Isaac Asimov - The Naked Sun

He sipped slowly, his eyes on Baley.

Baley passed the knuckles of one hand against his long cheek, rubbing it thoughtfully. “Now if that—”

He didn’t finish, but leaped from his chair and almost hurled himself toward the other, before remembering it was only an image he was facing.

For Gruer, staring wildly at his drink, clutched his throat, whispering hoarsely, “Burning… burning…”

The glass fell from his hand, its contents spilling. And Gruer dropped with it, his face distorted with pain.

Daneel stood in the doorway. ‘What happened, Partner Eli—”

But no explanation was needed. Daneel’s voice changed to a loud ringing shout. “Robots of Hannis Gruer! Your master is hurt! Robots!”

At once a metal figure strode into the dining room and after it, in a minute or two, a dozen more entered. Three carried Gruer gently away. The others busily engaged in straightening the disarray and picking up the tableware strewn on the floor.

Daneel called out suddenly, “You there, robots, never mind the crockery. Organize a search. Search the house for any human being. Alert any robots on the grounds outside. Have them go over every acre of the estate. If you find a master, hold him. Do not hurt him” (unnecessary advice) “but do not let him leave, either. If you find no master present, let me know. I will remain at this viewer combination.”

Then, as robots scattered, Elijah muttered to Daneel, “That’s a beginning. It was poison, of course.”

“Yes. That much is obvious, Partner Elijah.” Daneel sat down queerly, as though there were a weakness in his knees. Baley had never seen him give way so, not for an instant, to any action that resembled anything so human as a weakness in the knees.

Daneel said, “It is not well with my mechanism to see a human being come to harm.”

“There was nothing you could do.”

“That I understand and yet it is as though there were certain

cloggings in my thought paths. In human terms what I feel might be the equivalent to shock.”

“If that’s so, get over it.” Baley felt neither patience nor sympathy for a queasy robot. “We’ve got to consider the little matter of responsibility. There is no poison without a poisoner.”

“It might have been food-poisoning.”

“Accidental food-poisoning? On a world this neatly run? Never. Besides, the poison was in a liquid and the symptoms were sudden and complete. It was a poisoned dose and a large one. Look, Daneel, I’ll go into the next room to think this out a bit. You get Mrs. Delmarre. Make sure she’s at home and check the distance between her estate and Gruer’s.”

“Is it that you think she—”

Baley held up a hand. “Just find out, will you?”

He strode out of the room, seeking solitude. Surely there could not be two independent attempts at murder so close together in time on a world like Solaria. And if a connection existed, the easiest assumption to make was that Gruer’s story of a conspiracy was true.

Baley felt a familiar excitement growing within him. He had come to this world with Earth’s predicament in his mind, and his own. The murder itself had been a faraway thing, but now the chase was really on. The muscles in his jaw knotted.

After all, the murderer or murderers (or murderess) had struck in his presence and he was stung by that. Was he held in so little account? It was professional pride that was hurt and Baley knew it and welcomed the fact. At least it gave him a firm reason to see this thing through as a murder case, simply, even without reference to Earth’s dangers.

Daneel had located him now and was striding toward him. “I have done as you asked me to, Partner Elijah. I have viewed Mrs. Delmarre. She is at her home, which is somewhat over a thousand miles from the estate of Agent Gruer.”

Baley said, “I’ll see her myself later. View her, I mean.” He stared thoughtfully at Daneel. “Do you think she has any connection with this crime?”

“Apparently not a direct connection, Partner Elijah.”

“Does that imply there might be an indirect connection?”

“She might have persuaded someone else to do it.”

“Someone else?” Baley asked quickly. “Who?”

“That, Partner Elijah, I cannot say.”

“If someone were acting for her, that someone .would have to be at the scene of the crime.”

“Yes,” said Daneel, “someone must have been there to place the poison in the liquid.”

“Isn’t it possible that the poisoned liquid might have been prepared earlier in the day? Perhaps much earlier?”

Daneel said quietly, “I had thought of that, Partner Elijah, which is why I used the word ‘apparently’ when I stated that Mrs. Delmarre had no direct connection with the crime. It is within the realm of possibility for her to have been on the scene earlier in the day. It would be well to check her movements.”

“We will do that. We will check whether she was physically present at any time.”

Baley’s lips twitched. He had guessed that in some ways robotic logic must fall short and he was convinced of it now. As the roboticist had said: Logical but not reasonable.

He said, “Let’s get back into the viewing room and get Gruer’s estate back in view.”

The room sparkled with freshness and order. There was no sign at all that less than an hour before a man had collapsed in agony.

Three robots stood, backs against the wall, in the usual robotic attitude of respectful submission.

Baley said, “What news concerning your master?”

The middle robot said, “The doctor is attending him, master.”

“Viewing or seeing?”

“Viewing, master.”

“What does the doctor say? Will your master live?”

“It is not yet certain, master.”

Baley said, “Has the house been searched?”

“Thoroughly, master.”

“Was there any sign of another master beside your own?”

“No, master.”

“Were there any signs of such presence in the near past?”

“Not at all, master.”

“Are the grounds being searched?”

“Yes, master.”

“Any results so far?”

“No, master.”

Baley nodded and said, “I wish to speak to the robot that served at the table this night.”

“It is being held for inspection, master. Its reactions are erratic.”

“Can it speak?”

“Yes, master.”

“Then get it here without delay.”

There was delay and Baley began again. “I said—”

Daneel interrupted smoothly. “There is interradio communication among these Solarian types. The robot you desire is being summoned. If it is slow in coming, it is part of the disturbance that has overtaken it as the result of what has occurred.”

Baley nodded. He might have guessed at interradio. In a world so thoroughly given over to robots some sort of intimate communication among them would be necessary if the system were not to break down. It explained how a dozen robots could follow when one robot had been summoned, but only when needed and not otherwise.

A robot entered. It limped, one leg dragging. Baley wondered why and then shrugged. Even among the primitive robots on Earth reactions to injury of the positronic paths were never obvious to the layman. A disrupted circuit might strike a leg’s functioning, as here, and the fact would be most significant to a roboticist and completely meaningless to anyone else.

Baley said cautiously, “Do you remember a colorless liquid on your master’s table, some of which you poured into a goblet for him?”

The robot said, “Yeth, mathter.” A defect in oral articulation, too!

Baley said, “What was the nature of the liquid?”

“It wath water, mathter.”