John Smith is mugged behind the Iron Curtain and finds himself interrogated by police who doubt his claims as to his identity, leaving him utterly at their mercy, until they mysteriously decide to let him go for reasons only Henry can divine.

This is a virtually perfect Black Widower story. Smith’s dilemna is a bit of a stretch, perhaps, but the problem itself very believable and (more to the point) the solution, so neat, so plausible, and so utterly unexpected that one could not hope for anything better. Terrific job.

Found In

	Banquets of the Black Widowers
	The Best Mysteries of Isaac Asimov