It was pitch black in the Unseen University Library. The darkness echoed around the figure of a young man casually leaning against a broom, illuminated by a dim lantern on the floor beside him.

He sighed and picked up the lantern. He began to sweep the floor, but soon found that he couldn't sweep and hold the lantern at the same time, and managed barely one stroke of the broom before dropping the lantern. He sighed again and put down the broom.

He buried his hand into his jacket pocket, fished around, and eventually produced a length of string. He looped the string through the handle of the lantern, tied a knot at the end and hung it around his neck. After testing the strength of the string, he collected his broom and continued sweeping the aisle.

The Librarian was watching from the rafters. He grinned, showing all of his yellow teeth. He knew the boy would go far with a mind like that. If he wasn't such a well-behaved boy, he could be dangerous. Especially in a library like this. And nobody knew better than the Librarian what could happen in this library…


Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson strolled down Upper Broadway, Detritus hulking along beside him. Commander Vimes was a good distance ahead of them, but this was not down to speed; whenever somebody passed by, Carrot would stop to greet them with a friendly smile.

"You know ev'ryone don't you?" asked Detritus.

"Well, I try to keep i- Oh, how are you today Miss Holbrook? Good? Yes Sergeant, I know a lot of people but I wouldn't say ev- Good morning, Mister Cobbler! How's that knee of yours?"

Detritus sighed. "I bet two dollars you can name evr'ybody dat goes past."

Carrot looked at him. "You know I don't approve of betting, Sergeant, especially not while we're on duty."

"I be- I reckon you still could, though," Detritus said, mainly to himself.

"And look, that's Letitia Winsworth and Tommy Jennifer. Oh, and Ricky and Margaret Hay. And- who's that?"

"Who?"

"That girl over there. On the wall. With the gold chain."

Detritus looked. He shrugged, and they continued to walk in silence for a while. Then it seemed that a thought slowly began to occur to Detritus.

"Carrot?" inquired Detritus, as they turned onto Widdershins Broadway.

"Yes, Sergeant?"

"I is sure glad you don't approve o' bettin'."

Carrot smiled. "Good. What made you change your mind? Because it turns even the most innocent men into heartless scoundrels?"

Detritus shook his head.

"What then?"

"Well, I'm a coupl'a dollars better off den I would of bin…"