Hazel Bates has been keeping a close eye on the man at the corner table since they arrived at the Bellevue Hotel. He eats alone at the same table each night and looks around the dining room, his curious gaze alighting on each of the guests in turn. Occasionally he jots down something in his notebook – almost as if he doesn’t realise that they can see him. When his gaze meets Hazel’s, he turns his attention to his meal in an unhurried way but soon resumes his silent surveillance. Despite this interest, he keeps very much to himself. Tonight, arriving in the dining room right on time, he eats his meal slowly and methodically and leaves as soon as he’s finished.
Hazel’s companion on this holiday, Betty Dewsnap, sits with pen poised over her notebook, ‘What do they call those people who study people?’ she asks in a loud whisper.
‘An anthropologist?’ suggests Hazel.
‘Oh goodness, that’s too difficult to spell. I’ll put “people-watcher” – that’s just one of my observations about him. My instincts tell me he’s up to something.’
‘He may be watching us, but we’re doing the same thing,’ says Hazel.
‘It’s the way he watches us . . . with intent.’ Betty writes that down and leans across to whisper, ‘Also, he’s foreign.’
This is Hazel’s first holiday in more years than she can count. With their workplaces, Empire Fashionwear and Farley Frocks, shut for holidays until mid- January, the tea ladies have an entire week at Manly Beach, which is easily reached from the city by ferry…
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