Isaac Asimov - The Naked Sun

He felt himself filling with a sense of victory, and, as though victory were contagious, a new thought came, bursting like an inner shout.

Baley turned dizzily to Daneel. “I know,” he whispered. “Jehoshaphat! I know!”

“Know what, Partner Elijah?”

“I know what happened to the weapon; I know who is responsible. All at once, everything falls into place.”

Daneel would allow no immediate action.

“Tomorrow!” he had said with respectful firmness. “That is my suggestion, Partner Elijah. It is late and you are in need of rest.”

Baley had to admit the truth of it, and besides there was the need of preparation; a considerable quantity of it. He had the solution of the murder, he felt sure of that, but it rested on deduction, as much as had Daneel’s theory, and it was worth as little as evidence. Solarians would have to help him.

And if he were to face them, one Earthman against half a dozen Spacers, he would have to be in full control. That meant rest and preparation.

Yet he would not sleep. He was certain he would not sleep. Not all the softness of the special bed set up for him by smoothly functioning robots nor all the soft perfume and softer music in the special room of Gladia’s mansion would help. He was sure of it.

Daneel sat unobtrusively in one darkened corner.

Baley said, “Are you still afraid of Gladia?”

The robot said, “I do not think it wise to allow you to sleep alone and unprotected.”

“Well, have your way. Are you clear as to what I want you to do, Daneel?”

“I am, Partner Elijah.”

“You have no reservations under the First Law, I hope.”

“I have some with respect to the conference you wish arranged. Will you be armed and careful of your own safety?”

“I assure you, I will.”

Daneel delivered himself of a sigh that was somehow so human that for a moment Baley found himself trying to penetrate the darkness that he might study the machine-perfect face of the other.

Daneel said, “I have not always found human behavior logical.”

“We need Three Laws of our own,” said Baley, “but I’m glad we don’t have them.”

He stared at the ceiling. A great deal depended on Daneel and yet he could tell him very little of the whole truth. Robots were too involved. The planet, Aurora, had its reasons for sending a robot as representative of their interests, but it was a mistake. Robots had their limitations.

Still, if all went right, this could all be over in twelve hours. He could be heading back to Earth in twenty-four, bearing hope. A strange kind of hope. A kind he could scarcely believe himself, yet it was Earth’s way out. It must be Earth’s way out.

Earth! New York! Jessie and Ben! The comfort and familiarity and dearness of home!

He dwelled on it, half asleep, and the thought of Earth failed to conjure the comfort he expected. There was an estrangement between himself and the Cities.

And at some unknown point in time it all faded and he slept.

Baley, having slept and then wakened, showered and dressed. Physically he was quite prepared. Yet he was unsure. It was not that his reasoning seemed any less cogent to himself in the pallor of morning. It was rather the necessity of facing Solarians.

Could he be sure of their reactions after all? Or would he still be working blind?

Gladia was the first to appear. It was simple for her, of course. She was on an intramural circuit, since she was in the mansion itself. She was pale and expressionless, in a white gown that draped her into a cold statue.

She stared helplessly at Baley. Baley smiled back gently and she seemed to take comfort from that.

One by one, they appeared now. Attlebish, the Acting Head of Security, appeared next after Gladia, lean and haughty, his large chin set in disapproval. Then Leebig, the roboticist, impatient and angry, his weak eyelid fluttering periodically. Quemot, the sociologist, a little tired, but smiling at Baley out of deep-set eyes in a condescending way, as though to say: We have seen one another, we have been intimate.

Kiorissa Cantoro, when she appeared, seemed uneasy in the presence of the others. She glanced at Gladia for a moment with an audible sniff, then stared at the floor. Dr. Thool, the physician, appeared last. He looked haggard, almost sick.

They were all there, all but Gruer, who was slowly recovering and for whom attendance was physically impossible. (Well, thought Baley, we’ll do without him.) All were dressed formally; all sat in rooms that were well curtained into enclosure.

Daneel had arranged matters well. Baley hoped fervently that what remained for Daneel to do would work as well.

Baley looked from one Spacer to the other. His heart thudded. Each figure viewed him out of a different room and the clash of lighting, furniture, and wall decoration was dizzying.

Baley said, “I want to discuss the matter of the killing of Dr. Rikaine Delmarre under the heading of motive, opportunity, and means, in that order—”

Attlebish interrupted. “Will this be a long speech?”

Baley said sharply, “It may be. I have been called here to investigate a murder and such a job is my specialty and my profession. I

know best how to go about it.” (Take nothing from them now, he

thought, or this whole thing won’t work. Dominate! Dominate!)

He went on, making his words as sharp and incisive as he could. “Motive first. In a way, motive is the most unsatisfactory of the three items. Opportunity and means are objective. They can be investigated factually. Motive is subjective. It may be something that can be observed by others; revenge for a known humiliation, for instance. But it may also be completely unobservable; an irrational, homicidal hate on the part of a well-disciplined person who never lets it show.

“Now almost all of you have told me at one time or another that you believed Gladia Delmarre to have committed the crime. Certainly, no one has suggested an alternate suspect. Has Gladia a motive? Dr. Leebig suggested one. He said that Gladia quarreled frequently with her husband and Gladia later admitted this to me. The rage that can arise out of a quarrel can, conceivably, move a person to murder. Very well.

“The question remains, though, whether she is the only one with a motive. I wonder. Dr. Leebig, himself—”

The roboticist almost jumped. His hand extended rigidly in the direction of Baley. “Watch what you—say, Earthman.”

“I am only theorizing,” said Baley coldly. “You, Dr. Leebig, were working with Dr. Delmarre on new robot models. You are the best man in Solaria as far as robotics is concerned. You say so and I believe it.”

Leebig smiled with open condescension.

Baley went on. “But I have heard that Dr. Delmarre was about to break off relations with you for matters concerning yourself of which he disapproved.”

“False! False!”

“Perhaps. But what if it were true? Wouldn’t you have a motive to get rid of him before he humiliated you publicly by breaking with you? I have a feeling you could not easily bear such humiliation.”

Baley went on rapidly to give Leebig no chance to retort. “And you, Mrs. Cantoro. Dr. Delmarre’s death leaves you in charge of fetal engineering, a responsible position.”

“Skies above, we talked about that before,” cried Kiorissa in anguish.

“I know we did, but it’s a point that must be considered, anyway. As for Dr. Quemot, he played chess with Dr. Delmarre regularly. Perhaps he grew annoyed at losing too many games.”

The sociologist interposed quietly. “Losing a chess game is insufficient motive surely, Plainclothesman.”

“It depends on how seriously you take your chess. Motives can seem all the world to the murderer and completely insignificant to everyone else. Well, it doesn’t matter. My point is that motive alone is insufficient. Anyone can have a motive, particularly for the murder of a man such as Dr. Delmarre.”