Patty Caper

"What's this? A hole? How did that happen? An incision. Almost as if someone, or something did this on purpose. That's it! A thief must have cut a hole, and swiped the secret ingredient! But who?"

- SpongeBob

"Patty Caper" is the first segment of the eighth episode of season 6, and it is paired up with "Plankton's Regular." In this episode, SpongeBob tries to find out who stole the Krabby Patty secret ingredient.

Characters

 * Squidward Tentacles
 * Eugene H. Krabs
 * SpongeBob SquarePants
 * S.W.A.T. team
 * Patrick Star
 * Sheldon J. Plankton
 * Karen Plankton
 * Sandy Cheeks
 * Gary the Snail
 * Judge Trout

Plot
Mr. Krabs tells SpongeBob about his mission to get the secret ingredient to the formula from the SWAT team, and puts the Krusty Krab in lockdown when its time. SpongeBob gets the briefcase holding the ingredient from the SWAT team, but when he opens it, the ingredient is nowhere to be seen, and the only clue is a hole in the briefcase.

Patrick appears and SpongeBob tells him what happened and they go on a mission to try and find who stole the ingredient. They first suspect Plankton, who was having a Krabby Patty with a "secret recipe" in it, but it turns out he was trying to find the recipe by going through every ingredient.

They then investigate Sandy, who is storing many Krabby Patties for the coming winter. SpongeBob thinks Sandy stole it by cloaking herself with an invisibility potion and stopped time to take the ingredient, but she actually payed for the patties and had a receipt to prove it.

They then investigate Gary, and say he shot corrosive acid from his tear ducts into the briefcase to take out the ingredient, only to realize that story's ridiculous. Gary tells them that the thief may have been Squidward, but when they investigate him and use his black brief case as evidence, it turns out it was to hold his tap dancing shoes for a tap dancing competition.

SpongeBob finally tells the truth about the ingredient to Mr. Krabs, but when he asks for clues, he points to SpongeBob as the one who stole it. The police appear, but when Mr. Krabs tells them to arrest SpongeBob, he is seen with the ingredient. It turns out he stole the ingredient so he wouldn't have to pay for it, so he is sentenced to give out free Krabby Patties all day tomorrow.