"Allen, Roger MacBride - Isaac Asimov's Robot Mysteries 02 - Isaac Asimov's Inferno" - читать интересную книгу автора (Allen Roger Macbride)

ДAll right, Beddle,У he said. ДWeТll find out whoТs who. У Kresh turned to Tonya Welton. This could be tricky, damned tricky, if she decided to make trouble. A diplomatic incident and then some. Best to try to smooth her feathers, if he could. ДLet her go,У he said to Caliban, careful not to address him by name. Why get the crowd agitated allover again by reminding them which robot this was?
Caliban hesitated. Damnation, Kresh thought. Hard to remember he doesnТt have Second Law. On the other hand, he doesnТt have First Law either. What the devil was he doing breaking up a fight? ДItТs all right. I donТt think Madame Welton is going to do anything unwise.У
Caliban let the Settler leader go, and she pulled herself away from his grip without a great deal of good grace.
ДDonТt take it out on the robots, Madame Welton,У Kresh said, before she could say anything to Caliban. Д All they did was break up the fight. У
ДMaybe so,У Welton said, Дbut I donТt have to like it. У
ДNo, you donТt,У Kresh agreed. He looked around the room full of staring faces and decided he didnТt want this much of an audience while he was sorting this out. Not unless he wanted a fresh shouting match--or fistfight--to break out. What with a New Law and a No Law robot and allegedly false Ironheads and a Settler mixed up in this already, he didnТt need any further complications.
Just then, three Settler Security Service agents came rushing into the room. They had been dozing somewhere on duty, no doubt, when someone had summoned them. Well, they could be of some use now, just the same. ДYou three. Take charge of these two men,У he said, pointing out Blare and Deam. ДDonald!У Kresh called out. ДFront and center!У
Donald was still kneeling by Deam. ДSir, this man is unconscious--У
ДIs he in any immediate danger?У Kresh demanded, bullying Donald just a bit. ДWill he come to harm if these SSS agents take care of him?У
ДNo, sir,У Donald conceded. ДHe is in no immediate danger.У
ДThen let someone else care for him and find someplace for me to talk to Madame Welton in private.У

Kresh always assumed that, in the case of a public brawl, witnesses would contradict each other and get muddled about what happened when and who did what to whom.
With luck, he could calm Tonya Welton down here and now, get a coherent story, and find some way to slap her attackers on the wrists without a lot of formalities, and make it all go away by morning. It was, after all, just a brawl, and it did not make much sense for it to take up too much of his time or anyone elseТs. He doubted that Tonya Welton would wish to spend much time as a witness in a police court.
In short order, Donald had found a vacant sitting room and ushered Tonya Welton in. She sat down on a low couch, while Kresh took a chair opposite. The three robots, Donald, Caliban, and Prospero, came in as well, and remained standing.
Kresh was not too sure about having Caliban and Prospero there. Although standard Three-Law robots could not lie, there was, so far as Kresh was aware, nothing to prevent these two from telling any story that came into their heads. On the other hand, there was no danger that their reactions or memories would be colored by panic or surprise.
ДAll right, Tonya,У Kresh said. ДWhat happened?У
ДNot that much to tell,У she said. ДI had been talking to Sero Phrost and Shelabas Quellam. I was crossing the room when this Deam fellow came up to me. He was almost polite at first, if maybe a bit drunk and aggressive. I think he wanted to explain some fine point of Ironhead philosophy to me. Maybe he thought that if I just got this one point, then the scales would fall from my eyes and I would be converted to the true way, or something. У
ДSounds familiar,У Kresh said.
ДAnyway, as I said, he seemed a bit drunk, and I really didnТt want to talk with him, so I made some sort of polite excuse and started to leave. He grabbed me by the shoulder, and I pushed his hand off. Then he either made a grab for me and missed when I ducked, or else he tried to punch me and succeeded. Anyway, he caught me a good one right on the jaw. I fell back and then gave him a kick in the side of the head. It was all reflex reaction. Then the other one came and grabbed me from behind. I threw him, he got up--and then the two robots grabbed us. У
ДNeither of us saw the beginning of it, but that is how Prospero and myself saw it end,У Caliban said.
