"After your husband's death, you mean?"
"Yes. You can imagine how he felt when he saw my husband's dead body and me lying there."
"I was told he viewed the body," said Baley.
"The body, yes. But after he made sure I was alive and in no real danger, he ordered the robots to put a pillow under my head and give me an injection of something or other, and then get out. He came over by jet. Really! By jet. It took less than half an hour and he took care of me and made sure all was well. I was so woozy when I came to that I was sure I was only viewing him, you know, and it wasn't till he touched me that I knew we were seeing, and I screamed. Poor Dr. Thool. He was awfully embarrassed, but I knew he meant well."
Baley nodded. "I suppose there's not much use for doctors on Solaria?"
"I should hope not."
"I know there are no germ diseases to speak of. What about metabolic disorders? Atherosclerosis? Diabetes? Things like that?"
"It happens and it's pretty awful when it does. Doctors can make life more livable for such people in a physical way, but that's the least of it."
"Oh?"
"Of course. It means the gene analysis was imperfect. You don't suppose we allow defects like diabetes to develop on purpose. Anyone who develops such things has to undergo very detailed re
analysis. The mate assignment has to be retracted, which is terribly embarrassing for the mate. And it means no - no" - her voice sank to a whisper - "children."
Baley said in a normal voice, "No children?"
Gladia flushed. "It's a terrible thing to say. Such a word! Ch-children!"
"It comes easy after a while," said Baley dryly.
"Yes, but if I get into the habit, I'll say it in front of another Solarian someday and I'll just sink into the ground... . Anyway, if the two of them have had children (see, I've said it again) already, the children have to be found and examined - that was one of Rikaine's jobs, by the way - and well, it's just a mess."
So much for Thool, thought Baley. The doctor's incompetence was a natural consequence of the society, and held nothing sinister. Nothing necessarily sinister. Cross him off, he thought, but lightly.
He watched Gladia as she ate. She was neat and precisely delicate in her movements and her appetite seemed normal. (His own fowl was delightful. In one respect, anyway-food-he could easily be spoiled by these Outer Worlds.)
He said, "What is your opinion of the poisoning, Gladia?"
She looked up. "I'm trying not to think of it. There are so many horrors lately. Maybe it wasn't poisoning."
"It was."
"But there wasn't anyone around?"
"How do you know?"
"There couldn't have been. He has no wife, these days, since he's all through with his quota of ch - you know what. So there was no one to put the poison in anything, so how could he be poisoned?"
"But he was poisoned. That's a fact and must be accepted."
Her eyes clouded over. "Do you suppose," she said, "he did it himself?"
"I doubt it. Why should he? And so publicly?"
"Then it couldn't be done, Elijah. It just couldn't."
Baley said, "On the contrary, Gladia. It could be done very easily. And I'm sure I know exactly how."
8. A SPACER IS DEFIED
Gladia seemed to be holding her breath for a moment. It came out through puckered lips in what was almost a whistle. She said, "I'm sure I don't see how. Do you know who did it?"
Baley nodded. "The same one who killed your husband."
"Are you sure?"
"Aren't you? Your husband's murder was the first in the history of Solaria. A month later there is another murder. Could that be a coincidence? Two separate murderers striking within a month of each other on a crime-free world? Consider, too, that the second victim was investigating the first crime and therefore represented a violent danger to the original murderer."
"Well!" Gladia applied herself to her dessert and said between mouthfuls, "If you put it that way, I'm innocent."
"How so, Gladia?"
"Why, Elijah. I've never been near the Gruer estate, never in my whole life. So I certainly couldn't have poisoned Agent Gruer. And if I haven't - why, neither did I kill my husband."
Then, as Baley maintained a stern silence, her spirit seemed to fade and the corners of her small mouth drooped. "Don't you think so, Elijah?"
"I can't be sure," said Baley. "I've told you I know the method used to poison Gruer. It's an ingenious one and anyone on Solaria could have used it, whether they were on the Gruer estate or not; whether they were ever on the Gruer estate or not."
Gladia clenched her hands into fists. "Are you saying I did it?"
"I'm not saying that."
"You're implying it." Her lips were thin with fury and her high cheekbones were splotchy. "Is that all your interest in viewing me? To ask me sly questions? To trap me?"
"Now wait - "
"You seemed so sympathetic. So understanding. You - you Earthman!"
Her contralto had become a tortured rasp with the last word.
Daneel's perfect face leaned toward Gladia and he said, "If you will pardon me, Mrs. Delmarre, you are holding a knife rather tightly and may cut yourself. Please be careful."
Gladia stared wildly at the short, blunt, and undoubtedly quite harmless knife she held in her hand. With a spasmodic movement she raised it high.
Baley said, "You couldn't reach me, Gladia."
She gasped. "Who'd want to reach you? Ugh!" She shuddered in exaggerated disgust and called out, "Break contact at once!"