Thief of Time - Missing

'It's Ludd again,' said the Master of Novices.

'Oh, dear. Surely one naughty child can't trouble you?'

'One ordinary naughty child, no. Where is this one from?'

'Master Soto sent him. You know? Of our Ankh-Morpork section? He found him in the city. The boy has a natural talent, I understand,' said Rinpo.

The Master of Novices looked shocked. 'Talent! He is a wicked thief! He'd been apprenticed to the Guild of Thieves!' he said.

'Well? Children sometimes steal. Beat them a little, and they stop stealing. Basic education,' said Rinpo.

'Ah. There is a problem.'

'Yes?'

'He is very, very fast. Around him, things go missing. Little things. Unimportant things. But even when he is watched closely, he is never seen to take them.’

'Then perhaps he does not?'

'He walks through a room and things vanish!' said the Master of Novices.

'He's that fast? It's just as well Soto did find him, then. But a thief is-'

'They turn up later, in odd places,' said the Master of Novices, apparently grudging the admission. 'He does it out of mischief, I'm sure.’

***

The Thief of Time - p34