31 March - 4 April 1966

	Run For Your Life Starring Ben Gazzara Homepage Paul Bryan's Journal 31 March - 4 April 1966
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31 March - 4 April 1966 ("The Man Who Had No Enemies" part 2)

Chronology of Events				Journal Entry
The Man Who Had No Enemies Sailing to Trinidad with Neil Trotter, the yacht develops a problem, and they dock on Bonnaire to arrange for a replacement part. Neil leaves Paul on his own at the hotel, and Paul immediately begins to feel uncomfortable.				Kralendijk, Thursday, March 31 Things were going so well until late afternoon today, and then the boat started not to cooperate. Neil knew what it was immediately, and said that we were lucky, as we were only a few miles off Bonnaire. But I was shocked that we got a fair bit of hassle from the port authorities because we had no visas. It was incredible, and took so much time that I missed the last flight of the day to Port of Spain. After our entry permits were finally sorted out, we came to this hotel, and Neil got busy making phone calls to organize the new part for the boat. Neil thinks that he can get it here in a couple days, but I told him that I'd have to fly to Trinidad in the morning. All Neil was thinking about was the Rio race, and he barely heard me, then said that he wanted to run some errands, and would meet me for dinner. Rang Clive in Trinidad, and told him I'd be flying in tomorrow morning instead of arriving with the boat. This is not a moment to be sitting around alone. I remember a year ago today, picking Kate up at the airport. The look on her face. Later Note from Neil that he won't be able to make it for dinner. After all the freedom of the sea, it feels unnatural to be walking around this hotel. Went out in the street, but still felt enclosed. Rang Kate, but no answer. I suppose it's my mind. Remembering those days a year ago. Why can't I look on the good side of things? That I'm alive and having such a wonderful existence, still feeling healthy. Took a nap, and dreamed that I'd fallen into a pit that had then gotten smaller around me. And an elephant looking down from above. Think I'll go to the bar, and have a drink. Maybe meet someone, and if not, turn in early.
In the morning Paul is arrested, and learns that Neil has been murdered, and he is prime suspect, Neil having known no one else on the island. Though released, Paul may not leave Bonnaire. He is visited by Neil's wife who thinks Paul guilty. The Inspector asks Paul to meet a woman who also comes from the same city as Neil, and rather than question her officially, see if Paul can gain any useful information.				Kralendijk, Friday, April 1 That day. That awful day, telling Katie that I was going away. Her searching look that I thought would see into my soul - maybe even find some way of keeping me from leaving. And today. In its own way just as horrible. I'd gotten up early to catch the first flight to Trinidad, and was immediately arrested and taken to the police station to learn that Neil had been murdered last night, and I was the chief suspect. Though the Inspector didn't really seem to think I was the guilty party, he said it would be necessary for him to detain me on the island until there were developments in the case. I then had to ring Trinidad, praying that I'd get Clive and not Pete. Luckily I did, and admitted that, due to more extra-curricular activities, I probably wasn't going to make it for qualifying. Clive was shocked about Neil. The two had hit it off well together, and Neil had shown great interest in Clive's plans for the Mastin. I must admit, that at that point, the horror of Neil's death, the loss of the man, had still not sunken in. Clive was SO nice. Said no problem, he'd be glad to take the drive, probably his last chance, and looked forward to it. As if to say I'd done him a favor. Clive then offered to tell Pete who was out on the track at that moment, and I felt I'd be in his debt the rest …. of my life. Neil's wife then flew in, and came to my room. I could see that she thought that I'd murdered her husband. What a day for all this to fall on me - when I have so few resources to draw upon. After talking with her a while, I think Eileen Trotter started to doubt that I'd killed her husband, and then the Inspector interrupted us, and asked me to do him a favor. Anything to get me off this island, I thought, but