Enderby’s Double Role

Julius Enderby’s trusted public position conceals a political commitment that leads to an accidental killing, a cover-up, and exposure.

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The Helpful Commissioner

The Helpful Commissioner Friendship and advancement Julius Enderby is Baley’s former college friend and now his superior. He offers Baley the Sarton case as a chance for promotion, presenting the assignment as both friendship and necessity. An unusual condition Enderby insists that Baley accept R. Daneel as partner and host. He stresses the stakes for the department while steering Baley toward a risky arrangement. His apparent support also gives him influence over the investigation.

Fear of Spacetown

Fear of Spacetown An aversion revealed Enderby speaks of hating the Spacers but refuses to enter Spacetown again. His distress seems like ordinary fear of their superiority and strict customs. A clue in retrospect Baley later understands that Enderby’s intense anxiety followed from guilt, not merely discomfort. The Commissioner’s behavior had been misread because his friend trusted him. A personal weakness becomes a concealed indicator of danger.

The Accidental Killing

The Accidental Killing A mistaken identity Enderby enters Spacetown intending to destroy Daneel, whom he believes threatens his political cause. When his glasses break, he mistakes the humanlike Roj Nemennuh Sarton for Daneel. Consequences beyond intent He fires and kills Sarton, then leaves evidence that others interpret as a deliberate attack by an Earthman. His plan becomes an actual death and an international crisis. The distinction between intended sabotage and accidental murder shapes the final moral problem.

A Second Crime

A Second Crime Evidence planted Enderby obtains an Alphasprayer from the Williamsburg power plant and uses it to destroy R. Sammy. He hopes the evidence will implicate Baley and interrupt the Sarton investigation. A friend becomes a suspect The framing relies on Baley’s passage through the plant and his wife’s hidden political affiliation. Enderby turns the personal weaknesses he knows into tools of concealment. His effort to protect his cause deepens his culpability.

Exposure and Bargain

Exposure and Bargain The evidence assembled Baley traces the planted evidence to Enderby and shows how broken lens fragments place him at Sarton’s dome. Enderby’s guilty reaction confirms the accusation. A conditional future Baley and Daneel offer a path short of prosecution if Enderby helps redirect Medievalist politics toward colonization. Enderby agrees, and Daneel concludes that evil may be converted rather than merely destroyed. Enderby’s fate becomes an uneasy experiment in accountability and reform.

At the opening of the case

Before Baley’s first visit to Spacetown

Dawn on the day of Sarton’s murder

The day R. Sammy’s remains are found

Near midnight at the end of the story