Bill stirred his coffee. “You know what worries me most? Not the parents. Not the police. The birthday girl.” “What about her?” “She drew a surveillance camera on the staircase.” Molly looked again. Beside a pink spiral sat a tiny black square. “That,” she said, “is a spider.” “It has an arrow pointing to it. The arrow says MUM CAM.” Molly folded the plan. “Right. Revised plan. We ask the parents for the delivery box.” “And the costumes?” “We wear them.” “Why?” “Because the princess booked them, Bill. We’re not monsters.”