Baley reveals Enderby

Baley’s exposure of Julius Enderby resolves the Sarton murder case by revealing that the commissioner directing the investigation was also the man responsible for the death. Baley connects Enderby’s manipulation of the inquiry to a specific, unintended mistake at the dome: without his glasses, Enderby mistook Dr. Sarton for R. Daneel. The fragments of glass left at the scene turn that explanation into a testable accusation, and Enderby’s collapse marks the end of his authority over the case.

The Investigator Turns on His Superior

Enderby asks what motive he could have had, but Baley answers by setting out the advantages Enderby gained from placing him in charge. They had been college friends, and Enderby expected Baley’s loyalty to keep suspicion from attaching to a respected former associate and superior. The choice of investigator was therefore not an act of trust alone: it was part of how Enderby sought to control the murder inquiry from inside it.

Baley identifies a second means of leverage. Enderby knew Jessie belonged to an underground organization and expected that knowledge might let him maneuver Baley out of the investigation or silence him if he approached the truth. At the same time, Enderby had tried from the beginning to provoke distrust between Baley and R. Daneel, encouraging the two partners to work at cross-purposes. He also knew about Baley’s father’s declassification and could anticipate how Baley would react to pressure connected with it. Together, these details explain the design behind the appointment: the investigator’s personal loyalties and vulnerabilities were meant to protect the person conducting the investigation.

The Case Against Enderby

Baley accuses Enderby of having been at the Williamsburg power plant, obtaining the alphasprayer, and giving it to R. Sammy. He further alleges that Enderby deliberately chose the plant to incriminate him. Baley connects this to Enderby’s later handling of Dr. Gerrigel’s visit: he says Enderby invited the doctor to the Department and supplied a deliberately maladjusted guide rod that led him to the photographic supply room, where he could find R. Sammy’s remains and make the correct diagnosis. In Baley’s account, Enderby made evidence appear to point toward Baley while arranging for the discovery that would give the frame-up credibility.

Baley’s accusation initially meets an apparent obstacle when R. Daneel says that his theory is untenable because Enderby could not have murdered Dr. Sarton. The robot’s assessment reflects how the evidence had been read up to that point, not proof that Enderby could not have been present at the dome. As the physical clue emerges, R. Daneel recognizes that the commissioner’s cerebroanalysis had thrown him off the scent. The reversal depends on separating the question of whether Enderby deliberately killed Sarton from the question of whether he caused Sarton’s death.

Glass at the Dome

Baley locates the decisive clue in an image centered on the main door of Dr. Sarton’s dome. The door is open, and two small glass fragments glint in the grooves of its metal runner. He reconstructs the sequence: Enderby was at the dome, became nervous, removed his glasses to wipe them, and dropped or broke them as the door opened. A figure resembling R. Daneel then appeared. Enderby fired at it and left, unaware that he had killed Sarton, who had designed Daneel in his own image.

The fragments make the reconstruction more than an inference about Enderby’s conduct. Baley points out that they are portions of concave lenses and demands that their optical properties be compared with those of the glasses Enderby is wearing. He takes the spectacles from Enderby and presents them to R. Daneel, insisting they not be smashed. The broken lenses at the dome and the intact glasses in the commissioner’s possession provide a material link between Enderby and the scene; R. Daneel says the comparison convinces him that Baley is right.

Exposure and Consequence

The accusation strips Enderby of control over the inquiry. Earlier, he had challenged Baley to supply a motive; Baley’s explanation shows how friendship, Jessie’s membership, and his own history had all been made into instruments for diverting suspicion. Enderby’s appeal to the possibility that R. Daneel was transmitting Baley’s claims to Spacetown further reveals his fear that the accusation would reach beyond the Department. Baley, meanwhile, puts away his blaster and says that Enderby may have him arrested if he chooses, but Spacetown will not accept that response.

At midnight, with a new day beginning, Enderby lowers his head and says it was a mistake and that he had never meant to kill Sarton. He then collapses from his chair. R. Daneel goes to him and tells Baley that Enderby has been hurt; Baley asks whether he is dead. The passage establishes Enderby’s admission and collapse, but not his death. The case’s decisive distinction is thus preserved to the end: Enderby is responsible for Sarton’s death, while the account identifies the killing as mistaken rather than intended.