Kresh ignored the robot. He shouldnТt have spoken unless spoken to in the first place. ДWell, that should be all we need to know, Madame Welton. WeТll try not to pester you with any more questions if we donТt have to. My sincere apologies, and IТm sure the Governor will wish to add his own at the first opportunity. У
ДI quite understand,У Tonya said, standing up. ДFeelings are running rather high just at the moment. There are bound to be--ah--incidents. So long as the two men who attacked me are properly punished, I will be quite satisfied.У
ДThank you for that, Madame Welton. That is a most generous attitude. У Kresh thought for a moment. Maybe they could get all this over with right now. ДIf you wish, Madame Welton, I could question the two men here, now, in your presence, with Donald recording. We could have you done with your part in all this in a few minutes.У
ДI would appreciate that. У
ДFine. IТll call them in.У
ДSir, perhaps now would not be the most--У
ДNo, Donald. The sooner the better. У Kresh had worked with Donald long enough to know what he would have said next. The suspects should not be questioned in front of their accuser. Strictly speaking, Tonya Welton should be treated as just as much of a suspect as the Ironheads, as it was her word against theirs. That might all be strictly true from a standpoint of criminal investigation, but it wasnТt much good in terms of politics. ДPrivate voicephone, Donald,У Kresh said. No sense in Welton and the robots listening in. ДPut me through to the head of the SSS Residence detail.У
Donald opened a compartment on his side and extracted a telephone handset. It gave off a gentle beep as Kresh put it to his ear. ДSenior Agent Wylot here,У a hard-edged voice announced.
ДYes, hello. This is Sheriff Kresh. WeТre in Room 121, on the south side of the ground floor. Could your people escort the two Ironhead suspects in here?У
ДAh, what Ironhead suspects would those be, sir?У
Kresh frowned. ДThe ones three of your agents took into custody ten minutes ago. У
ДSir, I donТt understand. We got the order to withdraw from our posts in the Residence half an hour ago. IТm talking to you from my aircar, heading back to base. У
ДThen who the hell took charge of those men?У Kresh demanded.
ДI donТt know, sir--but I can tell you they werenТt SSS. We never use a three-person team.У
ДWhy the hell not?У
ДBad tactics in a security operation. The third agent gets in the way. We use single agents and pairs, but the next largest formation is six. У
ДWas the entire SSS unit withdrawn?У
ДNot so far as I know, sir. Just the agents working the front door. It was all arranged beforehand. Once the guests had arrived, we did a handoff to the Rangers. Their turf.У
ДI see,У Kresh said, though he definitely did not. ДThank you, Agent Wylot. У He handed the phone back to Donald and looked to Welton. ДThose werenТt SSS agents who picked up Deam and Blare,У he said. ДImpostors, it would appear.У
ДWhat?У Welton said. ДWhy in the devil would anyone pose as SSS agents?У
ДTo extract their men before we could ask any questions, presumably.У
ДBut why?У
Kresh smiled coldly. ДAs we canТt ask any questions, we donТt know, do we? How about it, Donald? Do you have anything?У
ДSir, I have used a hyperwave link back to headquarters and run an ID check on the names and images of the two men involved in the--incident,У Donald said. ДThey do not appear on any of our Ironhead watch lists. Indeed, they are not listed in any database of residents of, or visitors to, this planet. They are on no list to which I have access.У
ДSo who the hell were they?У
ДI have no idea, sir. They are either off-worlders or locals operating under elaborate disguise, or Infernal residents who have either never been registered or have found some way of altering or expunging their records. Sir, if I may pose yet another question,У Donald said. ДWhere was the SSS during the attack? Surely they should have been able to get to the scene faster than they did. У
The agent on the phone had an explanation for that, but Donald could not know what it was from hearing KreshТs side of the conversation. Nor could Welton, for that matter. It might be worth hearing her version. ДMadame Welton? TheyТre your agents. Can you tell us that much, at least?У
ДWhat the hell are you trying to accuse me of?У Welton snapped. ДStaging an attack on myself?У
ItТs an interesting possibility, Kresh thought. But IТll worry about that later. Besides, i/you did have it staged, youТll have a plausible explanation for why your people never showed up. ДFurthest thing from my mind,У Kresh lied smoothly. ДBut you are the senior Settler present. Perhaps your Security Service agents were ordered to some other duty for some reason.У