9e945bf3b1d705d5d70aa6e5ed9fa2ba

“Hmm,” Walt sniffed, then jumped over and nosed the handbag. “Hmm,” she said again, grudgingly. “That’s something, at least.”

“It’s more than something,” Oscar said huffily. “It’s everything. All we have to do is be patient, and we’ll be set. Independently wealthy. Set for life.”

“Set for life,” Butterbean echoed.

“Strathmore Six, set for life!” Polo and Marco cheered.

Walt sighed.“Okay. Set for life. Now let’s get ready.”

When Madison arrived the next morning, the tension in the apartment was so thick that Oscar was surprised she didn’t notice. But she didn’t. In fact, she didn’t seem to notice much of anything.

“Hi, guys. What’s up?” she said as she walked in, making a beeline for the dining room table. Butterbean had to do some fancy footwork to avoid getting stepped on, and Madison didn’t even blink.

She had the bunch of papers in her hands, and all of her attention seemed to be focused on them.

“We’re the Strathmore Six now,” Butterbean said. Madison automatically patted her on the head as she went by.

“I can probably just sign them, right?” she said to Marco and Polo absently as she poured food into their cage.

“Sure?” Polo said, trying to be agreeable. It sounded like a legal question, and Polo wasn’t really confident about giving legal advice.

“HEY!” Marco protested as seeds rained over his head. “Watch what you’re doing!”

Madison kept pouring the seeds as she looked at the papers.

Polo reached out and dragged Marco out of the way.“Shh, Marco,” Polo said. “She’s concentrating.”

“I think those are the papers that Bob gave her,” Butterbean said. “Her aunt is supposed to sign them. But I don’t think she has an aunt.”

“Of course she has an aunt,” Oscar said. “People have seen her. She can’t just make up an aunt.”

“Maybe,” Butterbean said. “But I don’t think she has an aunt here. I think her aunt is gone.”

“Quiet, Butterbean,” Walt said. “Her living arrangements are not our business.”

“I don’t know—it doesn’t seem right,” Polo said as Madison absentmindedly replaced the lid on their cage. It wasn’t on straight, though, and there was an inch gap over the water bottle.

“See now, we could totally get out of that,” Marco said. “It’s practically screaming escape route.”

“We can get out anyway,” Polo pointed out.

“Well, yeah, but she doesn’t know that,” Marco said.

“Right?” Madison said to Butterbean, startling Marco and Polo into silence. “I mean, it’s not a big deal. She’d sign it if she was here. So it’s not like I’m doing anything wrong, right?”

“Of course not,” Butterbean woofed quietly. Butterbean didn’t have any problems dishing out legal advice.

Madison gave a half smile.“Look at me, talking to a dog.” She clipped the leash onto Butterbean’s collar. “I should just do it. It’s no big deal. Right?”

“Right,” Butterbean woofed again.

“I’m doing it.” Madison dropped the leash and dug a pen out of her book bag. She did a few test runs on the back of her notebook, spread the papers out on the table, took a deep breath, and signed.

“Ruby S. Park. There. It’s done.” She gathered up the papers and shook them at Butterbean. “And if I get into trouble, I’ll tell them you told me to do it.”

“Wait, what?” Butterbean looked alarmed.

“Don’t worry, Bean,” Walt said with a smirk. “We’ll come visit you in prison.”

“Wait, WHAT?” Butterbean yelped.

“Don’t listen to her,” Oscar said. “Just go for your walk.”

“Focus on the heist,” Walt said.

“Right. Heist.” Butterbean shot a nervous look back over her shoulder as Madison dragged her into the hallway and closed the door.

“That was not nice,” Oscar said quietly.

Walt shook her head.“That girl is going to ruin everything, isn’t she?”

Oscar laughed a short, harsh laugh.“Which one, Madison or Butterbean?”

“It’s not even lying, right? Just fudging a little.” Madison kept talking at the elevator. Butterbean was starting to think that she wasn’t really talking to her. “It’s not like I have a choice.”

Butterbean nodded absently. Walt was right. She needed to focus on the heist, not on whatever Madison was doing. (Which, from what Butterbean could tell, was totally lying and not just fudging.)

“It’ll be fine,” Madison muttered. Butterbean stared at the floor and tried not to comment. She needed to focus on what was important. There was that weird new stain on the carpet. Butterbean sniffed it and then snorted. Biscuit. She should totally pee on it.

“I pretty much had to sign, right?” Madison said, tugging on Butterbean’s leash. “If I didn’t, they’d go looking for Ruby, and if that happened, it’d all be over anyway. So I might as well, right?”

Butterbean wagged her tail in what she thought was an encouraging way. If she peed on the stain, it would just take up extra time they didn’t have. And they couldn’t delay the heist. So she would focus. She deliberately turned her face away from the stain. Focus.

The elevator light went off and the doors opened. And Madison and Butterbean both took an involuntary step back.

Because standing in the elevator was the Coin Man.