"Saa? Tell me about them." Alex couldn't have hidden at a... at a... there's no place in the world Alex could have made himself inconspicuous in. He sighs. "That's fine, as long as you lose them at the right place and time."
"You'd know if I'd broken them," he says pleasantly.
"So learn other tactics. --You don't bring trouble into a library!!!" he exclaims, appalled. His tone leaves no reason for Rincewind to ask why, now that he's admitted that 'because Xellos will track me down and kill me' is an acceptable reason for not doing something.