"Lance-Constable Horace Hitherto, sir? Got walloped on the back of the head last night? When we were at that meeting? When there was that, er, "disturbance"? Got sent to the Free Hospital?"
"Oh, gods. .: said Vimes. "It seems like a week ago. He"d only been with us a couple of months!"
"They said at the hospital his brain died, sir. I"m sure they did their best."
Did we do ours? Vimes wondered. But it was a bloody melee, and the cobblestone came out of nowhere. Could have hit me, could have hit Carrot. Hit a kid, instead. What"ll I tell his parents? Killed while doing his duty? But his duty shouldn"t have been to stop one lot of idiot citizens murdering another lot of idiot citizens.
It"s all got out of hand. There aren"t enough of us. And now there"s a few less.
"I"ll go and see his mum and dad tomor-" he began, and his sluggish memory shifted at last. "Does- Didn"t he have a brother in the Watch?"
"Yessir," said Carrot. "Lance- Constable Hector Hitherto, sir. They
joined together. He"s down at Chittling Street."
"Then get hold of his sergeant and tell him Hector is not allowed
on the street tonight, okay? I want him introduced to the joys of
filing. In a cellar, if possible. And wearing a very thick helmet." "I understand, sir," said Carrot.
"How"s Angua?"
"I think she"ll be fine after having a lie-down, sir. The mine really got to her."
"I"m really, really sorry about that-" Sally began.
"Not your fault, lance-constable ... Sally," said Vimes. "It was mine. I know about the vampire and werewolf thing, but I needed you both to be down there. It"s just one of those decisions, okay? I suggest you take the evening off. No, that"s an order. You"ve done very well on your first day. Off you go. Get your head down ... or whatever."
They watched her out of sight before continuing down the street.
"She is very good, sir," said Carrot. "She picks things up fast."
"Yes, very fast. I can see she"s going to be useful," said Vimes thoughtfully. "Doesn"t that strike you as odd, captain? Up she pops, just when we need her."
"She has been in Ankh-Morpork for a couple of months, though," said Carrot. "And the League vouches for her."
"A couple of months is about the same time as Hamcrusher"s been here too," said Vimes. "And if you wanted to find things out, we"re not a bad outfit to join. We"re official prodnoses."
"Sir, you don"t think-"
"Oh, I"m sure she"s a Black Ribboner, but I don"t think a vampire comes all the way from Uberwald to play the cello. Still, as you say, she does a good job. Vimes stared at nothing for a moment and then said thoughtfully, "Doesn"t one of our Specials work for the clacks company?"
"That"d be Andy Hancock, sir," said Carrot.
"Oh gods. You mean "Two Swords"?"
"That"s him, sir. Very keen lad."
"Yes, I saw the dockets. Normally a training dummy lasts for months, captain. You"re not supposed to chop through three in half an hour!"
"He"ll be down at the Yard now, sir. Do you want a word with him?" said Carrot.
"No. You have a word with him:
Vimes lowered his voice. So did Carrot. There was whispering. Then Carrot said, "Is that strictly legal, sir?"
"I don"t see how. Let"s find out, shall we? We haven"t had this little conversation, captain."