"But your enemies will insist that your own guilt is the more likely. - Could we not, in our turn, insist that Jander was brought to mental freeze-out by the conflict brought on by Gladia's love and shame? Would this not sound plausible? And would it not win public opinion to your side?"
Fastolfe frowned. "Mr. Baley, you are too eager. Think about it seriously. If we were to try to get out of our dilemma in this rather dishonest fashion, what would be the consequence? I say nothing of the shame and misery it would bring to Gladia, who would suffer not only the loss of Jander but the feeling that she herself had brought about that loss if, in fact, she had really felt and had somehow revealed her shame. I would not want to do that, but let us put that to one side, if we can. Consider, instead, that my enemies would say that I had loaned her Jander precisely to bring about what had happened. I would have done it, they would say, in order to develop a method for mental freeze-out in humaniform robots while escaping all apparent responsibility myself. We would be worse off than we are now, for I would not only be accused of being an underhanded intriguer, as I am now, but, in addition, of having behaved monstrously toward an unsuspecting woman whom I had pretended to befriend, something I have so far been spared."
Baley was staggered. He felt his jaw drop and his voice degenerate to a stutter. "Surely they would not - "
"But they would. You yourself were at least half-inclined to think so not very many minutes ago."
"Merely as a remote - "
"My enemies would not find it remote and they would not publicize it as remote."
Baley knew he had reddened. He felt the wave of heat and found he could not look Fastolfe in the face. He cleared his throat and said, "You are right. I jumped for a way out without thinking and I can only ask your pardon. I am deeply ashamed. - There's no way out, I suppose, but the truth if we can find it."
Fastolfe said, "Don't despair. You have already uncovered events in connection with Jander that I never dreamed of. You may uncover more and, eventually, what seems altogether a mystery to us now may unfold and become plain. What do you plan to do next?"
But Baley could think of nothing through the shame of his fiasco. He said, "I don't really know."
"Well, then, it was unfair of me to ask. You have had a long day and not an easy one. It is not surprising that your brain is a bit sluggish now. Why not rest, view a film, go to sleep? You will be better off in the morning."
Baley nodded and mumbled, "Perhaps you're right."
But, at the moment, he didn't think he'd be any better off in the morning at all.
30
The bedroom was cold, both in temperature and ambience. Baley shivered slightly. So low a temperature within a room gave it the unpleasant feeling of being Outside. The walls were faintly off-white and (unusual for Fastolfe's establishment) were not decorated. The floor seemed to the sight to be of smooth ivory, but to the bare feet it felt carpeted. The bed was white and the smooth blanket was cold to the touch.
He sat down at the edge of the mattress and found it yielded very slightly to the pressure of his weight.
He said to Daneel, who had entered with him, "Daneel, does it disturb you when a human being tells a lie?"
"I am aware that human beings lie on occasion, Partner Elijah. Sometimes, a lie might be useful or even mandatory. My feeling about a lie depends upon the liar, the occasion, and the reason."
"Can you always tell when a human being lies?"
"No, Partner Elijah."
"Does it seem to you that Dr. Fastolfe often lies?"
"It has never seemed to me that Dr. Fastolfe has told a lie."
"Even in connection with Jander's death?"
"As far as I can tell, he tells the truth in every respect."
"Perhaps he has instructed you to say that - were I to ask?"
"He has not, Partner Elijah."
"But perhaps he instructed you to say that, too - "
He paused. Again - of what use was it to cross-examine a robot? And in this particular case, he was inviting infinite regression.
He was suddenly aware that the mattress had been yielding slowly under him until it now half-enfolded his hips. He rose suddenly and said, "Is there any way of warming the room, Daneel?"
"It will feel warmer when you are under the cover with the light out, Partner Elijah."
"Ah." He looked about suspiciously. "Would you put the light out, Daneel, and remain in the room when you have done so?"
The light went out almost at once and Baley realized that his supposition that this room, at least, was undecorated was totally wrong. As soon as it was dark, he felt he was Outside. There was the soft sound of wind in trees and the small, sleepy mutters of distant life-forms. There was also the illusion of stars overhead, with an occasional drifting cloud that was just barely visible.
"Put the light back on, Daneel!"
The room flooded with light.
"Daneel," said Baley. "I don't want any of that. I want no stars, no clouds, no sounds, no trees, no wind - no scents, either. I want darkness, featureless darkness. Could you arrange that?"
"Certainly, Partner Elijah."
"Then do so. And show me how I may myself put out the light when I am ready to sleep."
"I am here to protect you, Partner Elijah."
Baley said grumpily, "You can do that, I am sure, from just the other side of the door. Giskard, I imagine, will be just outside the windows, if, indeed, there are windows beyond the draperies.
"There are. - If you cross that threshold, Partner Elijah, you will find a Personal reserved for yourself. That section of the wall is not material and you will move easily through it. The light will turn on as you enter and it will go out as you leave - and there are no decorations. You will be able to shower, if you wish, or do anything else that you care to before retiring or after waking."