Never Out of Sight, also known as The Amusement Lark, is a mystery short story by Isaac Asimov.
Part of the Union Club series, it was first published in the March 1983 issue of Gallery magazine. It was later collected in The Best Mysteries of Isaac Asimov.
Summary[]
At the Union Club, Griswold recounts a story to his fellows. The case involves Sanford Brown, a minor government functionary suspected of espionage. Department agents placed him under surveillance after suspecting he was recruited by an enemy agent, an attractive woman who spoke perfect English. Both were observed at an amusement park on the same day. After the enemy agent left the park, she was arrested and found with microfilm that Brown was in a position to obtain. No one witnessed a transfer between them.
Brown was suspended but not charged. His lawyer and his fiancée, Carla Fuentes, visited Griswold. Fuentes stated she was with Brown at the amusement park for the entire ten hours it was open. She insisted he was never out of her sight and that he spoke to no other woman. She had passed a lie-detector test supporting her account. Griswold, while believing Fuentes was sincere, identified a flaw in her alibi. He pointed out that during the ten-hour visit, Fuentes would have had to visit a ladies' room, forcing a separation from Brown. During one of these brief periods, the enemy agent could have approached him, identified herself, and taken the microfilm without Fuentes's knowledge. The government did not pursue the case further, and Brown remained under a cloud of suspicion.
Characters[]
- Griswold
- Club Member (the narrator)
- Baranov
- Jennings
- Sanford Brown
- Carla Fuentes
- Brown's Lawyer
- The Enemy Agent
- The Department Agents
Historical Figures Mentioned[]
- Dorothy Sayers
- John Collier
- Napoleon
- Lenin
- Hitler
- George Washington
- Philip of Macedon
See Also[]
List of short stories by Isaac Asimov
{{}}