"I'm beginning to see that it must be, Mr. Baley. Well, Dr. Amadiro, once again - yes or no."
And Amadiro burst forth, "What evidence does this Earthman have against me in this matter? Does he have a recording of any conversation I have had with Jander? Does he have witnesses who are willing to say they have seen me with Jander? What does he have anything at all besides mere self-serving statements?"
The Chairman turned to look at Baley and Baley said, "Mr. Chairman, if I have nothing at all, then Dr. Amadiro should not hesitate to deny, for the record, any contact with Jander but he does not do so. As it happens, in the course of my investigation, I spoke to Dr. Vasilia Aliena, the daughter of Dr. Fastolfe. I spoke also to a young Auroran named Santirix Gremionis. In the recordings of both interviews, it will be plain that Dr. Vasilia encouraged Gremionis to pay court to Gladia. You may question Dr. Vasilia as to her purpose in so doing and as to whether this course of action had been suggested to her by Dr. Amadiro. It also appears that it was Gremionis' custom to take long walks with Gladia, which both enjoyed, and on which they were not accompanied by the robot, Jander. You might check on this, if you wish, sir."
The Chairman said dryly, "I may do so, but if all is as you say, what does this show?"
Baley said, "I have stated that, failing Dr. Fastolfe himself, the secret of the humaniform robot could be obtained only from Daneel. Before Jander's death, it could, with equal facility, have been obtained from Jander. Whereas Daneel was part of Dr. Fastolfe's establishment and could not easily be reached, Jander was part of Gladia's establishment and she was not as sophisticated as Dr. Fastolfe in seeing to a robot's protection.
"Isn't it likely that Dr. Amadiro took the occasion of Gladia's periodic absences from her establishment, when she was walking with Gremionis, to converse with Jander, perhaps by trimensional viewing, to study his responses, to subject him to various tests, and then to erase any sign of his visit with Jander, so that he could never inform Gladia of it? It may be that he came close to finding what he wanted to know - before the attempt ended when Jander went out of action. His concentration then shifted to Daneel. He felt - perhaps that he had only a few tests and observations left to make and so he set up the trap of yesterday evening, as I said earlier in my - my testimony."
The Chairman said, in what was almost a whisper, "Now it all hangs together. I am almost forced to believe."
"Plus one final point and then I will truly have nothing more to say," said Baley. "In his examination and testing of Jander, it is entirely possible that Dr. Amadiro accidentally - and without any deliberate intention whatever - immobilized Jander and thus committed roboticide."
And Amadiro, maddened, shouted, "No! Never! Nothing I did to that robot could possibly have immobilized him!"
Fastolfe interposed. "I agree. Mr. Chairman, I, too, think that Dr. Amadiro did not immobilize Jander. However, Mr. Chairman, Dr. Amadiro's statement just now would seem an implicit admission that he was working with Jander - and that Mr. Baley's analysis of the situation is essentially accurate."
The Chairman nodded. "I am forced to agree with you, Dr. Fastolfe. - Dr. Amadiro, you may insist on a formal denial of all this and that may force me into a full-fledged investigation, which could do you a great deal of damage, however it turned out and I rather suspect, at this stage, it is likely to turn out to your great disadvantage. My suggestion is that you do not force this - that you do not cripple your own position in the Legislature and, perhaps, cripple Aurora's ability to continue along a smooth political course.
"As I see it, before the matter of Jander's immobilization came up, Dr. Fastolfe had a majority of the legislators - not a large majority, admittedly - on his side in the matter of Galactic settlement. You would have swung enough legislators to your side by pushing the matter of Dr. Fastolfe's supposed responsibility for Jander's immobilization and thus have gained the majority. But now Dr. Fastolfe, if he wishes, can turn the tables by accusing you of the immobilization and, moreover, of having tried to hang a false accusation upon your opponent as well - and you would lose.
"If I do not interfere, then it may be that you, Dr. Amadiro, and you, Dr. Fastolfe, actuated by stubbornness or even vindictiveness, will both marshal your forces and accuse each other of all sorts of things. Our political forces and public opinion too, will be hopelessly divided - even fragmented - to our infinite harm.
"I believe that, in that case, Fastolfe's victory, while inevitable, would be a very costly one, so that it would be my task as the Chairman to swing the votes in his direction to begin with, and to place pressure upon you and your faction, Dr. Amadiro, to accept Fastolfe's victory with as much grace as you can manage, and, to do it right now - for the good of Aurora."
Fastolfe said, "I am not interested in a crushing victory, Mr. Chairman. - I propose again a compromise whereby Aurora, the other Spacer worlds, and Earth, too, all have the freedom of settlement in the Galaxy. In return, I will be glad to join the Robotics Institute, put my knowledge of humaniform robots at its disposal, and thus facilitate Dr. Amadiro's plan, in return for his solemn agreement to abandon all thought of retaliation against Earth at any time in the future and to put this into treaty form, with ourselves and Earth as signatories."
The Chairman nodded. "A wise and statesmanlike suggestion. May I have your acceptance of this, Dr. Amadiro?"
Amadiro now sat down. His face was a study in defeat. He said, "I have not wanted personal power or the satisfaction of victory. I wanted what I know to be best for Aurora and I am convinced that this plan of Dr. Fastolfe's means an end to Aurora someday. However, I recognize that I am now helpless against the work of this Earthman" - he shot a quick venomous glance toward Baley - "and I am forced to accept Dr. Fastolfe's suggestion - though I will ask for permission to address the legislature on the subject and to state, for the record, my fears of the consequences."