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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59242 ***
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+                                WITNESS
+
+                          BY GEORGE H. SMITH
+
+                   _Edith was just a computer, but a
+                very good one and a very observing one.
+                  So it was quite natural that she be
+               consulted about the doctor's murder...._
+
+           [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
+                Worlds of If Science Fiction, May 1955.
+         Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
+         the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
+
+
+Ballard was quite dead. There could be no doubt of it. He lay sprawled
+in front of Edith, with his head very messily bashed in and with one
+hand still extended toward her. A long shimmering stream of blood
+ran half-way across the large room. Dr. Dudley Ballard had been as
+inconsiderate in his dying as he had been in his living.
+
+Art MacKinney and I stood in the doorway and stared. We were shocked
+not so much by the fact that Ballard was dead as by the fact that he
+lay in this most secret room, this holy of holies. Ours was the most
+security conscious project in the whole country; and this was where he
+had picked to get himself killed.
+
+"God! There'll really be a stink about this," MacKinney breathed.
+
+"Well, I can't think of anyone who had it coming more than he did,"
+I said. I hated Ballard's guts and everyone knew it, so there was no
+point in being hypocritical now.
+
+Edith stood silently. She didn't seem to be interested in the fact
+that the man who had run her life, who had spent hours shouting
+questions at her and criticizing her slightest error with burning
+sarcasm was now dead. No, Edith wasn't interested, but you couldn't
+really expect her to be--she was only a computing machine, a mechanical
+brain, the final result of years of work by the best cybernetics
+experts in the world. Edith was silent, and would be, until we turned
+her on and fed the tapes into her.
+
+"It looks as though this is what did it," MacKinney said, indicating a
+large spanner lying on the floor beside Ballard. He touched it gingerly
+with his foot. His face was white and strained and it occurred to me
+that he was more upset than I thought he should be. After all, he had
+as much reason to hate the dead man as the rest of us. Ballard had
+taken advantage of his position as head of the research project to make
+passes at Jane Currey and MacKinney wasn't at all a cool scientist when
+it came to Jane. He was engaged to her and quite naturally resented
+Ballard's attentions to her.
+
+"You'd better not touch that until the police get here," I said as he
+bent over to pick up the spanner.
+
+"Yeah, I guess you're right--I forgot. How do you suppose this got in
+here anyway?"
+
+"One of the workmen making adjustments on Edith's outer casing must
+have left it. I saw it sitting up there on top of her late yesterday
+afternoon," I told him. "You'd better go call Mr. Thompson and--the
+FBI."
+
+With Ballard gone, I was in charge. Maybe someone would think that was
+reason enough for me to kill him. I didn't care, I was just glad he was
+gone. Now he couldn't mistreat Edith anymore.
+
+I turned Edith on just as MacKinney returned. "What are you doing?" he
+asked.
+
+"Why I'm going to wake Edith up and feed these tapes into her. After
+all these are more important than any one man's life."
+
+"You didn't care much for Ballard, did you Bill?"
+
+I gave him look for look as I replied. "Can you name anyone around here
+that did?"
+
+He shook his head. "No--I guess not. But maybe it wasn't one of us. It
+might have been an outside job, you know. Edith was working on that
+space station stuff and the iron curtain people would give a lot to
+know about it."
+
+"Hell," I said pressing the studs and levers that would arouse Edith
+and put her to work. "You don't really think anyone could get past
+those security guards, do you?"
+
+Happily I went about the business of waking Edith, my sleeping beauty,
+from her slumbers. In a very few seconds, her hundreds of tiny red eyes
+were gleaming with intelligence.
+
+_Good morning, Edith_, I punched out the tape and fed it into her.
+
+There was the faintest pause, while Edith's photo-electric cells
+surveyed the room, pausing for a moment on the sprawled body of Ballard.
+
+_Good morning, Bill Green_, she typed back. I knew she was happy to
+see me by the cheerful little clicks she emitted.
