Carrot inhaled rulebooks like other boys inhaled food. Or, rather, like Fred and Nobby inhaled food and like Vimes inhaled liquor, which he was doing with vigor at the moment. Fred and Nobby exchanged uneasy glances, but Carrot was oblivious to the Captain's irritation, and Vimes seemed intent on pickling his brain.
"But Captain Vimes," Carrot said, "extortion is defined by gaining money through the use of threats of either violence or blackmail, correct?"
Vimes, whose grasp on the law had deteriorated over time, mostly on account of the fact that he no longer got to perform anything remotely having to do with the law, just said, "Right." It was better than this pink eared novice walking all over him with his citations and his numbers.
"And the Thieves Guild asks for money from civilians so they won't get their money stolen from them."
"Sounds about right."
"So in addition to stealing, the Thieves Guild is guilty of extortion?" Carrot wrinkled his brow in genuine confusion, mouth turning vaguely downwards at the idea of such injustice taking hold of a world that he had been brought up to believe was good and just.
Vimes was getting depressed just watching him. "S'pose so."
"But we can't arrest them?"
Vimes shook his head.
"Because they are..."
"An arm of the government, officially," Vimes said, setting his glass of whiskey down. "But mostly 'cos they're a bunch of bloody-"
"Let's go find another bar," Fred cut in, less delicately than he thought he did, and stood up. The four of them stumbled out, and in the back of his liquor-ridden mind, Vimes wondered what had happened to the days when you could arrest someone for breaking the law, and wondered if he'd ever see it again.
Probably not.