Asimov, Isaac - Foundation 03 - Naked Sun

by Naked Sun (lit)

  'What do you mean by that remark," demanded Quemot in indignation.

  'Why, only that Dr. Delmarre was a 'good Solarian.' You all described him as such. He rigidly fulfilled all the requirements of So'larian custom. He was an ideal man, almost an abstraction. Who could feel love, or even liking, for such a man? A man without weaknesses serves only to make everyone else conscious of his own imperfections. A primitive poet named Tennyson once wrote: 'He is all fault who has no fault at all."

  "No one would kill a man for being too good," said Klorissa, frowning.

  "You little know," said Baley, and went on without amplification. "Dr. Delmarre was aware of a conspiracy on Solaria, or thought he was; a conspiracy that was preparing an assault on the rest of the Galaxy for purposes of conquest. He was interested in preventing that. For that reason, those concerned in the conspiracy might find it necessary to do away with him. Anyone here could be a member of the conspiracy, including, to be sure, Mrs. Delmarre, but including even the Acting Head of Security, Corwin Attlebish."

  "I?" said Attlebish, unmoved.

  "You certainly attempted to end the investigation as soon as Gruer's mishap put you in charge."

  Baley took a few slow sips at his drink (straight from its original container, untouched by human hands others than his own, or robotic hands, either) and gathered his strength. So far, this was a waiting game, and he was thankful the Solarians were sitting still for it. They hadn't the Earthman's experience of dealing with people at close quarters. They weren't in-fighters.

  He said, "Opportunity next. It is the general opinion that only Mrs. Delmarre had opportunity since oniy she could approach her husband in actual personal presence.

  "Are we sure of that? Suppose someone other than Mrs. Delmarre had made up his or her mind to kill Dr. Delmarre? Would not such a desperate resolution make the discomfort of personal presence secondary? If any of you were set on murder, wouldn't you bear personal presence just long enough to do the job? Couldn't you sneak into the Delmarre mansion-"

  Attlebish interposed frigidly. "You are ignorant of the matter, Earthman. Whether we would or would not doesn't matter. The fact is that Dr. Delmarre himself would not allow seeing, I assure you. If anyone came into his personal presence, regardless of how valued and long-standing a friendship there was between them, Dr. Delmarre would order him away and, if necessary, call robots to help with the ejection."

  "True," said Baley, "if Dr. Delmarre were aware that personal presence was involved."

  'What do you mean by that?" demanded Dr. Thool in surprise, his voice quavering.

  "When you treated Mrs. Delmarre at the scene of the murder," replied Baley, looking full at his questioner, "she ~assumed you were viewing her, until you actually touched her. So she told me and so I believe. I am, myself, accustomed only to seeing. When I arrived at Solaria and met Security Head Gruer, I assumed I was seeing him. When at the end of our interview, Gruer disappeared, I was taken completely by surprise.

  "Now assume the reverse. Suppose that for all a man's adult life, he had been viewing only; never seeing anyone, except on rare occasions his wife. Now suppose someone other than his wife walked up to him in personal presence. Would he not automatically assume that it was a matter of viewing, particularly if a robot had been instructed to advise Delmarre that viewing contact was being set up?"

  "Not for a minute," said Quemot. "The sameness of background would give it away."

  "Maybe, but how many of you are aware of background now? There would be a minute or so, at least, before Dr. Delmarre would grow aware that something was wrong and in that time, his friend, whoever he was, could walk up to him, raise a club, and bring it down."

  "Impossible," said Quemot stubbornly.

  "I think not," said Baley. "1 think opportunity must be canceled out as absolute proof that Mrs. Delmarre is the murderess. She had opportunity, but so might others."

  Baley waited again. He felt perspiration on his forehead, but wiping it away would have made him look weak. He must maintain absolute charge of the proceedings. The person at whom he was aiming must be placed in self-convinced inferiority. It was hard for an Earthman to do that to a Spacer.

  Baley looked from face to face and decided that matters were at least progressing satisfactorily. Even Attlebish looked quite humanly concerned.

  "And so we come," he said, "to means, and that is the most puzzling factor of all. The weapon with which the murder was committed was never found."

