Daneel was one of the many robots who had become disguised Sherlocks among the masses; tens of thousands throughout the Galaxy, trying not just to solve a mystery, but to prevent further and greater crimes.

The leader of these dedicated servants, the first Eternal, brushed as much of the street’s filth from his rags as he could manage, and left the cramped and empty General Habitation Project hovel in search of finer clothes.

7.

“They’ve searched the entire apartment,” Sonden Asgar moaned, rubbing his elbows and looking smaller and more frail than she had ever seen him before. Klia’s respect for her father had not been high in the last few years, but she still felt a pang for his misery--and an abiding sense of guilt that strengthened a sense of responsibility. “They went through our records--imagine that! Private records! Some Imperial authority...”

“Why your records, Father” Klia asked. The apartment was a shambles. She could imagine the investigators pulling up cabinets and throwing out the boxes and few dishes within, tugging up the worn carpets...She was glad she hadn’t been here, and for more than one reason.

“Not my records!” Sonden shouted. “They were looking for you. School papers, bookfilms, and they took our family album. With all your mother’s pictures. Why What have you done now”

Klia shook her head and upturned a stool to sit. “If they’re looking for me, I can’t stay,” she said.

“Why, daughter What could--”

“If I’ve done anything illegal, Father, it’s not worth the attention of Imperial Specials. It must be something else...” She thought of the conversation with the man in dusty green, and frowned.

Sonden Asgar stood in the middle of the main room, three meters square, hardly a room at all--more of a closet--and shivered like a frightened animal. “They were not kind,” he said. “They grabbed me and shook me hard...They acted like thugs. I might as well have gotten mugged in Billibotton!”

“What