I've been staying in the same hotel suite for the past two weeks. By now, I have a pretty good idea of who works here as I frequently chat with the friendly, helpful staff. So last night when a young Indian fellow offered to help me- I was toting a laptop in one arm and a baby in the other- it wasn't totally strange except that the fellow's face was not familiar. And I wasn't sure if he was a guest or a new staff member- his outfit could pass for a uniform, just not the kind they wear in the hotel. Needing the help, at any rate, I accepted his offer and he made small talk about Isabel as we walked down the long corridor to my room.
He left the laptop on a table in the living room. I said thank you, expecting him to leave, and went about getting Isabel ready to go in the car. He lingered though, looking around in the room. So I said thank you again, louder, and that my husband was coming. He didn't seem to take the hint. Finally he was backing out of the room as Martin was coming in, and the stranger mentioned something about the monsoon to Martin. Being his cheery self, Martin smiled and laughed, the strange guy left, and soon we were out to look at another apartment.
In the car, I thought about how the guy seemed a bit odd to me and explained to Martin how he was hanging around in our room. We decided he was another curious person, perhaps just interested in practicing English with the foreigners.
This afternoon, I was sitting in my room, attending to some emails. The service here is really great, but sometimes they offer too many services, so I had the "Shhhh!" sign up on my door while I typed. Sometime around noon, I heard a quiet rapping on the front door. I got up and peeped through the peep hole to see who it was. No one was there. I opened the door and looked down the corridor to the right, and suddenly stranger's face appeared. He looked a bit surprised as he said, "Did you call me?" "No," I said, very flatly. "Oh, someone called me and....ok." Then he walked away. Now, why would I call someone who I don't know and whose number I don't know, particularly when I am not sure if the person is a guest or staff? One thing was different about him today- he had on a name tag. And he had on the same clothes as yesterday- not the same uniform as everyone else.
I was suspicious. What was this guy doing gently knocking on my door? I locked the door from the inside and went back to the bedroom. Feeling too nervous to leave the room, I called room service and ordered lunch. A green, smooshy, spinach dish and naan was delivered to my door by a staff member who I recognized and like. I felt a bit better as stranger was no where in sight.
After lunch, which wasn't good- I won't get the spinach goo again- I opened the front door to leave my tray outside. I heard familiar tap-tap footsteps in the hallway. It was stranger! I didn't want to face him again so I stood very still just inside the room, pressed against the wall. I heard him coming closer to the door, then walking away. Coming closer...Then he stuck his head into the room from the side and jumped a bit when he saw me. "Need any help?" he said. "No." I waited for him to go away before walking out with my tray.
I had enough. There was no reason for me to find him snooping around my room twice within two hours. I called the manager on duty and asked if they had hired any new staff. She said, "No, well, we always have some new recruits. Why?" Then I explained to her what had happened, that this young man I don't recognize seems to be loitering outside my room, that one day he acts like a helpful guest, and the next day he acts like staff complete with a name tag. "N" something was his name. (It wasn't Nancy.) The manager, sounding concerned, said she would phone security.
A couple of minutes later, I was repeating my story to the manager and the head of security in my room. I stopped when I heard those tap-tap footsteps in the hall and stuck my eye against the peephole. There he was! He had come down the corridor, which is very long and twisty, took a glance at my door, the only one you can see from his standpoint, then turned on his heel and walked back to where he had come from. "There he is!" I shouted, and the manager and the security guy ran down the hall to catch him.
It seemed to me like he was checking out the status on my door, which can be only one of three things: Shhhh!, Tidy Up, or nothing. I had left the Shhhh! sign up all day. Maybe stranger was waiting for it to switch to Tidy Up, so he could enter after the housekeeping guy came in and do whatever it was he wanted to do.
A few moments later, manager, security guy, and stranger were all at my door. I opened up and looked stranger right in the eye, just like Nancy would, and said, "Yes, that's him."
By this point, my stomach was all in knots because I'm not used to sleuthing. I wished Martin was home. I feel much safer when he is with me. So I held onto Isabel for comfort and paced the room while I waited to hear back from management.
It turns out that this guy, "N" something, was not supposed to be wandering around on my floor, let alone hanging out around my door. He was a new recruit, but there was absolutely no reason for him to be near the guest rooms. He was recently hired to start training for the reservations department, not to be interacting with the current guests in the hotel.
Another couple of managers came to my room to apologize. They told me stranger was confronted and then escorted off of the hotel premises.
"So, I will never see that guy again, right?" I asked, feeling equally like the detective and the victim. "No, ma'am, you won't," said the lady manager. A different manager smiled at me and said, "And thank you for reporting him or else we might never have found out."
And there it was. My Nancy Drew moment.
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