"What do you mean?"
"Can a robot bear witness on Solaria? Can it give evidence?"
"Why should you doubt it?"
"A robot isn't human, Daneel. On Earth, it cannot be a legal witness."
"And yet a footprint can, Partner Elijah, although that is much
less a human than a robot is. The position of your planet in this respect is illogical. On Solaria, robotic evidence, when competent, is admissible."
Baley did not argue the point. He rested his chin on the knuckles of one hand and went over this matter of the robot in his mind.
In the extremity of terror Gladia Delmarre, standing over her husband's body, had summoned robots. By the time they came she was unconscious.
The robots reported having found her there together with the dead body. And something else was present as well; a robot. That robot had not been summoned; it was already there. It was not one of the regular staff. No other robot had seen it before or knew its function or assignment.
Nor could anything be discovered from the robot in question. It was not in working order. When found, its motions were disorganized and so, apparently, was the functioning of its positronic brain. It could give none of the proper responses, either verbal or mechanical, and after exhaustive investigation by a robotics expert it was declared a total loss.
Its only activity that had any trace of organization was its constant repetition of "You're going to kill me - you're going to kill me - you're going to kill me."
No weapon that could possibly have been used to crush the dead man's skull was located.
Baley said suddenly, "I'm going to eat, Daneel, and then we see Agent Gruer again - or view him, anyway."
Hannis Gruer was still eating when contact was established. He ate slowly, choosing each mouthful carefully from a variety of dishes, peering at each anxiously as though searching for some hidden combination he would find most satisfactory.
Baley thought: He may be a couple of centuries old. Eating may be getting dull for him.
Gruer said, "I greet you, gentlemen. You received our report, I believe." His bald head glistened, as he leaned across the table to reach a titbit.
"Yes. We have spent an interesting session with Mrs. Delmarre also," said Baley.
"Good, good," said Gruer. "And to what conclusion, if any, did you come?"
Baley said, "That she is innocent, sir."
Gruer looked up sharply. "Really?"
Baley nodded.
Gruer said, "And yet she was the only one who could see him, the only one who could possibly be within reach... ."
Baley said, "That's been made clear to me, and no matter how firm social customs are on Solaria, the point is not conclusive. May I explain?"
Gruer had returned to his dinner. "Of course."
"Murder rests on three legs," said Baley, "each equally important. They are motive, means, and opportunity. For a good case against any suspect, each of the three must be satisfied. Now I grant you that Mrs. Delmarre had the opportunity. As for the motive, I've heard of none."
Gruer shrugged. "We know of none." For a moment his eyes drifted to the silent Daneel.
"All right. The suspect has no known motive, but perhaps she's a pathological killer. We can let the matter ride for a while, and continue. She is in his laboratory with him and there's some reason why she wants to kill him. She waves some club or other heavy object threateningly. It takes him a while to realize that his wife really intends to hurt him. He shouts in dismay, 'You're going to kill me,' and so she does. He turns to run as the blow descends and it crushes the back of his head. Did a doctor examine the body, by the way?"
"Yes and no. The robots called a doctor to attend Mrs. Delmarre and, as a matter of course, he looked at the dead body, too."
"That wasn't mentioned in the report."
"It was scarcely pertinent. The man was dead. In fact, by the time the doctor could view the body, it had been stripped, washed, and prepared for cremation in the usual manner."
"In other words, the robots had destroyed evidence," said Baley, annoyed. Then: "Did you say he viewed the body? He didn't see it?"
"Great Space," said Gruer, "what a morbid notion. He viewed it, of course, from all necessary angles and at close focus, I'm sure. Doctors can't avoid seeing patients under some conditions, but I can't conceive of any reason why they should have to see corpses. Medicine is a dirty job, but even doctors draw the line somewhere."
"Well, the point is this. Did the doctor report anything about the nature of the wound that killed Dr. Delmarre?"
"I see what you're driving at.' You think that perhaps the wound was too severe to have been caused by a woman."
"A woman is weaker than a man, sir. And Mrs. Delmarre is a small woman."
"But quite athletic, Plainclothesman. Given a weapon of the proper type, gravity and leverage would do most of the work. Even not allowing for that, a woman in frenzy can do surprising things."
Baley shrugged. "You speak of a weapon. Where is it?"
Gruer shifted position. He held out his hand toward an empty glass and a robot entered the viewing field and filled it with a colorless fluid that might have been water.
Gruer held the filled glass momentarily, then put it down as though he had changed his mind about drinking. He said, "As is stated in the report, we have not been able to locate it."
"I know the report says that. I want to make absolutely certain of a few things. The weapon was searched for?"
"Thoroughly."
"By yourself?"
"By robots, but under my own viewing supervision at all times. We could locate nothing that might have been the weapon."