"Bright Ideas" Sly read, "just like Murray said."

Carmelita looked at the facade of the building and crossed her arms. "This can't be the right place. It's in the middle of town. I thought he was trying to lay low."

"Sometimes the best hiding place is in plain sight."

They entered through the large front doors and found a lobby with electrical equipment and machine pieces scattered all around.

Sly went over to desk and said, "Excuse me,"

"Oh, please don't mind the mess, we just moved in and haven't gotten it all together yet", the young mouse said as she turned around, "but can I help-" Penelope stopped short when she saw Sly. She ran around the counter and threw her arms around him. "Sly! I'm so happy to see you. What have you been doing? Where have you been?"

"Slow down Penelope, I can explain everything later. I have important business to deal with first. Has Bentley said anything unusual to you recently?"

"No, he's been very quiet lately. But he always gets that way when he thinks about something." She smiled fondly at the thought. "Did he know you were in the area?"

"Yes, and we're here,"

Penelope did not listen to the rest of what he said as she realized that Carmelita was with Sly. Her eyes widened slightly, taking in the intimidating Inspector. Carmelita gave her a puzzled look. "Inspector Fox, I didn't notice you before." She gripped Sly's arm and whispered to him, "what are doing with Inspector Fox? Are you in trouble? Are we in trouble?" She nervously glanced backwards at a door leading to Bentley's office.

"No, calm down. No one here is going be arrested. I'm here with Carmelita because we're working on a case for Interpol. Have you heard about the new thief out there?"

She nodded, "Yeah. Bentley and I thought it was you at first, but after monitoring the story, we decided that it couldn't be you."

"We've been trying to stop her"

"Interesting. How can we help?" Penelope said, stealing glances at Carmelita.

"I was wondering if you would be able to offer your tech knowledge into the mix. We can find entrances and exits, but we don't know how she finds them in the first place. And how does she move around without setting off alarms or being recorded?"

"Very good questions," Penelope mused, "but, I'm not sure if we know how to answer them."

"You've got to know something" Carmelita said, approaching the two old friends.

Penelope backed away subconsciously, keeping her eyes on Carmelita. "I can't promise you anything, but let me see what Bentley has to say." She pressed a button on the counter, giving off a faint buzzing sound down the hall.

Bentley rolled out of a room in the back. He stopped when he saw Sly and his mouth slightly fell open. He blinked a couple of times before a smile spread over his face.

"I'm surprised you could find me" he said, wheeling the rest of the way to the group.

"Thanks, I'm hurt" Sly said while putting a hand to his chest in mock injury.

"Come on," Bentley said, falling into old habits, "You know that finding information is not your strong suit."

Sly chuckled, "I guess you're right. But as you know, I had some help."

"Yes." Bentley gulped, fixing his sight on Carmelita. "Hello, Inspector Fox."

"Hello, Bentley."

He cleared his throat, "So if you would follow me to my office I can explain ya know, everything."

Sly tagged along next to his friend, Carmelita and Penelope trailing behind them.

"So, you've still got a thing for Inspector Fox, huh?"

Sly chuckled, "it's more than a thing. Well, maybe it will be." He glanced behind them and smirked at Carmelita looking at Penelope, whose gaze was trained on the floor. "You and Penelope doing well?" He asked, his sights settling back on Bentley.

Bentley chuckled nervously, "Yeah, we're great. Uh, here we are."

Out of the corner of her eye, Carmelita could see Penelope sneak a peak at her. The mouse quickly, almost fearfully, fixed her eyes on the floor. Carmelita looked ahead and saw what appeared to be Sly ribbing Bentley.

They arrived at Bentley's office, consisting of a desk and two chairs set up in the middle of the room. Bentley wheeled around the desk and motioned for Sly and Carmelita to sit down. Penelope followed Bentley and sat on the arm of his wheel chair.

"Man, I still can't get over that we're here." Sly exclaimed excitedly.

"It's good to see you here" Bentley said and Penelope nodded in agreement. "I wasn't sure if I would see you again."

"Come on," Sly smiled devilishly "You knew you would see me again. The question was if I would see you."

Bentley's face reddened slightly, "You knew I was spying on you?"

"Stealth was my strong suit. Yours was tech."

"Wait," Carmelita interjected. "He's been spying on you? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I had only noticed him once, but I figured he'd been keeping tabs on me. I didn't want to give you any more to worry about."

Carmelita nodded thoughtfully, "Is that what you were looking at on the balcony?"

"Yeah, I thought I had seen a glare from a binocucom. But it didn't seem as important," Sly hesitated then continued, "it didn't seem as important as our case. Which is why we're here. Bentley we need your help to stop a new criminal."

"Yes. I thought you might have; Penelope and I have been following the story. This thief seems to be giving you a run for your money."

Sly shook his head, "no, no I found her trail in the bank. She's sloppy, she just has been hiding it well enough so far."

"Hmmm, what if we made her slip up?"

"What are you thinking?" Penelope encouraged Bentley to go on.

"What if we set a trap that was inescapable? Sly and Carmelita could be there waiting when she was going to pull off a heist. What is something that could lure her to the trap?"

"Bentley, hold on. Carmelita and I did this once, why would that work this time?"

Bentley adjusted his glasses and said, "this time, you'll be better prepared."