~Summary~
-by Robert Arthur
Meeting of Secret Agent Ausable and Writer Fowler
Ausable was a smart secret agent, but did not look like one at all, being short and very fat. Fowler was a young writer who wanted to write about Ausable and so spent an evening with him. Fowler was feeling disappointed so far, as he could not find any characteristic of a secret agent in Ausable.
Another Secret Agent Max seen with a Pistol
When both Ausable and Fowler entered Ausable's hotel room, another secret agent named Max was waiting in the room with an automatic pistol pointed at them. Max was there because he had come to know that Ausable was going to receive an important report about some new missiles that night. Max threatened to shoot if Ausable tried to act smart.
Ausable Confuses Max
To ensure the report's safety as well as his own and the writer's safety, Ausable invented a story about anybody entering his room easily through a balcony just below the window in his room. Actually, there was no balcony - if anybody climbed out from the window, he would fall to his death, as the room was on the sixth floor. However, Max told them that he had entered the room through the door using a passkey.
Max Jumps in the Non-existing Balcony and Dies
Suddenly, there was a knocking on the door and Ausable pretended that it was the local police, who had been asked to provide him extra security for the important document he was about to receive. When the knocking was repeated, Max became angry at Ausable and decided to wait in the balcony (which he thought existed until the police went away. He stepped out of the window and fell to his death. When the door opened, a waiter came in with drinks which Ausable had ordered to be delivered to his room when he had returned to the hotel.
Conclusion of The Midnight Visitor
In the chapter – The Midnight Visitor illustrates the fact that one should not panic in a critical situation, rather stay focused to take a wise step in averting the problems with good presence of mind.