44 Zachary (1/2)

Daneel was quite happy with the answer. He was even almost convinced that that was all the old man knew…but still, he continued to the dining table, curious to see just what the retiree was so anxious to hide.

Reaching it, he tapped around with his foot, looking for a clue. Even though he had been proud of his plan to save his crystals under the floorboards, it wasn't hard to believe that others could have come up with the idea, too… and sure enough, after a few seconds, a hollow sound echoed from the one directly under the table.

”No! Stop! Stop! I gave you what you came for! Just get out of here! I'll leave you alone if you go right now! Otherwise, I'll hunt you down! No… Please!”

It was interesting to see how the old man went from threatening him to begging as soon as Daneel reached with his fingers into the gaps between the floorboards and began to pry the one he was looking at loose. The begging continued behind him, but he ignored it… and took a step back with a gasp when he saw what lay underneath the floor.

'Jackpot!'

He was so excited that he wanted to jump up into the air, but he controlled himself as that wasn't the reaction that should be expected from a worker in the Refinery. Still, he remained with his back to the tied up old man, taking some time to control his expression before turning around.

Under the floorboards… were ten small cloth bags, each filled to the brim with refined crystal.

Daneel had no idea exactly what the refining process did. He only knew that the refined product was much more valuable, and hence, might be investigated if he was ever found out, so he had gone ahead with his plan to steal normal crystals. His prisoner had been much more courageous: all of the bags held neat blocks of that glistening, silvery material, ready to be absorbed and have its secrets uncovered.

It could be said that luck hadn't really graced Daneel that much since his journey into this body, but he sincerely thanked the gods now due to this stroke of good fortune. The old man had finally fallen silent, but when he hefted up one of the bags and turned around, he whimpered, ”No… No! No one was supposed to know! Dammit!”

Walking up to him, Daneel caught his beard and pulled his head down painfully. Looking straight into his eyes, he raised the sack in his hands and asked, ”Out with the tale. What did you plan on doing with these things? We both know the punishment waiting for anyone found smuggling away these precious crystals… so either talk, or I'll go straight to the enforcers. Yes, I would get a punishment, too… but it's nothing compared to what's waiting for you. You can't hope to wriggle your way out of it, either; I bet that if the accounts are checked, there will be enough proof that you are the ones stealing them based on the correlation with the dates of your visits to the Refinery. So… I really see no choice but for you to spit it all out.”

Zachary stared between the blocks of crystals and Daneel's tar-covered face. He seemed to be looking for some way out, but finally, when he found nothing, he slumped against the chair, the fight going out of him like air leaking out of a balloon.

It was only then that Daneel noticed that the man had been so absorbed in his attempt to escape that the ropes had chafed against his skin until they had drawn blood. Deciding that the stick would be enough, he brought out the carrot in the form of bandages that he had found while rummaging around the house before.