all he wanted was for me to meet a local resident who, like Neil and Eileen Trotter, came from Hot Springs, Arkansas. When the Inspector and Mrs. Trotter left, it was late enough to phone Kate. Funny that I waited. I usually would think nothing of ringing her in the middle of the night, but hesitated this morning. Maybe the day that was in it. Her first thought when she heard the phone at 5 or 6 am might be One Year, and then she'd think the symptoms had started. I told her all that had happened, and Kate said that I should have rung her in the middle of the night. She even tried to make a little joke, and say how she missed such calls. But on top of it, said that she could get the first flight out, and be with me tonight, if that would help. I felt like sinking onto my knees in gratitude, but said that the police wanted me to attend something this evening, and we could talk in the morning about her coming out. We then spoke of other things, the racing, Pete, this Bonnaire mess again, and then, this day last year. It was awful, but we clung to the moment of being able to communicate our feelings, and ended up doing so for hours, having to have the call reconnected twice, and then a third time to say goodbye when it was time to leave for the party. The Inspector had arranged for me to go to a dinner at the Governor's home where I met the woman from Hot Springs, Catherine Cumiford. However, I came away with nothing useful. While the dinner party managed to cover several hours, I feel stuffed with food, and not able to sleep. The events of a year ago are glued to my conscious, and I can't seem to shake them off, no matter what I try to think of.
Ballistic tests show that Neil was murdered with the same gun that killed a top Mafia banker. Paul feels increasingly claustrophobic, and starts drinking heavily. A small help is Kay Mills who has arrived on the island on a secret mission - to blackmail the woman Paul had met the night before for stealing Kay's identity when she took flight after killing the self-same Mafia banker. When Kay comes back from the woman's home, she spends time with Paul, and then helps him back to his room, staying by his bedside as he talks in his sleep. Kay begins to feel guilty, realizing that Paul is dying,and being held on Bonnaire in connection with a murder that Kay knows who perpetrated.				Kralendijk, Saturday, April 2 Qualifying day, and I'm not there. No call from Pete. Not a word, even though he knows I'm being kept here as a murder suspect. Was in the Inspector's office, making my negative report on the party last night when Eileen Trotter was brought in, and the Inspector announced that the gun which killed Neil had been used in the murder of the Mafia banker Tony Polo. Kronig implied that Neil had underworld connections, but his wife was aghast and denied the possibility adamantly. Inspector Kronig then started to try and pin the killing on me again - and Tony Polo's as well, saying that he was thinking of arresting me. This was turning into more than missing the race, and I was on my way to ring Kate - now very sorry I had told her not to get the flight yesterday - when I met a woman named Kay Mills. Thought she might be some company while I waited for Kate to arrive, but after a drink in the bar, Kay said that she had an important appointment, and slipped away. Katie said that she couldn't get connections to Bonnaire today, but would fly out from San Francisco Sunday morning. Unfortunately, that was the best game in town, and I started counting the hours. Got a call from Rhona then to say that Clive was on pole, and she was to deliver me a kiss on the phone for making the drive possible. I'd come to know Rhona as a much nicer person than when we first met, but on this call, suddenly felt her a close friend. She said that she missed my being there, and that she could never, never thank me enough for bringing her back together with Clive. I finally dared to ask about Pete, who was second on the grid, and Rhona said that he was in better form, June having arrived for the race. Rhona showed so much concern for my plight, and stayed on the line for ages longer than necessary, and I knew that I'd feel a bond with her forever over this kindness. Eventually, she was called away from the phone, and so I've decided to go down to the bar and have a drink. I feel strangled with claustrophobia on this island.