+
+_I have some interesting work for you this morning, Edith. And I think
+you'll be glad to know that we will be working together from now on
+instead of...._
+
+"Hey! What's the idea of starting that machine?" a gray haired, gray
+suited security agent demanded, striding into the room with MacKinney,
+Mr. Thompson and several other officers at his heels. "Don't you know
+enough not to touch anything in here?"
+
+"This work is too important to be stopped--even for a murder," I said,
+and Mr. Thompson nodded in agreement.
+
+"That's right," he said mopping his perpetually perspiring forehead,
+"this work has top priority from Washington." He looked nervous and I
+couldn't help wondering what he was thinking. There had been stories
+circulating about Ballard and Thompson's wife and the dome-headed
+little man must have heard them too. Ballard just couldn't keep his
+hands off any female within reach. That was one of the reasons he was
+so thoroughly hated.
+
+The youngest of the security agents rose from where he had been
+kneeling beside Ballard and crossed to me.
+
+"You're Green, aren't you?" I nodded and he continued, "How did you
+know it was murder?"
+
+I laughed at him. "How the hell could a man bash in his own brains that
+way?"
+
+The gray haired man stepped into the breach. He gave us all a thorough
+going over, but concentrated on MacKinney and me. He seemed to think it
+peculiar that neither of us could give any reason for Ballard's being
+alone with Edith. I was sure I knew, but no one would have believed me
+so I made no attempt to enlighten him.
+
+"Well, I guess that's all we can do now," he said at last. "Someone
+from the local police will have to be notified and brought in after
+they get security clearance." He turned to go.
+
+"Wait a minute," MacKinney said, "we're all overlooking one thing."
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"There was an eye witness to this crime," he said, and I stared at him
+in consternation. I didn't know he knew. I thought I was the only one
+who knew.
+
+"What do you mean," the agent demanded angrily.
+
+"Edith saw it. Edith, the computer."
+
+"Are you nuts?" the agent demanded.
+
+"You forget that Edith was turned off," Thompson said.
+
+"But Mr. Thompson, Edith's not like most cybernetic machines. She's
+so far advanced, that I'm not sure we understand her completely. She
+can't really be turned off. She has a distinct personality and that new
+circuit--"
+
+Of course Edith had a personality of her own! She had more charm, more
+intelligence, more understanding than most women.
+
+"--well--she'd be able to tell us who killed Ballard."
+
+"That's ridiculous," I said, badly frightened. "A machine can't be a
+witness to murder."
+
+The security officer looked dubious and shook his head. "I guess we'll
+have to leave that up to the coroner at the inquest."
+
+"But they can't ask questions like that of Edith," I protested.
+"She's--she's too important to the national defense to have some
+country coroner asking her silly questions about the murder of a man
+who deserved to die anyway." I had to prevent this. I had to get around
+this eye witness business.
+
+Thompson looked at me levelly. "MacKinney may be right, Green. The
+coroner may very well want to talk to Edith and there's no reason we
+should object if Security gives him clearance."
+
+"But Mr. Thompson, our work--it'll be interrupted."
+
+"We'll have to take that chance. And I think Washington will agree."
+
+"But--" Couldn't they see that there wasn't any question of spying
+here. Couldn't they understand that Ballard had just gotten what he had
+coming. I couldn't let them question Edith. At least not until I had a
+chance to talk to her alone.
+
+"And Green--because of your rather strange behaviour, I'm afraid I'll
+have to ask you to stay in your quarters until the inquest. MacKinney
+will handle your work with Edith until then."
+
+I was shocked and really frightened now. I wouldn't get to talk to
+her, wouldn't get a chance to tell her what to say. I protested, but
+Thompson was firm, so firm that he placed a guard outside my door to
+make sure I didn't leave.
+
+Washington rushed through clearance for the local officers and the
+inquest was held three days later. The coroner proved to be a shrewd
+country doctor, who had the inquest adjourned to the computer room as
+soon as he heard MacKinney's ideas about Edith.
+
+The security guards on duty the night of the murder testified that only
+MacKinney, Thompson, Ballard and I had had access to the computer room;
+and it had already been established that it would have been impossible
+for a spy or foreign agent to have slipped into the heavily guarded
+room. It was clearly an inside job.
