The Midnight Visitor

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Instead, you have spent a dull evening in a French music hall with a sloppy fat man who, instead of having messages slipped into his hand by dark-eyed beauties, gets only a prosaic telephone call making an appointment in his room. You have been bored!

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Max, you gave me quite a start. I thought you were in Berlin. What are you doing here in my room?

I’m going to raise the devil with the management this time, and you can bet on it,This is the second time in a month that somebody has got into my room through that nuisance of a balcony!

You are disillusioned,But take cheer, my young friend. Presently you will see a paper, a quite important paper for which several men and women have risked their lives, come to me.Some day soon that paper may well affect the course of history. In that thought is drama, is there not?

Balcony?No, a passkey. I did not know about the balcony. It might have saved me some trouble had I known.

It’s not my balcony,It belongs to the next apartment.

The report that is being brought to you tonight concerning some new missiles. I thought I would take it from you. It will be safer in my hands than in yours.

You see,this room used to be part of a large unit, and the next room — through that door there — used to be the living room. It had the balcony, which extends under my window now. You can get onto it from the empty room two doors down — and somebody did, last month. The management promised to block it off. But they haven’t.

Knock Knock

That will be the police, what will you do now, Max?If I do not answer the door, they will enter anyway. The door is unlocked. And they will not hesitate to shoot.

Send them away!Iwill wait on the balcony. Send them away or I’ll shoot and take my chances!

Here is the drink you ordered for when you returned.

But... the police...

There were no police.Only Henry, whom I was expecting.

But won’t that man out on the balcony…?

No,he won’t return. You see, my young friend, there is no balcony.