  "We know that," said Attlebish. "If it were not for that point, we would have considered the case against Mrs. Delmarre conclusive. We would never have required an investigation."

  "Perhaps," said Baley. "Let's analyze the matter of means, then.

  There are two possibilities. Either Mrs. Delmarre committed the murder, or someone else did. If Mrs. Delmarre committed the murder, the weapon would have had to remain at the scene of the crime, unless it were removed later. It has been suggested by my partner, Mr. Olivaw of Aurora, who is not present at the moment, that Dr. Thool had the opportunity to remove the weapon. I ask Dr. Thool now, in the presence of all of us, if he did this, if he removed a weapon while examining the unconscious Mrs. Delmarre?"

  Dr. Thool was shaking. "No, no. I swear it. I'll abide any questioning. I swear I removed nothing."

  Baley said, "Is there anyone who wishes to suggest at this point that Dr. Thool is lying?"

  There was a silence, during which Leebig looked at an object outside of Baley's field of vision and muttered something about the time.

  Baley said, "The second possibility is that someone else committed the crime and carried the weapon off with him. But if that were so, one must ask why. Carrying the weapon away is an advertisement of the fact that Mrs. Delmarre was not the murderess. If an outsider were the murderer, he would have to be a complete imbecile not to leave the weapon with the corpse to convict Mrs. Delmarre. Either way, then, the weapon -must be there! Yet it was not seen."

  Attlebish said, "Do you take us for fools or for blind men?"

  "I take you for Solarians," said Baley calmly, "and therefore incapable of recognizing the particular weapon that was left at the scene of the crime as a weapon."

  "I don't understand a word," muttered Klorissa in distress.

  Even Gladia, who had scarcely moved a muscle during the course of the meeting, was staring at Baley in surprise.

  Baley said, "Dead husband and unconscious wife were not the only individuals on the scene. There was also a disorganized robot."

  "Well?" said Leebig angrily.

  "Isn't it obvious, then, that, in having eliminated the impossible, what remains, however improbable, is the truth. The robot at the scene of the crime was the murder weapon, a murder weapon none of you could recognize by force of your training."

  They all talked at once; all but Gladia, who simply stared.

  Baley raised his arms. "Hold it. Quiet! Let me explain!" And once again he told the story of the attempt on Gruer's life and the method

  by which it could have been accomplished. This time he added the attempt on his own life at the baby farm.

  Leebig said impatiently, "I suppose that was managed by having one robot poison an arrow without knowing it was using poison, and having a second robot hand the poisoned arrow to the boy after telling him that you were an Earthman, without its knowing that the arrow was poisoned."

  "Something like that. Both robots would be completely instructed."

  "Very farfetched," said Leebig.

  Quemot was pale and looked as though he might be sick at any moment. "No Solarian could possibly use robots to harm a human."

  "Maybe so," said Baley with a shrug, "but the point is that robots can be so manipulated. Ask Dr. Leebig. He is the roboticist."

  Leebig said, "It does not apply to the murder of Dr. Delmarre. I told you that yesterday. How can anyone arrange to have a robot smash a man's skull?"

  "Shall I explain how?"

  "Do so if you can."


  Baley said, "It was a new-model robot that Dr. Delmarre was testing. The significance of that wasn't plain to me until last evening, when I had occasion to say to a robot, in asking for his help in rising out of a chair, 'Give me a hand!' The robot looked at his own hand in confusion as though he thought he was expected to detach it and give it to me. I had to repeat my order less idiomatically. But it reminded me of something Dr. Leebig had told me earlier that day. There was experimentation among robots with replaceable limbs.

  "Suppose this robot that Dr. Delmarre had been testing was one such, capable of using any of a number of interchangeable limbs of various shapes for different kinds of specialized tasks. Suppose the murderer knew this and suddenly said to the robot, 'Give me your arm.' The robot would detach its arm and give it to him. The detached arm would make a splendid weapon. With Dr. Delmarre dead, it could be snapped back into place."

  Stunned horror gave way to a babble of objection as Baley talked. His last sentence had to be shouted, and, even so, was all but drowned Out.

  Attlebish, face flushed, raised himself from his chair and stepped forward. "Even if what you say is so, then Mrs. Delmarre is the murderess. She was there, she quarreled with him, she would be watch-

  ing her husband working with the robot, and would know of the replaceable-limb situation-which I don't believe, by the way. No matter what you do, Earthman, everything points to her."