+
+With all of us at the scene of the crime, the coroner summed it up
+for us. "--and since it could not have been the work of an outsider,
+it must have been a crime of a private nature." He looked closely at
+Thompson, MacKinney and me. "A crime of a private nature with the
+motive either revenge, jealousy or ambition. We know that the victim
+was an over-bearing man with a good many unpleasant traits. We know he
+was a man who forced his attentions on women, who was ill-tempered and
+abusive to those who worked with him. A man who had many enemies--but
+there were only three people who had the chance to attack him on this
+particular night.
+
+"I am going to attempt to establish the identity of the killer by the
+unusual procedure of questioning a machine. It will be for later courts
+to establish the validity of such testimony. Because of the nature
+of this case and because of the urgent need to get this computer back
+to its proper work, I am going to ask the questions in a more direct
+manner than I would ordinarily employ."
+
+MacKinney took his place before Edith. They didn't even trust me to
+feed the tapes into her under their very eyes.
+
+"Mr. Thompson, I object to the use of this delicate piece of equipment
+in--"
+
+They ignored me, and MacKinney punched out the questions the coroner
+asked:
+
+"Do you know who murdered Dr. Ballard?"
+
+There was a pause. Edith blinked several times. I was shaking with
+apprehension for her. A mind so delicate and noble should not be faced
+with such a dilemma.
+
+_Yes, she typed back._
+
+"Did you witness the murder?"
+
+There was a longer pause this time. "You must answer the question,"
+MacKinney reminded her.
+
+_I was here._
+
+"Is it true that you do not lose your perceptive qualities when we turn
+you off?" MacKinney asked this on his own.
+
+_It is true._
+
+"We might as well get to the heart of the matter," the coroner said.
+"Did Mr. Thompson kill Ballard?"
+
+Edith clicked and her eyes glowed. _No._
+
+"Did Mr. MacKinney kill Ballard?"
+
+_No._
+
+Edith had to tell the truth ... it was an innate part of her
+personality. I tensed in my seat. I wanted to scream, to leap at
+MacKinney and prevent, somehow, the asking of the next question. But
+there wasn't a chance.
+
+"Did Mr. Green kill Dr. Ballard?"
+
+Edith's beautiful electric eyes flashed and her clicks pulsed twice as
+rapidly as before. There was such a roaring and wrenching within her
+I was afraid for her--she was being torn apart in her struggle not to
+answer. I couldn't stand listening to her desperate efforts any longer.
+
+"Yes!" I leapt to my feet. "Yes, I did it. Leave her alone. Can't you
+see what you're doing to her? That swine was always mistreating her. He
+didn't understand her--no one understands her as I do!"
+
+The coroner looked at me closely. "Is that really why you killed him,
+Mr. Green?"
+
+"No! You were wondering why he was here by himself while no work was
+going on. He--he had begun to feel about Edith as he did about all
+women. He sneaked back here to be alone with her. He wanted to--he
+wanted to--" My voice broke and they stared at me in shocked amazement.
+
+Into the silence MacKinney read what Edith had slowly typed out: "Mr.
+Green did not kill Dr. Ballard."
+
+"Yes--yes I did," I screamed. "Don't Edith--"
+
+"Who did kill him?" the coroner asked, quietly.
+
+This was the question I had wanted to avoid. I sank down my hands
+cradling my aching head. Edith must have expected the question. She
+had her answer ready.
+
+_I refuse to state on the grounds that it may tend to incriminate me._
+
+My poor, sweet, adorable Edith. If only I had had a chance to talk to
+her, to tell her what to say. I had known ... ever since I had seen the
+spanner and remembered where it had been before. I could have warned
+her to say that Ballard had attacked her, threatened her, to say
+anything ... but not to attempt to hide behind a Fifth Amendment that
+didn't exist anymore. My darling, never had kept up with current events.
+
+Now they'll disconnect her, they'll rewire her, they'll destroy her
+understanding, her warmth, her whole personality ... and I ... I love
+her, I love her....
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Witness, by George H. Smith
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59242 ***