The Thief Lord

Ida, Victor, Hornet, and a sleeping Bo return home, exhausted from looking for Prosper. They find Prosper in the kitchen with a grown-up Scipio and a drunk, child Barbarossa. Victor wants to know what happened, but Prosper says they promised not to tell. Prosper tells Ida the merry-go-round is beautiful. He’s shocked to find out that Bo ran away from Esther and that she doesn’t want him anymore.

Everyone assembles for dinner except for Ida and Barbarossa. Victor tries to convince Scipio to see his parents, but Scipio only plans to sneak into their house to retrieve his cat. Ida angrily brings Barbarossa to the table because he has been rummaging in her things. Barbarossa refuses to apologize and complains about his borrowed clothes from Bo. Scipio tells Barbarossa that if he gets in any more trouble, he’ll take him back to his shop. Ida says the orphanage will take him. Barbarossa announces he has enough money to survive, but the adults remind him the bank won’t give money to a five-year-old. Bo mentions that Esther would like Barbarossa because he talks well, brushes his hair, and doesn’t spill food. Scipio suggests that Esther adopt Barbarossa. Prosper doesn’t think it will work.

Barbarossa sleeps in the living room, and Ida locks him in. Scipio gets money from Mosca and vanishes. Bo, Prosper, Hornet, Riccio, and Mosca go to their shared room and discuss a new hideout. Bo and Hornet want to stay with Ida, but Riccio and Mosca want to be on their own. They talk about what Scipio might be doing as they drift off to sleep.

Victor comes to Ida’s the next morning with the newspaper. The front page features a picture of Scipio as a boy accompanied by a pleading note to help Dottor Massimo find his son. Ida writes an anonymous card to the doctor telling him that his son is fine but doesn’t want to come home, and Victor puts it in the doctor’s mailbox. Ida assembles the children and calls Esther, pretending to be a sister from the orphanage and saying that Prosper and Bo have been brought there. Esther doesn’t want them, so Ida says she must come and sign legal documents relinquishing her rights. Esther agrees to visit Ida’s house in the morning. Prosper and Bo don’t want to see her, so Victor tells them to go to the nearby café for ice cream when she arrives. Ida sends Prosper and Hornet to pick up something from the Merciful Sisters.

Prosper, Bo, Riccio, Mosca, and Hornet eat ice cream and watch Esther enter Ida’s house. Lucia answers the door dressed as a nun and leads Esther to the laundry room, which has been transformed into an office. Ida, also dressed as a nun, greets Esther. Victor is there as well. Ida mentions that the orphanage is crowded, and Esther claims she can’t take her nephews but will donate the money their mother left. Lucia brings Barbarossa in. He pretends to be a new arrival at the orphanage and lies that the other children are teasing him and stealing his books. He asks to go to the museum. Esther is entranced and offers to take him on an outing. Ida sends Barbarossa with Lucia to get ready. Esther asks about his parents, and Ida lies that he is the son of a wealthy antique dealer who died in a fishing accident and that his mother doesn’t want him. Esther wants a child she’s suited to, unlike her nephews. Esther takes Barbarossa out, and they return hours later, laden with packages. Prosper can’t believe Scipio’s idea is working.

Esther doesn’t leave with her husband as scheduled but stays to take Barbarossa on outings. Barbarossa asks Ida to keep an eye on his shop and hire a saleswoman because Esther has adopted him. Barbarossa leaves the next day.

Mosca tells Prosper, Bo, Hornet, and Ida that Riccio found them an empty warehouse to live in. He promises Ida that they won’t steal. Ida asks Hornet, Prosper, and Bo where they’re going to live. Bo tells Ida they want to live with her forever. Two days later Mosca and Riccio move out. Prosper wonders about what Scipio is doing.

One evening, Victor puts a sign up at Barbarossa’s shop asking for help, and Scipio approaches. Victor tells Scipio about the note they sent to his family, and Scipio says he got his cat but didn’t see his father. Scipio doesn’t look happy, so Victor invites him to walk with him. Scipio wonders what adults do and is unimpressed by Victor’s answer about them working, eating, and sleeping. Scipio wants to do something adventurous and tells Victor he wants to be a detective with him. Victor tries to talk him out of it, but Scipio won’t be swayed. Victor agrees on the condition that Scipio writes to his father. Scipio reluctantly agrees, excited to become a famous detective. 

Six months later Victor puts Scipio’s name on his sign. Nobody asks Scipio if he regrets his decision to become an adult, but his new last name, “Fortunato,” means the fortunate one. Scipio writes a postcard to his father, who never suspects his son lives only a few alleys away, happier than ever. Scipio visits Riccio and Mosca sometimes and gives them money, although they fend for themselves well. Mosca has found work as a fisherman, but Scipio suspects Riccio is pickpocketing again. Scipio often sees Hornet, Prosper, and Bo at Ida’s. One night, Scipio and Prosper take Ida’s boat to Isola Segreta but find it deserted and the merry-go-round gone. They wonder if Renzo got it working somewhere else.

Esther believes Barbarossa is a wonderful child until she catches him stealing her favorite earrings and finds other missing valuables in his room. She sends him to boarding school, where he forces other children to do things and calls himself the Thief Lord.