58 pages 1 hour read

Isaac Asimov

The Caves of Steel

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1953

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Chapters 10-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 10 Summary: “Afternoon of a Plain-Clothes Man”

Lije and Daneel head back into the City and go to a new section. Lije has requested a place for the two to stay since Daneel’s presence is so uncomfortable for Jessie. In the depths of the City, Lije recalls an urban legend about a ghost of a man lost in London’s city streets. Daneel brings him out of his pondering by asking if they can be overheard. Lije protests that it would be impossible. They discuss the case and the viability of the Commissioner as a suspect. Daneel agrees it’s impossible; the Commissioner did not have a blaster, and every blaster in Spacetown has been accounted for. Daneel also divulges that the Spacers cerebroanalyzed the Commissioner, describing that it “gives us information concerning the temperamental and emotional makeup of an individual. In the case of Commissioner Enderby, it told us that he was incapable of killing Dr. Sarton” (131). The Spacers excluded Julius Enderby from the suspect pool.

The squad car returns the pair to the station, and the two head upstairs. Daneel goes to records looking through the files of known Medievalists. Lije asks R. Sammy about the Commissioner’s whereabouts, and R. Sammy relays that he is out. Lije sits thinking at his desk until R.