"Oh." Mandleco frowned and persisted. "Psychologic deduction. Wasn't
that your _forte_? I seem to recall--"
Beardsley grunted. "I'll tell you this much, there are implications
about this case that fascinate me!"
"Oh?" Mandleco found himself a chair, sat upon it and edged forward. "I
don't just quite--"
"Look. To begin with, the case is unique; so much so that your entire
structure of approach is wrong. I mean top-heavy! Top-heavy with
gadgetry and assumption."
"Assumption?" Mandleco bristled a little. "You of all people should know
better. Not _once_ in the past dozen years has ECAIAC failed to arrive
at a conclusive and pin-point solution based on correlative factors!"
Beardsley smiled thinly. "Ah, yes. But we were speaking of the _Carmack_
case. I repeat, it's not only unique but untenable; it became untenable
the moment you assigned ECAIAC the task of solving the murder of its own
creator! That," he said grimly, "is a mistake we wouldn't have made even
in '60...."
* * * * *
Mandleco thought that over, shook his head and frowned. It was obvious
he missed the connotation. "So?" he urged.
"So look at the murder itself. The _pattern_. You'll admit it does seem
odd and misplaced for these times--or hadn't you noticed?" Beardsley
leaned forward sharply. "But it strikes a familiar note with me!
Absolutely nothing in the way of material clues; not even the weapon;
and the _modus operandi_ is one I haven't seen employed in years, the
old idea of the most direct and simple murder being the safest!"
"I--I guess I just don't follow you."
"I mean the _way_ Carmack was struck down. Nothing cute and fancy, no
frills or improvisation--just the proverbial blunt instrument, after
which the killer simply walked out of there. Believe me, I know about
these things. The very simplicity is the killer's protection. You can
bet no trace will ever be found of that blunt instrument, and naturally
he left no evidence coming or going. But then," Beardsley said
obliquely, "your so-called 'Survey' men made a horrible botch of the
scene. In '60 we'd have sent them back to patrolling the freeways!"
Mandleco started to protest, then closed his mouth quickly. "I see, I
see."
"I can understand," Beardsley murmured, "how emphasis on basic
groundwork has become minimized. So much reliance on Indexes and
thalamic-imbalance and chart-sifts! It was only a matter of time until a
criminal, a really _clever_ one, saw through the system--and reverted."
His fingers drummed the chair arm, then he looked up sharply. "And yet
of all places, I'd say that Carmack's estate was _least_ ideally
situated for this type of murder; you know what I mean? You've been
there?"
"Well, I--there have been occasions. Yes."
Beardsley nodded. "I refer to Carmack's elaborate system against
invasion of his privacy. To put it bluntly, he had enemies, and his
estate was designed as a refuge against those enemies; electronic
barriers pitched at ultra-frequency to respond only to certain neural
vibrations. Must have taken years of research to come up with that!"