I saw the old man, with his untidy cloth...

I saw the old man, with his untidy clothes and messy hair, as he dashed between the rows of the department store. He was trying to be ordinary but he was hard not to __21    .

He    22    the saleswoman and with a slight    23  , possibly German, asked where the women’s shoes were sold. “Fourth floor.” She responded in a voice I could hear 10 miles away. “Pardon? Where did you say they were?” he asked again, apparently    24 . Clearly the old man was somewhat    25    “Fourth floor, sir,” the friendly saleswoman replied patiently, this time so   26   that customers turned to see what was causing the   27    .

I continued watching as the man thanked the saleswoman and   28   for what I assumed was the fourth floor. But rather than walk to the    29    or the lift, he dashed behind a shelf, took out a notebook and started writing hurriedly, with an almost mad   30   on his face. Then he went straight up to another saleswoman and asked where the women’s shoes were sold. Again he asked her to   31   the answer and once more he walked away and took down some notes.

He did this three more times before a department store    32  , thinking him mad, removed him from the store. But rather than be   33   , the old man departed with a huge smile on his face. Although the incident was  34   , it was not until a year later, during my first year of university, that I gave it any further   35   . I walked into my language classroom and met my professor. It was that very same man.