Summary
The Midnight Visitor by Robert Arthur is a detective story about Ausable, a clever secret agent, and his friend Fowler, a writer. Fowler expects Ausable to be like the spies in movies, surrounded by danger and excitement. Instead, he meets a plump, ordinary-looking man who speaks French and German with an American accent, as Ausable had lived in Paris before moving to Boston.

The two men go to Ausable’s room, where they are surprised to find Max, another spy, waiting with a gun. Max demands a report about missiles that Ausable is supposed to have. Ausable quickly thinks of a plan to handle the situation. He mentions a balcony below the window, making it seem as if there’s an escape route. Just then, there’s a loud knock on the door, which Ausable says is the police, coming to check on him as they often do.

Max, panicked by the thought of being caught, decides to escape through the “balcony” until the police leave. He jumps out the window—only to fall to his death, as there was no balcony. The knock turns out to be the waiter bringing wine, and Fowler realizes that Ausable invented the story about the balcony to trick Max.

This story highlights Ausable’s cleverness and quick thinking, which save both him and Fowler from danger. Although he doesn’t look like a traditional spy, Ausable proves that calmness and intelligence can solve critical problems.