Baley said, "You were, then, completely happy?"
"With Jander? Of course. Completely."
"You never quarreled?"
"With Jander? How could I? His only aim, his only reason for existence, was to please me."
"Might that not disturb you? He only pleased you because he had to."
"What motive would anyone have to do anything but that, for one reason or another, he had to?"
"And you never had the urge to try real - to try Aurorans after you had learned to experience orgasm?"
"It would have been an unsatisfactory substitute. I wanted only Jander. - And do you understand, now, what I have lost?"
Baley's naturally grave expression lengthened into solemnity. He said, "I understand, Gladia. If I gave you pain earlier, please forgive me, for I did not entirely understand then."
But she was weeping and he waited, unable to say anything more, unable to think of a reasonable way to console her.
Finally, she shook her head and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She whispered, "Is there anything more?"
Baley said apologetically, "A few questions on another subject and then I will be through annoying you." He added cautiously, "For now."
"What is it?" She seemed very tired.
"Do you know that there are people who seem to think that Dr. Fastolfe was responsible for the killing of Jander?"
"Yes."
"Do you know, that Dr. Fastolfe himself admits that only he possesses the expertise to kill Jander in the way that he was killed?"
"Yes. - The dear doctor told me so himself."
"Well, then, Gladia, do you think Dr. Fastolfe killed Jander?"
She looked up at him, suddenly and sharply, and then said angrily, "Of course not. Why should he? Jander was his robot to begin with and he was full of care for him. You don't know the dear doctor as I do, Elijah. He is a gentle person who would hurt no one and who would never hurt a robot. To suppose he would kill one is to suppose that a rock would fall upward."
"I have no further questions, Gladia, and the only other business I have here, at the moment, is to see Jander - what remains of Jander - if I have your permission."
She was suspicious again, hostile. "Why? Why?"
"Gladia! Please! I don't expect it to be of any use, but I must see Jander and know that seeing him is of no use. I will try to do nothing that will offend your sensibilities."
Gladia stood up. Her gown, so simple as to be nothing more than a closely fitting sheath, was not black (as it would have been on Earth) but of a dull color that showed no sparkle anywhere in it. Baley, no connoisseur of clothing, realized how well it represented - mourning.
"Come with me," she whispered.
26
Baley followed Gladia through several rooms, the walls of which glowed dully. On one or two occasions, he caught a hint of movement, which he took to be a robot getting rapidly out of the way, since they had been told not to intrude.
Through a hallway, then, and up a short flight of stairs into a small room in which one part of one wall gleamed to give the effect of a spotlight.
The room held a cot and a chair - and no other furnishings.
"This was his room," said Gladia. Then, as though answering Baley's thought, she went on to say, "It was all he needed. I left him alone as much as I could - all day if I could. I did not want to ever grow fired of him." She shook her head. "I wish now I had stayed with him every second. I didn't know our time would be so short. - Here he is."
Jander was lying on the cot and Baley looked at him gravely. The robot was covered with a smooth and shiny material. The spotlighted wall cast its glow on, Jander's head, which was smooth and almost inhuman in its serenity. The eyes were wide open, but they were opaque and lusterless. He looked enough like Daneel to give ample point to Gladia's discomfort at Daneel's presence. His neck and bare shoulders showed above the sheet.
Baley said, "Has Dr. Fastolfe inspected him?"
"Yes, thoroughly. I came to him in despair and, if you had seen him rush here, the concern he felt, the pain, the - the panic, you would never think he could have been responsible. There was nothing he could do."
"Is he unclothed?"
"Yes. Dr. Fastolfe had to remove the clothing for a thorough examination. There was no point in replacing them."
"Would you permit me to remove the covering, Gladia?"
"Must you?"
"I do not wish to be blamed for having missed some obvious point of examination."
"What can you possibly find that Dr. Fastolfe didn't?"
"Nothing, Gladia, but I must know that there is nothing for me to find. Please cooperate."
"Well, then, go ahead, but please put the covering back exactly as it is now when you are done."
She turned her back on him and on Jander, put her left arm against the wall, and rested her forehead on it. There was no sound from her - no motion - but Baley knew that she was weeping again.
The body was, perhaps, not quite human. The muscular contours were somehow simplified and a bit schematic, but all the parts were there: nipples, navel, penis, testicles, pubic hair, and so on. Even fine, light hair on the chest.
How many days was it since Jander had been killed? It struck Baley that he didn't know, but it had been sometime before his trip to Aurora had begun. Over a week had passed and there was no sign of decay, either visually or olfactorily. A clear robotic difference.
Baley hesitated and then thrust one arm under Jander's shoulders and another under his hips, working them through to the other side. He did not consider asking for Gladia's help - that would be impossible. He heaved and, with some difficulty, turned Jander over without throwing him off the cot.