  Gladia began to weep softly.

  Baley did not look at her. He said, "On the contrary, it is easy to show that, whoever committed the murder, Mrs. Delmarre did not.

  Jothan Leebig suddenly folded his arms and allowed an expression of contempt to settle on his face.

  Baley caught that and said, "You'll help me do so, Dr. Leebig. As a roboticist, you know that maneuvering robots into actions such as indirect murder takes enormous skill. I had occasion yesterday to try to put an individual under house arrest. I gave three robots detailed instructions intended to keep this individual safe. It was a simple thing, but I am a clumsy man with robots. There were loopholes in my instructions and my prisoner escaped."

  "Who was the prisoner?" demanded Attlebish.

  "Beside the point," said Baley impatiently. "What is the point is the fact that amateurs can't handle robots well. And some Solarians may be pretty amateurish as Solarians go. For instance, what does Gladia Delmarre know about robotics? . . . Well, Dr. Leebig?"

  "What?" The roboticist stared.

  "You tried to teach Mrs. Delmarre robotics. What kind of a pupil was she? Did she learn anything?"

  Leebig looked about uneasily. "She didn't. . ." and stalled.

  "She was completely hopeless, wasn't she? Or would you prefer not to answer?"

  Leebig said stiffly, "She might have pretended ignorance."

  "Are you prepared to say, as a roboticist, that you think Mrs. Delmarre is sufficiently skilled to drive robots to indirect murder?"

  "How can I answer that?"

  "Let me put it another way. Whoever tried to have me killed at the baby farm must have had to locate me by using interrobot communications. After all, I told no human where I was going and only the robots who conveyed me from point to point knew of my whereabouts. My partner, Daneel Olivaw, managed to trace me later in the day, but only with considerable difficulty. The murderer, on the other hand, must have done it easily, since, in addition to locating

  me, he had to arrange for arrow poisoning and arrow shooting, all before I left the farm and move~1 on. Would Mrs. Delniarre have the skill to do that?"

  Corwin Attlebish leaned forward. "Who do you suggest would have the necessary skill, Earthman?"

  Baley said, "Dr. Jothan Leebig is self-admittedly the best robot man on the planet."

  "Is that an accusation?" cried Leebig.

  "Yes!" shouted Baley.

  The fury in Leebig's eyes faded slowly. It was replaced not by calm, exactly, but by a kind of clamped-down tension. He said, "I studied the Delmarre robot after the murder. It had no detachable limbs. At least, they were detachable only in the usual sense of requiring special tools and expert handling. So the robot wasn't the weapon used in killing Delmarre and you have no argument."

  Baley said, "Who else can vouch for the truth of your statement?"

  "My word is not to be questioned."

  "It is here. I'm accusing you, and your unsupported word concerning the robot is valueless. If someone else will bear you out, that would be different. Incidentally, you disposed of that robot quickly. Why?"

  "There was no reason to keep it. It was completely disorganized. It was useless."

  "Why?"

  Leebig shook his finger at Baley and said violently, "You asked me that once before, Earthman, and I told you why. It had witnessed a murder which it had been powerless to stop."

  "And you told me that that always brought about complete collapse; that that was a universal rule. Yet when Gruer was poisoned, the robot that had presented him with the poisoned drink was harmed only to the extent of a limp and a lisp. It had actually itself been the agent of what looked like murder at the moment, and not merely a witness, and yet it retained enough sanity to be questioned.

  "This robot, the robot in the Delmarre case, must therefore have been still more intimately concerned with murder than the Gruer robot. This Delmarre robot must have had its own arm used as the murder weapon."

  "All nonsense," gasped out Leebig. "You know nothing about robotics."

  Baley said, "That's as may be. But I will suggest that Security Head Attlebish impound the records of your robot factory and maintenance shop. Perhaps we can find out whether you have built robots with detachable limbs and, if so, whether any were sent to Dr. Delmarre, and, if so, when."

  "No one will tamper with my records," cried Leebig.

  "Why? If you have nothing to hide, why?"

  "But why on Solaria should I want to kill Delmarre? Tell me that. What's my motive?"

