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 The& Lizard& 
 That sright,that swhatfiveofthemwereusing.Threebeakersofitinthecar.Andadeadca
ton thefloorandallth
emakingswrappedinfoam-beadbags.You dhavehadtobeblindtomissitall!
 The robot...
Summitt urnedawaywithd isgust,slammingthereportontothedesktop
.Hethumbedthecall- button.WhenDeskSergeantLoyo camein,hesaid, Takehim
upstairs and give himabr eatherofs traightener,let him liedownforhalf
anhour,thenbringhimbacktome.
LoyogotPolchikunderthearmsandtookhimout.ThentheCaptainturnedofftheofficelights
andsatsilently inhisdeskchair,watchingthen ightdiejustbeyondthefilthyw indows.
 Feelbetter?
 Yeah;thankyou,Capt n.I mfine.
 You rebackwithmealltheway?YouunderstandwhatI msaying?
 Yeah,sure,I mjustfine,sir .Itwasjust...thosekids...Ifelt.
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 Sowhy dyouletthemgo?I vegotnot imetobabyyou,P olchik.You refive yearsacopand
I vegotalltheb rassintownoutsidethatdo orwaiting.Sogetright.
 I mright,Capt n.Iletthemgobecausetherobottookthestuffthegirlwascarrying,andbe
dumpeditinhisthing there,and toldmeitwasnosedrops.
 Notgood enough,Mike.
 WhatcanIsaybes idesthat?
 Well,d ammitOfficerPolchik,youda mnedwellbetters
aysomethingbesidesthat.Youknow
theyrunthatstuffrightintotheskull,you vebeenacoplongenou ghtoseeit,tohea r
itthewaytheytalk!Why dy ouletthem custeryou?
 WhatwasI goingto runthem infor?Carryingnosed
rops?Withthatmotherin robotreciting
civilrightschapter-an -verseatmeeverystepoftheway?Okay,soItelltherobottogoscre
woff,andIbust emand bring  emin. In anh ourth ey re outagain and
I vegotafalsearrest lugdroppedonme. Evenifi tain tnosed
rops.Andtheycanusetherobot sgoddamtapestoh angmeupb ythethumbs!
Summitdr oppedback intohischair,sackwe ight.Hisfacewasaburned-out
building. Sowe ve gotthree,maybes ixkidsdead.Jesus,Jesus,Jesus. Heshookh
ishead.
Polchikwanted tomake himfeelbetter.Buthowdidyoudothat? Listen,Capt n,youknowI
wou
ldofhadthosekidsinheresofastit d ofmadetheirheadsswim...ifI d vebeenonmyown
.That damnedrob ot...well, it justdidn twork out.Capt n , I m not tryingt
oalibi,itwasgodawfuloutthere, but youwerea beat cop& youknow a copa in t a set
ofrulesan d ap ileofwires.Guyslikemejustcan tworkwiththings
likethatBrillo.Itwon tw ork, Capt n.A guy sgottabefreetousehisjudgment,tofee l
likehe s worthsomethin ,notjustapiece of sh--
Summit shead came u p sharply.  Judgment?! Hel ookedasth oughhew antedtov
omit. What kindofjudgment areyou showingwiththatRicoover atthe AmsterdamInn?
Andallof iton thetapes,sound ,p ictures,ever ything?!
 Oh.That.
 Yes,that.You redamnedlucky
Iinsistedthosetapesgetheldstrictlyprivate,fortheuseoftheForceonly.Ih
adtoinvokeprivilegeddata.Doyouh aveanyideahowmany strings thatputsonme,on
thisofficenow,withtheChief
,withtheCommissioner,withthegoddamMayor?Doyouhaveanyidea, Polchik?
 No,sir.I msorry. Chagrin.
 Sorryd oesn t buyit,goddamit!I don tw antyoutakinganyjuice fromanywhere.N ob
ottles, no gifts,nonothing,notfro manybody. Haveyougot that?
 Yessir.
Wearily,Summitpersisted. It stoughenoughtodoaj obherewithouthavings pecialgr
aftinvestigationsandtheD.A. ssquadsniffing allo vertheprecinct. Jesus,
Polchik,doyouha veanyidea...! He st
opped,lookedlevellyatthepatrolmanandsaid, Onemo re time andyou reout
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onyourass. No tset down ,n otreprimanded,notd ocked--out.All theway out
.Kapish?
Polchiknodded;h isbackwasbroken.
 I vegottose titright.
 What,sir?
 You,that swhat.
Polchik waited.A pendulum wasswinging.
 I llh avetothink aboutit. But if ithadn t beenfor
thefivegoodyearsyou vegiven mehere, Polchik...well, you llbegetting
punishment,butId on t know justwhat yet.
 Uh,what sgonnahappenwiththerobot? Summitgottohisfeetslowly;mooringadirigible.
 Comeonoutsideandyou llsee.
Polchikfollowedhimtothedoor,whe retheCaptainpaused.Helookedclosely
intoPolchik sface andsaid, Tonighthasbeenaneducation,Mike.
Therewasnoanswertotha tone.
Theywentintothef
rontdeskroom.ReardonstillhadhisheadstuckintoBrillo sopentorsocav
ity,andthewhizkidwasstandingtiptoedbehindhim,pee ringovertheen
gineer sshoulder.Asthey enteredthereadyroom,Reardonst raightenedandclickedoff
thelamponthepowertool.HewatchedSummit andPolchikasthey walkedoverto Chief
Santorini. Summit murmuredto theChief for amo ment,thenSanto
rininoddedandsaid, We ll talktomorrow, then.
Hestartedtowardthefrontdoor,stoppedandsaid, Goo dnight,
gentlemen.It sbeenalongni ght.I ll bein touch withyourofficestomorrow.
Hedidn t waitfor acknowledgment; hesimply went.
Reardonturnedaroundt o faceSummit.Hewasw
aitingforwords.Eventhewhizkidwasstartingtoc omealiveagain. ThesilentFBI
manrosefromthebench (asfarasPolchik couldtell,he hadn t changedposit
ionallthetimethey dbeengoneonpatrol)andwalkedtowardthegroup.
Reardonsaid, Well... Hisvoicetrailedoff.Thependulumwasswinging.
 Gentlemen, s aidtheCaptain,  I veadvisedChief SantoriniI llbewriting out a
fullreport tobesentdowntown.M yrecommendationswillm orethanlikelydec
idewhetherornottheserobotswillbe addedtoourForce.
 Grassrootslevel opinion, verygood,Captain, veryg ood, saidthewhizkid.
Summitignoredhim.
 ButIsupposeIoughttotellyourightnowmy recommendationswill
benegative.AsfarasI mconcerned, Mr.Reardon, yous tillh avea long wayto
gowithyourmachine.
 But,I thought--
 Itdidverywell,  Summitsaid, don tgetme wrong. But Ithinkit sgoingto need
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