Run: 2026-10-09-01M4FYP9G3MB429ZPFZT4R8JYG

The van idled behind the community hall, headlights off, its engine wheezing like a retired accordion. Molly crouched in the hedge, clutching bolt cutters and a sack large enough to hold a small pony. Bill wiped buttercream from his sleeve. He had already sampled the cake through the kitchen window, and he was not sorry about it. Music thumped through the brick walls. Somewhere inside, a clown was losing a balloon-sword duel to a seven-year-old with a sugar addiction. Through the frosted glass of the side door, Molly could just make out the heap of presents piled beside the bouncy castle, each one wrapped in shimmering paper and topped with a bow the size of a dinner plate. "Forty-two gifts," Bill whispered, tapping a crumpled clipboard. "I counted them twice." "Did you count the parents?" "Parents are asleep in the car park. Sleep-deprived, mostly." Molly grinned and slipped a gloved hand through the gap in the fence. Her plan depended on a single fact about children's parties: nobody watches the presents, because everybody is too busy watching the children. Halfway across the lawn, a toddler in a dinosaur costume spotted them, stared solemnly, and roared. Molly froze. Bill froze. The dinosaur turned and waddled back toward the bouncy castle, apparently satisfied. "Right," Molly breathed. "Grab the big ones first. Leave the socks."