The Great Pet Heist

Walt returns in a panic, rapidly jumping from one surface to the next. Butterbean reports what they overheard: Mrs. Food will not return to care for them, and they will soon be sent to a shelter. Oscar insists that they stick to their plan and execute the heist during daylight hours. The rats mention their backup plan of retreating to the vents. To calm Walt’s anxiety, Oscar reveals that he can fly Mrs. Food’s large handbag into the living room on his own, demonstrating that he can likely transport the bag of coins despite his bad back. Excited, the rats propose naming their gang the “Strathmore Five,” but they settle on the name “Strathmore Six” to include Chad. 

The next day, Madison arrives preoccupied with the forms Bob gave her. While absently feeding the rats, she rationalizes forging her aunt’s signature, eventually signing the papers as “Ruby S. Park.” Madison takes Butterbean for a walk. In the elevator, they encounter the Coin Man, who confronts Madison about lurking near his door. He comments on the sparkly buttons adorning her cardigan. Frightened, Madison rushes out in the lobby and hastily gives the forged papers to Bob. As she and Butterbean exit, Bob points her out to the Coin Man, identifying her as Ruby Park’s niece from the eighth floor. Butterbean realizes that the Coin Man is suspicious of Madison and that he is leaving the building. She concludes that it is time for the heist.

Butterbean announces that the Coin Man has left the building. After Madison departs for school, the heist begins. Butterbean handles hallway duty, Oscar takes window duty, and Marco and Polo enter the vents. From a grate overlooking the Coin Man’s apartment, Marco and Polo observe the “Number Two Man” still inside on the couch. Chad emerges from the kitchen sink drain, crosses the room, and cranks open the window for Oscar. As he heads back, the Number Two Man stands, nearly spotting him. Chad instantly flattens against the curtains and camouflages to match the fabric. When the man approaches the window just as Oscar appears, Chad unties the man’s shoelace with a tentacle and taps his leg. Distracted by his untied shoe, the man returns to the couch to tie it, allowing Oscar to slip inside undetected.

Marco whistles the signal. In the ninth-floor hallway, Butterbean places her squeaky carrot in the elevator door sensor to keep it open. Upon hearing the signal, Walt and Butterbean create a loud disturbance. When the Number Two Man opens the door to investigate, Butterbean grabs his legs while Walt leaps onto his head. Inside, Chad retrieves the duffel bag from the cabinet. Oscar collects loose coins and then struggles to carry the duffel bag, which is much heavier than he expected. He makes it through the window but plummets from view. Polo whistles the all-clear, and Walt and Butterbean flee to the elevator. 

In the Coin Man’s apartment, as Marco pulls Polo from the grate, her button necklace snags and breaks. The sparkly button falls into the room below and lands in the middle of the floor. The Number Two Man stumbles back inside, collapsing on the couch with his foot inches from the button. Marco and Polo retreat, forced to abandon it.

Walt and Butterbean return to find Oscar jubilantly sitting in the duffel bag, flinging gold coins. When Marco and Polo arrive, Oscar begins planning their next steps: contacting Walt’s online sources and paying their accomplices. Polo interrupts to report their mistake: Her button was left behind in the apartment. Oscar and Walt initially dismiss her concern as trivial, but then Butterbean reminds them that the Coin Man commented on Madison’s sparkly buttons in the elevator. Polo is horrified, realizing that she has inadvertently framed Madison for the theft. 

After dragging the heavy coin bag into the office to hide it, they notice that the clock shows Madison is late returning from school. Worried, Polo insists that something is wrong and leaves with Marco through the vents to investigate. Shortly after, Wallace travels through the vents to the apartment and reports seeing Marco and Polo heading to the top floor, where a loud incident is occurring. Before the pets can respond, Marco returns through the vent, screaming. He tells them that the Coin Man found the button and has captured Madison. When the man kicked Polo across the room, Marco fled. He assumes that Polo is dead.

The pets console Marco, who saw the Coin Man kick Polo across the room before he fled. Walt and Oscar realize that Polo might still be alive. Oscar volunteers to enter the vents despite his claustrophobia, and Wallace offers to guide them. Marco insists on returning, and Walt squeezes in to join the rescue. Butterbean attempts to follow but cannot fit; Walt persuades her to stay behind and guard the apartment and stolen coins.

The narrative shifts to Polo, who awakens alive inside Madison’s jacket pocket. She and Madison are locked in the Coin Man’s bathroom. Madison explains that she scooped Polo up to protect her from being kicked again. Madison then confesses her secret: Her aunt, Ruby Park, was deployed with the Army, and when her planned living arrangements with a friend’s family collapsed, Madison chose to live alone rather than inform anyone. Polo realizes that no adult knows Madison is missing, making the pets their only hope.

In the vents, Wallace guides the rescue party—Oscar, Walt, and Marco—to the top floor before departing. Through a grate, they observe the Coin Man and his partner arguing in the living room. A chair is wedged under the bathroom door handle. The Coin Man removes the chair and enters the bathroom. The pets move to another grate for a better view. Inside, the Coin Man threatens Madison, revealing that he knows she is alone. He gives her one hour to reveal the location of the coins or face the consequences. After he locks them in again, Marco spots Polo on Madison’s knee and shouts her name. Polo sees her friends in the grate. Walt promises that they have a rescue plan and will return soon. Back in the eighth-floor vents, Oscar asks Walt if she truly has a plan. Walt grimly reveals her strategy: They must perform an “anti-heist” and return the stolen coins.