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He are of eyes on him He looked across the table into the face of ahim intently and whose last contribution to the conversation had been 'Could you be so kind as to passreaze – which was absolutely cal i read

'Samuel!'

Vimes' hand stopped halfway to the bottle Willikins was standing next to her ladyship

'Apparently there's a youngfor you,' said Lady Ra!' said Lord Eorle 'Has he come to arrest us, do you think? Hahaha'

'Ha,' said Vied his partner

'I expect that so committed,' he said

'Yes,' said Vimes 'Quite close, I think'

Carrot was shown in, with his helazed at the select company, licked his lips nervously, and saluted Everyone was looking at hier people than hi, to distort things around hiround to Corporal Carrot

'At ease, corporal,' said Vi Carrot's erratic approach to colourful language, 'what is the reason for you being here at this ti to show you, sir Uh Sir, I think it's froo and talk about it outside, shall we?' said Vimes Dr Cruces hadn't twitched a muscle

Lord Eorle sat back 'Well, I ht you Watch your duty at all times Always on the alert for the criminal mind, eh?'

'Oh, yes,' said Vimes 'The criminal mind Yes'

The cooler air of the ancestral hallway caainst the wall and squinted at the card

' "Gonne"?'

'You know you said you saw soan

'What's a gonne?'

'Maybe son on it?' said Carrot 'You know, like "Re"? They do that in museums'

'No, I shouldn't think th--What do you know about museums, anyway?'

'Oh, well, sir,' said Carrot 'I sometimes visit them on my day off The one in the University, of course, and Lord Vetinari lets me look around the old Palace one, and then there's the Guild ones, they generally let me in if I ask nicely, and there's the dwarf museum off Rime Street--'

'Is there?' said Vi Rime Street a thousand ti Alley'

'Fancy that What's in it?'

'Many interesting exaht about this for a ht now,' he said 'This isn't how you spell gone, anyway'

'Yes it is, sir,' said Carrot

'I one is normally spelled'

He flicked the card back and forth in his fingers

'A man'd have to be a fool to break into the Assassins' Guild,' he said

'Yes, sir'

The anger had burned away the fuain he feltnot, not the thrill, that wasn't the right wordthe sense of so He still wasn't sure what it was But it was there, waiting for hi on?'

Lady Ra-roo you,' she said 'You were being very rude, Sa not to be'

'Lord Eorle is a very old friend'

'Is he?'

'Well, I've known hi ti hi hi'

'But I've often heard you beingrude about dwarfs and trolls'

'That's different I've got a right That idiot wouldn't know a troll if it walked over him'

'Oh, he would know if a troll walked over hih as much as--'

'What's so important, anyway?' said Lady Ra for whoever killed Chubby,' said Vied instantly

'That's different, of course,' she said 'People like that should be publicly flogged'

Why did I say that? thought Vioes , next minute there's a little dwarf artificer thrown in the river with a nasty draught where his chest should be They're linked Now all I have to do is find the links

'Carrot, can you come back with me to Hammer-hock's?'

'Yes, captain Why?'

'I want to see inside that workshop And this tiot a dith ot Corporal Carrot Everyone likes Corporal Carrot

Vimes listened while the conversation droned on in dwarfish Carrot seeiving in not because of reason, or in obedience to the law, but becausewellbecause it was Carrot as asking

Finally, the corporal looked up He was sitting on a dwarf stool, so his knees practically framed his head

'You have to understand, you see, that a dwarf's workshop is very iht,' said Vier'

'Sorry?'

'A bigger Bigger than a dwarf'

'Ah'

'Er The inside of a dwarf's workshop is bikewell, it's like the inside of his clothes, if you knohat I mean They say you can look, if I' Er They're not very happy about this, captain'

A das possibly Mrs Haot on ith dwarfs,' said Vimes

'They're not happy, sir Uood'

'We'll do our best!'

'Um I didn't translate that properly Uood They don't mean to be offensive, sir They just don't think we'll be allowed to get anywhere, sir'

'Ow!'

'Sorry about that, captain,' said Carrot, alking like an inverted L 'After you Mind your head on the--'

'Ow!'

'Perhaps it'd be best if you sat down and I'll look around'

The workshop was long and, of course, loith another s workbench under a skylight On the opposite as a forge and a tool rack And a hole