The Scoundrels are a secret club for boys. They have a secret handshake, and require a password for access to the Scoundrels clubhouse, wherein their mascot, a stuffed moose head named Bartleby, hangs on the wall. According to Cousin Julian, no one ever became a titan of industry without being a Scoundrel first. Lucky and the PAL assisted Julian in a scam meant to help Julian complete his initiation rituals so that he could be admitted to the chapter of the club at his boarding school.[1]
After completing other rituals including kissing a pig and wearing a dress to class, pledge master Calvin required Julian and another pledge named Pete to sneak into the house of the headmaster of their school and purloin an old map, which they intended to hang on the wall of the Scoundrels clubhouse. Concerned that expulsion would be the consequence if he were caught, Julian schemed up an alternative "theft" that he hoped Lucky would be party to. When Calvin, Pete, and Julian stayed at the Dusty Rose Hotel in Silverlode, Julian dispatched telegrams to Lucky imploring her help.[1]
Lucky herself thought up the remaining elements of the scheme, that the target of the "theft" would be a string of "shrunken heads" (actually rotten apples carved to look like heads) supposedly acquired by adventurer Jim Prescott, and that it would take place during a party at her house, with Maricela playing her. When a safe procured by Turo malfunctioned, making the theft impossible, Calvin and the pledges turned to Lucky's room for a trophy, and, dissuaded by Julian from taking Lucky's snow globe or her quartz, the Scoundrels settled on an heirloom locket necklace given to Lucky by Kate Flores.[1]
Once told of the significance of the necklace, Julian demanded it back from Calvin, and confessed that the heist had been a setup. Calvin concluded that scamming the Scoundrels was a "true Scoundrel move" and granted Julian admission to the club. When Pete asked if this meant that he was in the club too, Calvin pushed him away and told him, "Can it, Pete."[1]