'Some things are a mystery to me,' said William. 'You've got more than enough evidence to release Lord Vetinari,'
'I want to know more,'
'Not from me,'
'Come on, Mr de Worde. We're on the same side here!'
'No. We're just on two different sides that happen to be side by side,'
'Mr de Worde, earlier today you assaulted one of my officers. Do you know how much trouble you are in already?'
'I expected better of you than that, Mister Vimes,' said William. 'Are you saying I assaulted an officer in uniform? An officer who identified themself to me?'
'Be careful, Mr de Worde,'
'I was being followed by a werewolf, commander. I took steps to... inconvenience it so that I could get away. Would you like to debate this publicly?'
I'm being an arrogant, lying, supercilious bastard, thought William. And I'm good at it.
'Then you give me no choice but to arrest you for concealing--'
'I demand a lawyer,' said William.
'Really? And who did you have in mind at this time of night?'
'Mr Slant.'
'Slant? You think he'll come out for you?'
'No. I know he'll come out. Believe me.'
'Oh, he will, will he?'
"Trust me.'
'Come now,' said Vimes, smiling. 'Do we need this? It's the duty of every citizen to help the Watch, isn't it?'
I don't know. I know the Watch think it is. I've never seen it written down,' said William. 'There again, I never knew it was the right of the Watch to spy on innocent people.'
He saw the smile freeze.
'It was for your own good,' Vimes growled.
'I didn't know it was your job to decide what was good for me.'
This time Vimes won a small prize. 'I'm not going to be led, either,' he said. 'But I have reason to believe that you are withholding information about a major crime, and that is an offence. That's against the law.'
'Mr Slant will come up with something. There's some precedent, I'll bet. He'll go back hundreds of years. The Patricians have always set great store by precedent. Mr Slant will dig and dig. For years if necessary. That's how he got where he is today, by digging.'
Vimes leaned forward. 'Between you and me, and without your notebook,' he muttered, 'Mr Slant is a devious dead bastard who can bend such law as we have into a puzzle ring.'
'Yep,' said William. 'And he's my lawyer. I guarantee it.'
'Why would Mr Slant speak up on your behalf?' said Vimes, staring at William.
William matched him eyeball for eyeball. It's true, he thought. I'm my father's son. All I have to do is use it.
'Because he's a very fair man?' he said. 'Now, are you going to send a runner to fetch him? Because if you're not you've got to let me go.'