Summary of 'The Midnight Visitor' (Class 10 English)

Fowler, a young romantic writer, meets Ausable, a secret agent, expecting him to be a tall, dark, and handsome James Bond figure. Instead, Fowler is deeply disappointed to find that Ausable is short, extremely fat, and speaks with an American accent in a gloomy French hotel. He doesn't look like a spy at all.

When Ausable and Fowler enter Ausable's hotel room, they get a shock. Another secret agent named Max is standing inside, pointing an automatic pistol at them. Max has come to steal a highly secret report concerning some new missiles that Ausable is about to receive that night.

Instead of panicking, the fat Ausable sits heavily on a chair and acts annoyed. He starts complaining loudly to the hotel management about the 'balcony' outside his window. He falsely claims that this is the second time someone has entered his room through that balcony.

Suddenly, there is a loud knocking at the door. Ausable calmly smiles and says it must be the police, whom he had called for extra protection for the secret papers. Panicking, Max decides to hide on the 'balcony' until the police leave. He jumps out of the window.

However, there is a twist: There was no balcony. Max falls to his death from the sixth floor. Furthermore, the person knocking at the door wasn't the police; it was just the waiter bringing the drinks Ausable had ordered! Fowler finally realizes that while Ausable didn't look like a spy, his brain was sharper than any weapon.