Chapter 3: The Midnight Visitor (The Midnight Visitor)

Secret agents in books and films are usually shown as tall, young, smart and athletic, well dressed and fearless, with gadgets, guns and fast cars. James Bond is a well-known example. Detectives like Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot are clever and observant, and work with sharp reasoning.

Ausable is quite different. He is "fat. Very fat", wheezes as he talks, has an American accent that he never lost, and lives in a small room on the top floor of a gloomy hotel. He looks like an ordinary, sloppy man. But he is quick-witted and calm, and he outwits an armed spy with nothing but his brain. This shows that a spy's real strength is intelligence and presence of mind, not looks.

(Group discussion; sample answer.)

Ausable speaks as if he were annoyed, not as if he were telling a tale. He says, "I'm going to raise the devil with the management this time", and complains that this is "the second time in a month that somebody has got into my room through that nuisance of a balcony!" Max had entered with a passkey, so he is ready to believe that there is another way in.

The story is convincing because of the details Ausable gives: the balcony "belongs to the next apartment"; the room "used to be part of a large unit" and the next room "used to be the living room"; the balcony "extends under my window now"; one can reach it "from the empty room two doors down"; and the management "promised to block it off. But they haven't." He also says it casually, in front of Fowler, and Fowler's glance at the window adds to the effect. Max, who is nervous, has no time to doubt, so he climbs out of the window and falls.

Ausable gives a casual, angry complaint full of specific details, so Max believes in the balcony.

It seems that Ausable did not plan everything from the beginning. He was surprised to find Max in his room ("you gave me quite a start"), and the balcony story begins only after Max asks for the report. Ausable at once sits down and complains about "that nuisance of a balcony". When Max says, "No, a passkey. I did not know about the balcony", Ausable sees that Max has no idea how the room is built, and goes on to give more details. So the plan was made on the spot.

He had, however, some things ready beforehand: he was expecting Henry, the waiter, with a drink, and he knew exactly how much time was left ("Thirty-one minutes"). When the knock at the door came, he quickly used it, calling it the police, to frighten Max towards the window. So he used events as they happened and combined them with a few things already in his mind. (This is an inference; the story does not say it directly.)

Sample answer: Last summer a short circuit started a small fire in the wiring of our neighbour's shop. While others shouted, a boy who was standing nearby switched off the main supply, took a bucket of sand, and threw it on the fire. He then sent someone to call the fire brigade. Because he stayed calm and acted at once, the fire was put out before it spread. This is presence of mind: thinking clearly and acting wisely in a moment of danger.

(Students may narrate their own experience.)

1. A small fire starts in your kitchen: Switch off the gas supply and electricity, cover the fire with a damp cloth, lid or sand (never use water on an oil or electrical fire), and call for help or the fire brigade if it spreads.
2. A child starts to choke on a piece of food: Stay calm, encourage the child to cough, and give firm back blows or the Heimlich manoeuvre if you know it; call for a doctor at once if the child cannot breathe.
3. An electrical appliance starts to hiss and gives out sparks: Do not touch it with wet hands; switch off the main supply and unplug it only when it is safe, keep people away, and call an electrician.
4. A bicycle knocks down a pedestrian: Stop and help the person, check for injuries, give first aid, take the person to a doctor or call an ambulance, and inform the family.
5. It rains continuously for more than twenty-four hours: Stay indoors, keep a torch, drinking water and dry food ready, move valuable things to a higher place, keep away from water-logged roads and electric poles, and listen to the weather news.
6. A member of your family does not return home at the usual or expected time: Stay calm, phone the person and friends or the workplace or school, ask neighbours, and, if there is no news, inform the elders and the police.

(Sample answers; any sensible answer is accepted.)