S01E09 - The Vault

"The Vault" is the ninth episode of Season 1 of We Can Fix Pawbert.

Synopsis

The team targets Sterling Pebbleworth, Milton's personal banker for fifteen years, who is attempting to move money offshore as the Lynxley network collapses. A nighttime raid on his offices yields fifteen years of money laundering records and approximately sixty million dollars in frozen accounts.

Plot

In a corner office on the forty-third floor of Pebbleworth Financial Building, Sterling Pebbleworth reviews accounts with too many zeros and receives word that the Mosaic network has fallen and the witness is still talking. Sterling smiles without warmth and begins transferring funds—by the time anyone realizes what he's done, there will be nothing left to seize.

At Site Two, Luther briefs the team on their next target: Sterling Pebbleworth, Milton's personal banker for fifteen years, who managed offshore accounts, shell companies, and legitimate-looking investments that weren't. Sterling has filed for a leave of absence and his assistant reports he's been shredding documents for two days. Pawbert recognizes Sterling from quarterly meetings at the manor—locked in Milton's study for hours with two briefcases that went in and out, never the same ones. Pawbert recalls Milton's phrase: "The Vault doesn't open without the key." Sterling was either the Vault or the operation itself; Pawbert never knew which. But he remembers his father saying once, in anger, that Sterling thought he was protected because he had the key—and keys can be copied.

During a therapy session with Dr. Fuzzby, Pawbert appears steadier than usual. He distinguishes between nervous and paralyzed—states that used to be the same thing for him but no longer are. The knowledge he carries from his years in the Lynxley household, all the things he wished he hadn't seen, now makes him useful. Fuzzby asks if that knowledge makes him valuable to himself; Pawbert admits he doesn't know yet.

Luther's briefing reveals the operational window. Sterling has moved about eight million so far, but at least sixty million more sits in various holdings. Without evidence connecting the accounts to criminal activity, they cannot freeze them—that's the entire point of Sterling's operation. Pawbert provides the key insight: Sterling kept physical records. Parallel ledgers. Milton complained that Sterling was old-fashioned, keeping paper copies of everything in a safe in his office. Sterling was paranoid about backups—but that paranoia is now his vulnerability. Those records are his insurance, proof he wasn't acting alone. He can't destroy them without losing his leverage. The team plans to move that night.

As the team gears up, Luther approaches Pawbert to confirm he understands he's staying behind. Pawbert acknowledges that he's not trained for raids and would be a liability in the field. Luther observes that knowing your limits and accepting them is harder than pretending you don't have any. He touches Pawbert's arm deliberately before heading out.

The nighttime raid on Pebbleworth Financial Services is swift. Nick, Judy, and Luther breach the building during a security guard's break. Sterling is at his desk, stacking documents for departure, when Luther kicks the door open. Sterling is calm, almost amused—he claims the important accounts are already empty. He dismisses the seizure as meaningless, arguing that money is just numbers that can be recreated; what matters is what money represents: protection, relationships, favors owed. Nick leverages Pawbert's insider knowledge, naming the briefcases, the parallel ledgers, the phrase about the Vault and the key. Sterling's composure cracks. Luther offers consideration at sentencing if he cooperates; if he refuses, he becomes the last one standing to take the fall alone.

Sterling produces a sleek encrypted drive—the key is biometric, requiring his thumbprint and a sixteen-digit code. Everything is on the drive: every transaction, every account, every shell company. Milton wanted copies, but Sterling never gave them to him. It was his insurance. Sterling enters the code, presses his thumb to the sensor, and the safe opens to reveal stacks of files, organized and color-coded—a lifetime of financial crimes meticulously documented. Judy confirms over comms that they have everything. Sterling is arrested.

Back at Site Two, the team spreads the safe's contents across the table while forensic accountants process the digital records. The documentation is comprehensive—Sterling really did record everything as insurance against Milton turning on him. A file labeled "LYNXLEY - WEATHER SYSTEMS" reveals how the family's original fortune from the weather wall patents was used to launder early dirty money, mixing clean income with criminal proceeds until they became impossible to separate. Pawbert identifies Seabreeze Holdings—his father's "retirement fund"—which Sterling's records show holds about forty million dollars in various assets. With these records, they can freeze all of it. Luther notes that Sterling was obsessive about keeping records because he never trusted anyone—not even Milton. Pawbert observes that his father never trusted anyone either; that's why he needed Sterling, someone equally paranoid.

