Run: 2026-09-23-01M37PF2XBY3WTQJZ9VB5EPB5F

Molly slapped the blueprint onto the kitchen table. "Bill, the party starts at two. Bouncy castle, magician, forty screaming seven-year-olds." "And the presents?" "Stacked on a table by the patio door. Unguarded." "Nothing's unguarded, Molly. There'll be a mum. There's always a mum." "That's why you're going in as the clown." "Why am I the clown?" "You already own the shoes." "Those are orthopaedic." "They're red and enormous, Bill." "Fine. What do I do?" "Balloon animals. Distract them. I slip through the hedge, load the van, gone before cake." "I can only make one balloon animal." "Which one?" "The snake." "The snake is just a balloon." "It's a very convincing snake." "Make forty snakes, then." "What if a kid asks for a giraffe?" "Tell him it's a snake with ambition." "And the magician?" "Gerald. Seventy-three. Hard of hearing. No threat." "What if he makes me disappear?" "Bill, if he could make things disappear, he'd be doing our job." Bill chewed his pencil thoughtfully. "One problem. What's our exit if something goes wrong?" "Something won't go wrong." "But if it does?" "Then we run." "In the shoes?" Molly stared at him. "Wear trainers under the shoes." "Molly, that's genius." "I know. That's why I'm the planner."