With her moment of triumph dawning, the felonious feline could not deter her gaze. It sat there, mocking her.

For all her machinations — her skillful manipulation of the global financial markets, her meticulous posturing of political marionettes and her adroit assembly of a pliant army of red squirrels — she simply couldn’t ignore this talisman. Its elusiveness, you may recall, is what launched her on the path to supervillainry.

The trap was set. The squeaky vixen proved to be too tempting.

World domination would have to wait.