…they came to annoy us
The Doclopedia #3,514
The Unusual Suspects: Robot Henry and Percy The Dog
(A tip of the old bandana to Peter Hildreth for inspiring this theme.)
“Well, Howmes, we’ve been over the place in great detail, we’ve talked to everyone and ruled out all of them. Lord Dorian’s wife, who might have been a prime suspect, is still in hospital in Leeds, so she’s out. I’m thinking the broken neck was, as it appears, done by some raving lunatic passing through the area.”
“It does indeed look that way, Wascom, doesn’t it? And yet, there have been no other murders in the area, or anywhere in this part of the country, for over two months. As for the crime scene itself, it was obviously staged. Staged extraordinarily well, to be sure, but staged nonetheless. Madmen would not leave such perfect evidence. No, Wascom, the murderer was in the house already.”
“But Howmes, where could the killer have hidden that one of the 9 servicebots didn’t see them? We know they saw nothing because Inspector Lecard ran them through an interrogation scenario and they all said they saw and heard nothing.”
“And I believe them. But what if one of the robots, working with an accomplice, committed the murder, then lied about it?”
“Murder and lying? Oh, Howmes, you’re having me on! Robots cannot kill a human or tell a lie. Everyone knows that.”
“Do they? Lord Dorian’s personal manservant, Henry, was upgraded with the new and experimental emotion replication chip just 3 months ago. Some anomalous behavior has been reported in robots upgraded in a similar way. I put it to you that Henry began to feel true emotions, and even became sapient. Lord Dorian was, by all accounts, a volatile man, and Henry no doubt saw and heard things that might produce a strong emotional response. And then there is the business of his accomplice.”
“Accomplice? Another robot?”
“No Wascomb, not a robot. A dog. In fact, Percy, Lady Dorian’s Border Collie, who is himself a fifth generation Smart Dog. In theory, he is as smart as a 13 year old human, but what if he was actually much smarter? We know Lord Dorian didn’t like Smart Dogs. What if the feeling was mutual? A review of the security videos over the past months show Henry and Percy spending much time together. I suspect that they plotted to do His Lordship in and make it look like a madman’s work. Sargeant, bring in Henry so that I might question him.”
“But Howmes, how could they communicate? Even a genius Smart dog can’t speak.”
“Oh, I’m sure they found a way, Wascom. Perhaps Percy typed out…”
“MR HOWMES! Henry and Percy are gone! It seems they left in a car 20 minutes ago!”
“HA! There we are, Wascom! Sargeant, get the search going! Come, Wascom, to our car! The game’s afoot!”
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