Later, as the others sleep, Pawbert sits before the board where Sterling's photo is now crossed off. He confides to Luther that taking apart his family's empire should feel like betrayal but doesn't—it feels like cleaning, like finding something rotten in a room he lived in his whole life and finally throwing it away. Luther asks if Pawbert is afraid he doesn't know who he is without his family. Pawbert admits he knows who he was: the weak link, the disappointment, the son who was never good enough. Now he's the son taking them down. Luther tells him he's not doing this for revenge or to prove something—he's doing it because it's right, because what his family built hurt people and he's helping stop it. Pawbert doesn't feel noble; he feels tired, scared, sometimes relieved, then guilty for feeling relieved. Luther responds that doing the right thing isn't always satisfying—you do it because the alternative is worse.

In the tag, Pawbert sits alone in his room with his mother's green sweater folded on his pillow. He picks it up and holds it, reflecting quietly that he doesn't miss the money. This sweater, made by his mother's paws, is worth more than sixty million dollars. For the first time in his life, he falls asleep without counting his family's money.

Key Moments

• Sterling Pebbleworth begins transferring funds as the Lynxley network collapses around him
• Pawbert recognizes Sterling from quarterly manor visits and recalls Milton's phrase about the Vault and the key
• Pawbert tells Fuzzby he distinguishes between nervous and paralyzed now—states that used to be the same for him
• Pawbert provides critical intelligence about Sterling's parallel ledgers and physical record-keeping
• Luther tells Pawbert that knowing and accepting your limits is harder than pretending you don't have any
• The team raids Pebbleworth Financial Services at night while Sterling packs documents
• Nick pressures Sterling using Pawbert's insider knowledge about the briefcase exchanges
• Sterling produces a biometric encrypted drive—his insurance against Milton—and unlocks the safe
• The team seizes fifteen years of financial records and freezes approximately sixty million dollars
• Seabreeze Holdings is identified as a forty-million-dollar Lynxley asset
• Sterling is arrested
• Pawbert tells Luther that dismantling his family's empire feels like cleaning—finding something rotten and throwing it away
• Luther reminds Pawbert that doing the right thing isn't always satisfying; you do it because the alternative is worse
• Pawbert reflects that his mother's green sweater is worth more than the sixty million dollars they seized

Key Lines

Line	Speaker	Context
"By the time they realize what I've done, there won't be anything left to seize."	Sterling Pebbleworth	Cold open; beginning fund transfers
"The Vault doesn't open without the key."	Pawbert	Recalling Milton's phrase about Sterling
"Nervous. But not paralyzed. That's a distinction."	Pawbert	Therapy session with Fuzzby
"Knowing your limits. Accepting them. That's harder than pretending you don't have any."	Luther	To Pawbert before the raid
"Money is just numbers. It can be recreated. What matters is what the money represents."	Sterling Pebbleworth	During confrontation before arrest
"Like... cleaning. Like finding something rotten in a room you've lived in your whole life and finally throwing it away."	Pawbert	Describing how dismantling his family's empire feels
"Doing the right thing isn't always satisfying." / "Then why do it?" / "Because the alternative is worse."	Luther / Pawbert / Luther	Late-night conversation at Site Two
"This is worth more than sixty million."	Pawbert	About his mother's green sweater

Characters Introduced

Character	Species	Role
Sterling Pebbleworth	Otter	"The Vault," Milton's personal banker for 15 years; kept parallel ledgers as insurance

Locations

• Pebbleworth Financial Building - Sterling's corner office on the forty-third floor
• Site Two - Team safehouse; briefings and post-raid processing
• Pebbleworth Financial Services offices - Target of the nighttime raid (twelfth floor)

Items

• Biometric encrypted drive - Contains all of Sterling's transaction records; requires thumbprint and sixteen-digit code
• Sterling's safe - Biometric-locked safe containing organized, color-coded financial crime records
• LYNXLEY - WEATHER SYSTEMS file - Documents the original fortune from weather wall patents used to launder money
• Seabreeze Holdings file - Forty-million-dollar holding account identified as Milton's "retirement fund"
• Investigation board - Visual tracker of the Lynxley network; Sterling now crossed off
• Green sweater - Pawbert's mother's sweater; "worth more than sixty million"

Notes

• Sterling's dismissal of money as "just numbers" contrasts with Pawbert's tag scene, where his mother's handmade sweater holds more value than the entire seizure.
• This episode marks a shift in Pawbert's self-perception: he distinguishes between "nervous" and "paralyzed" for the first time, and recognizes that the knowledge he once wished away now makes him useful.