"To whom?"
"To your daughter Vasilia."
"To Vasilia? Why? What purpose will that serve?"
"She is a roboticist. I would like to talk to a roboticist other than yourself."
"I do not wish that, Mr. Baley."
They had finished eating. Baley stood up. "Dr. Fastolfe, once again I must remind you that I am here at your request. I have no formal authority to do police work. I have no connection with any Auroran authorities. The only chance I have of getting to the bottom of this miserable mess is to hope that various people will voluntarily cooperate with me and answer my questions.
"If you stop me from attempting this, then it is clear that I can get no farther than I am right now, which is nowhere. It will also look extremely bad for you - and therefore for Earth so I urge you not to stand in my way. If you make it possible for me to interview anyone I wish - or even simply try to make it possible by interceding on my behalf - then the people of Aurora will surely consider that to be a sign of self-conscious innocence on your part. If you hamper my investigation, on the other hand, to what conclusion can they come but that you are guilty and fear exposure?"
Fastolfe said, with poorly suppressed annoyance, "I understand that, Mr. Baley. But why Vasilia? There are other roboticists."
"Vasilia is your daughter. She knows you. She might have strong opinions concerning the likelihood of your destroying a robot. Since she is a member of the Robotics Institute and on the side of your political enemies, any favorable evidence she may give would be persuasive."
"And if she testifies against me?"
"We'll face that when it comes. Would you get in touch with her and ask her to receive me?"
Fastolfe said resignedly, "I will oblige you, but you are mistaken if you think I can easily persuade her to see you. She may be too busy - or think she is. She may be away from Aurora. She may simply not wish to be involved. I tried to explain last night that she has reason - thinks she has reason to be hostile to me. My asking her to see you may indeed impel her to refuse, merely as a sign of her displeasure with me."
"Would you try, Dr. Fastolfe?"
Fastolfe sighed. "I will try while you are at Gladia's. I presume you wish to see her directly? I might point out that a trimensional viewing would do. The image is high enough in quality so that you will not be able to tell it from personal presence.
"I'm aware of that, Dr. Fastolfe, but Gladia is a Solarian and has unpleasant associations with trimensional viewing. And, in any case, I am of the opinion that there is an intangible additional effectiveness in being within touching distance. The present situation is too delicate and the difficulties too great for me to want to give up that additional effectiveness."
"Well, I'll alert Gladia." He turned away, hesitated, and turned back. "But, Mr. Baley - "
"Yes, Dr. Fastolfe?"
"Last night you told me that the situation was serious enough for you to I disregard any convenience it might cause Gladia. There were, you pointed out, greater things at stake."
"That's so, but you can rely on me not to disturb her if I can help it."
"I am not talking about Gladia now. I merely warn you that this essentially proper view of yours should be extended to myself. I don't expect you to worry about my convenience or pride if you should get a chance to talk to Vasilia. I don't look forward to the results, but if you do talk to her, I will have to endure any ensuing embarrassment and you must not seek to spare me. Do you understand?"
"To be perfectly honest, Dr. Fastolfe, it was never my intention to spare you. If I have to weigh your embarrassment or shame against the welfare of your policies and against the welfare of my world, I would not hesitate a moment to shame you.
"Good! - And Mr. Baley, we must extend that attitude also to yourself. Your convenience must not be allowed to stand in the way."
"It wasn't allowed to do so when you decided to have me brought here without consulting me."
"I'm referring to something else. If, after a reasonable time not a long time, but a reasonable time - you make no progress toward a solution, we will have to consider the possibilities of psychic-probing, after all. Our last chance might be to find out what it is your mind knows that you do not know it knows."
"It may know nothing, Dr. Fastolfe."
Fastolfe looked at Baley sadly. "Agreed. But, as you said concerning the possibility of Vasilia testifying against me we'll face that when it comes."
He turned away again and walked out of the room.
Baley looked after him thoughtfully. It seemed to him now that if he made progress he would face physical reprisals of an unknown - but possibly dangerous - kind. And if he did not make progress, he would face the Psychic Probe, which could scarcely be better.
"Jehoshaphat!" he muttered softly to himself.
33
The walk to Gladia's seemed shorter than it had on the day before. The day was sunlit and pleasant again, but the vista looked not at all the same. The sunlight slanted from the opposite direction, of course, and the coloring seemed slightly different.
It could be that the plant life looked a bit different in the morning than in the evening - or smelled different. Baley had, on occasion, thought that of Earth's plant life as well, he remembered.
Daneel and Giskard accompanied him again, but they traveled more closely to him and seemed less intensely alert.
Baley said idly, "Does the sun shine here all the time?"
"It does not, Partner Elijah," said Daneel. "Were it to do so, that would be disastrous for the plant world and, therefore, for humanity. The prediction is, in fact, for the sky to cloud over in the course of the day."