Kay reveals the truth about her activities to Paul when he reads the note she left in his room, and goes to hers at 6 am. The police are brought in, and a second murder, that of Neil's wife is prevented. Paul leaves the island, too late to participate in the Trinidad motor race, but there to witness his driving partner, Pete Gaffney, nearly killed in a track incident.				Port of Spain, Sunday, April Don't know how many drinks I'd had when Kay came into the bar. My memory is completely hazy. At some point she got me up to my room, and stayed with me for quite a while, then left after writing a note. I woke up around six, and went to see her. She wanted my advice, feeling in a tough position, as I'd apparently revealed the diagnosis during whatever rantings she'd heard in the night. Kay confessed that she'd come to Bonnaire to extract cash from her high school friend for using Kay's name and birth certificate Telling me that she was Katherine Cumiford, she explained that the woman who called herself by that name had stolen her identity. Kay surmised that Neil, who'd known Kay briefly in Hot Springs, had sought her out when he heard she was living on the island, and her friend Sylvia Marsh - the woman I'd met at the Governor's party - had killed him in fear of exposure. She had been Tony Polo's girlfriend, and had admitted murdering him when the two women had met the previous night. I contacted the Inspector immediately, and the three of us went out to the fake Katherine Cumiford's house, only to learn that she'd just left with Eileen Trotter. We encountered them on the road, the fake Katherine attempting to kill Mrs. Trotter, but our arrival on the scene enabled Eileen to get away. The murderer looked like she was about to jump off the cliff, and probably would have without the Inspector's quick and compassionate thinking. I knew that, were it not for Kay, I might have spent the rest of my life on Bonnaire, and before leaving the island, wrote her a check for $15,000, and wished her luck, promising to get in touch following the Trinidad race. After ringing Kate that all was OK, caught this flight, and at least will be in Trinidad to witness it. Later From so much hope and expectation, our worst fears have been realized. Pete was crashed into and seriously injured in the start of the race. Clive's win offers little joy as I sit here in the hospital with June, waiting for Pete to come out of surgery. I have never seen June - easily the calmest woman I've ever met - so completely shook.
When Paul knows that Pete will be all right, he tleaves for a medical appointment in New York.				New York City, Monday, April 4 Thank goodness, the operation was successful, but Pete is going to be out of racing for up to a month. I suppose that is good news, but with his big chance to return to Formula 1 imminent, it's still difficult to take. Clive and I waited in the hospital until June informed us that he was conscious, and said that Pete wanted to see us. Though the season is over, and we've accomplished our objectives, there are two more prestigious one-off races he's entered the team, and these were dominating Pete's thoughts so much that June thought it best to calm him by giving him the opportunity to tell us what he wanted. Still groggy, he said that he knew Clive had to concentrate on development of the Formula 1 car, so he wanted me to ask Nick Cooper to take the principal drive in Prague. Me call Nick Cooper? One of the top men in Formula 1? It would be like asking Graham Hill or Jim Clark to be my co-driver. Pete silenced my protests with a weak wave of his hand, and said they were best friends, but more, he was certain that Nick would be enthusiastic about helping us. Then he added that Nick was like June, a person who did things without a lot of fuss, and could say yes to something complicated without ado or falderal. Clive promised to make the call, adding that Pete needed to rest, and we were going to leave. But Pete went on that we should get Tony Bell for the two weeks of racing in South America, since that kind of test is his specialty. Clive started edging towards the door, knowing it was the only way of getting Pete to stop talking, and my friend's last words to me were, “I'm depending on you, good buddy,” and I suddenly was near breaking down, to realize that another of my dearest friends almost preceded me in death. Rang Kate to let her know that Pete was conscious, then got a flight to New York to keep the appointment Mason set up with Dr. Grossman. He was very kindly, radically different than each and every one of the other doctors who was so matter-of-fact, even indifferent about my condition. Just a general warmth about him that I found genuinely “comforting,” as if I weren't alone. I wonder, if the specialists I first saw in San Francisco had been more like him, perhaps I wouldn't have run off so precipitously, lost so much valuable time with Kate, and saved myself from getting into a lot of scrapes and near-misses caused by mindless behavior. I still really haven't gotten on to a sound footing, as evidenced by my late arrival at the last two races.

5 - 10 April 1966 ("The Calculus of Chaos")