Run: 2026-09-23-01M37HT95DZDQM0P9V18TDVQE4

Molly spread a floor plan across the café table and pinned its corners with four sugar packets. The plan showed a living room, a kitchen, and a large circle labeled CAKE. Bill leaned over it, his ski mask folded on his head like a woolly crown. “Why does the cake have its own room?” he asked. “That’s the trampoline,” Molly said. “The cake is the smaller circle.” Bill squinted. “What’s the big arrow?” “Grandma. She moves constantly.” They had robbed jewelry stores, a yacht, and, once, a vending machine that turned out to be empty. But this job had come from a professional rival who claimed nobody could steal every present from a seven-year-old’s birthday party. Molly disliked the rival and the word nobody. At three o’clock, the guests would assemble in the garden for a magician. The presents would remain in the living room, unattended for eleven minutes. Molly’s plan required a distraction, a laundry cart, and matching paper hats. Bill took a sip of coffee. “We’re stealing from children.” “We’re stealing from a pile,” Molly said. “That pile belongs to children.” “Then think of it as a very short-term relocation.” He considered this. “Will we give them back?” “Of course. Before the magician finishes.” Bill relaxed. “Right. To win the bet.” “And to avoid becoming villains in a newspaper with a photograph of your face.” Bill pulled down his ski mask. The waitress, approaching with two muffins, stopped. He pushed it up again and smiled. She set the muffins on another table. Molly outlined the route with a pencil. They would enter through the side gate, cross behind the inflatable castle, and reach the living room through a sliding door. Bill would load the gifts while Molly occupied Grandma, whose movements suggested she had been assigned security. At two fifty-eight, they found the garden gate guarded by a boy in a cardboard knight’s helmet. His sword was a pool noodle. Molly showed him the paper hats. “Party crew,” she said. The boy pointed his noodle at Bill. “What’s your magic trick?” Bill looked at Molly. She looked at the laundry cart. “He makes things disappear,” Molly said. “Show me.” Bill produced a coin, fumbled it, and watched it roll under the gate. The boy opened the gate to retrieve it. Molly wheeled the cart through. In the garden, the magician announced a vanishing act. Every adult turned toward him except Grandma. She stood at the sliding door, holding a plate of sandwiches. “You’re late,” she said. Molly froze. Bill froze harder. Grandma handed them the plate. “Put these by the drinks, then take the presents inside. We’re doing the opening after cake.” Molly and Bill carried the gifts from the living room into the laundry cart under Grandma’s brisk supervision. The pile barely fit. When the magician produced a rabbit, the boy in the helmet spotted them wheeling it across the patio. “They made the presents disappear!” he shouted. Grandma checked the cart, counted the gifts, and nodded. “They’re in the kitchen, dear. Now wash your hands.” Molly glanced at Bill. “Eleven minutes?” “Seven,” he whispered. She grinned. They had won the bet. Grandma made them serve cake for the other four.