This article examines the reports written by Gerolamo Vano, a spy working in early seventeenth-century Venice. It concentrates on their form rather than their content in a attempt to assess Vano's story-telling skills. It is also an experiment in historical story-telling, which departs from some of the conventions of academic writing and embraces the melodramatic qualities of Vano's writing. In short, the article's form is used to comment allegorically upon its content.