  "I can think of two," said Baley. "You were friendly with Mrs. Delmarre. Overly friendly. Solarians are human, after a fashion. You never consorted with women, but that didn't keep you immune from, shall we say, animal urges. You saw Mrs. Delmarre-I beg your pardon, you viewed her-when she was dressed rather informally and--"

  "No," cried Leebig in agony.

  And Gladia whispered energetically, "No."

  "Perhaps you didn't recognize the nature of your feelings yourself," said Baley, "or if you had a dim notion of it, you despised yourself for your weakness, and hated Mrs. Delmarre for inspiring it. And yet you might have hated Delmarre, too, for having her. You did ask Mrs. Delmarre to be your assistant. You compromised with your libido that far. She refused and your hatred was the keener for that. By killing Dr. Delmarre in such a way as to throw suspicion on Mrs. Delmarre, you could be avenged on both at once."

  "Who would believe that cheap, melodramatic filth?" demanded Leebig in a hoarse whisper. "Another Earthman, another animal, maybe. No Solarian."

  "I don't depend on that motive," said Baley. "I think it was there, unconsciously, but you had a plainer motive, too. Dr. B.ikaine Delmarre was in the way of your plans, and had to be removed."

  'What plans?" demanded Leebig.

  "Your plans aiming at the conquest of the Galaxy, Dr. Leebig," said Baley.

  18

  A Question Is Answered

  "THE EARTHMAN is mad," cried Leebig, turning to the others. "Isn't that obvious?"

  Some stared at Leebig wordlessly, some at Baley.

  Baley gave them no chance to come to decisions. He said, "You know better, Dr. Leebig. Dr. Delmarre was going to break off with you. Mrs. Delmarre thought it was because you wouldn't marry. I don't think so. Dr. Delmarre himself was planning a future in which ectogenesis would be possible and marriage unnecessary. But Dr. Delmarre was working with you; he would know, and guess, more about your work than anyone else. He would know if you were attempting dangerous experiments and he would try to stop you. He hinted about such matters to Agent Gruer, but gave no
details, because he was not yet certain of the details. Obviously, you discovered his suspicions and killed him."

  "Mad!" said Leebig again. "I will have nothing more to do with this."

  But Attlebish interrupted. "Hear him out, Leebig!"

  Baley bit his lip to keep from a premature display of satisfaction at the obvious lack of sympathy in the Security Head's voice. He said, "In the same discussion with me in which you mentioned robots with detachable limbs, Dr. Leebig, you mentioned spaceships with built-in positronic brains. You were definitely talking too much then. Was it that you thought I was only an Earthman and incapable of understanding the implications of robotics? Or was it that you had just been threatened with personal presence, had the threat lifted, and were a little delirious with relief? In any case, Dr.

  Quemot had already told me that the secret weapon of Solaria against the Outer Worlds was the positronic robot."

  Quemot, thus unexpectedly referred to, started violently, and cried, "I meant--"

  "You meant it sociologically, I know. But it gives rise to thoughts. Consider a spaceship with a built-in positronic brain as compared to a manned spaceship. A manned spaceship could not use robots in active warfare. A robot could not destroy humans on enemy spaceships or on enemy worlds. It could not grasp the distinction between friendly humans and enemy humans.

  "Of course, a robot could be told that the opposing spaceship had no humans aboard. It could be told that it was an uninhabited planet that was being bombarded. That would be difficult to manage. A robot could see that its own ship carried humans; it would know its own world held humans. It would assume that the same was true of enemy ships and worlds. It would take a real expert in robotics, such as you, Dr. Leebig, to handle them properly in that case, and there are very few suck experts.

  "But a spaceship that was equipped with its own positronic brain would cheerfully attack any ship it was directed to attack, it seems to me. It would naturally assume all other ships were unmanned. A positronic-brained ship could easily be made incapable of receiving messages from enemy ships that might undeceive it. With its weapons and defenses under the immediate control of a positronic brain, it would be more maneuverable than any manned ship. With no room necessary for crewmen, for supplies, for water or air purifiers, it could carry more armor, more weapons and be more invulnerable than any ordinary ship. One ship with a positronic brain could defeat fleets of ordinary ships. Am I wrong?"