[13] By the second cruise, however, Rees-Jones was becoming alarmed and angry at the lack of response to his appeals to the Fayed ops moms in London for back-up. He had already complained about Dodi's unpredictable behaviour and found himself working 18 hours a day. When he accompanied the couple to Paris on August 31, he was ready to resign over the gaps in security.
[14] That night he was kept in the dark when the couple booked into a restaurant. He nearly confronted them but refrained when the booking was cancelled and they went to the Ritz, Fayed's hotel. By Rees-Jones's account, after dinner Dodi announced his plan of subterfuge to avoid the paparazzi: Henri Paul would drive the couple to his apartment. They would leave alone by the back door without a bodyguard while Rees-Jones stationed himself as a decoy at the front.
[15] Rees-Jones was told the stratagem had been approved by Fayed in London--a claim the Harrods owner denies. Rees-Jones put his foot down, telling Dodi: "I'm f……coming with you." He was behind the princess as the couple strode towards a waiting Mercedes.
[16] At this point, the sprockets of his memory claw at a blank reel. Postcrash amnesia has robbed him of the vital three or four minutes that preceded the crash in the Pont d'Alma tunnel and its aftermath, when he lay suspended between life and death. The car's speed, other vehicles, the impact and the princess's dying plight have all been erased.
[17] Among the "what ifs" is whether he could have dissuaded Dodi from embarking on the lunatic ride with a driver who was drunk and on pills. Rees-Jones believes Dodi would have countered his ultimatum by going alone with Diana. The bottom line was that Dodi paid his wages.[18] When his parents brought him back to England, believing he was to be admitted to hospital for observation, he found himself being whisked to Fayed's headquarters and interrogated by a panel of doctors. Due to his own perseverance, within six months he was back at Harrods. Fayed was solicitous, seeing him three or four times a week. "He'd get very emotional and end up crying half the time, and give you his theories on everything: it's not a crash, it's M16, it's this, it's that."
但到第二次出航時,里斯-瓊斯開始十分擔(dān)心和生氣,因?yàn)樗蝰v倫敦的保衛(wèi)法耶德行動指揮中心請求支援,但沒有得到反應(yīng)。他已經(jīng)抱怨多迪難以預(yù)測的行為,而且發(fā)現(xiàn)自己得每人工作18個小時。8月31日他陪著多迪和戴安娜去巴黎時,他已由于缺乏安全保障準(zhǔn)備辭去保鏢的職務(wù)。是夜,這對戀人預(yù)訂了要去一家酒館,并沒有讓他知道。
當(dāng)他們?nèi)∠A(yù)訂改去法耶德的里茲飯店時,他幾乎要同他們攤牌,但還是忍住了。按照里斯-瓊斯的敘述,飯后多迪宣布了他的偽裝計劃以便避開攝影記者。計劃是:亨利·保爾將開車送他倆去他的公寓。他們將從后門溜走,不帶保鏢,而里斯-瓊斯則呆在前門作誘餌。他們對里斯-瓊斯說,在倫敦時這個計劃已經(jīng)得到老法耶德的同意(老法耶德現(xiàn)在對此予以否認(rèn))。里斯-瓊斯堅決反對,對多迪說:“我他媽的跟定你了。”
當(dāng)這對戀人朝一輛等候著的奔馳車大步走去時,他跟在戴妃的后面。在這時,里斯-瓊斯記憶的齒輪空轉(zhuǎn)了。撞車造成的健忘癥已抹掉了關(guān)于阿爾瑪橋隧道里撞車前至關(guān)緊要的三四分鐘以及事后情況的記憶.那時他正懸命于生死之間。車子的速度、其他機(jī)動車、撞擊和戴妃垂死的慘景,統(tǒng)統(tǒng)被抹去了。在眾多假設(shè)中,一個問題是,他當(dāng)初能再勸阻多迪不要坐那輛瘋狂的汽車,由一名酒醉、吸毒的司機(jī)開車。里斯-瓊斯相信多迪會不顧他的最后通牒而與戴安娜單獨(dú)離開。
說到底,他的工資是由多迪付給的。當(dāng)父母將里斯-瓊斯接回英格蘭時,以為他會被送進(jìn)醫(yī)院接受觀察,他卻發(fā)現(xiàn)自己被立刻帶到法耶德的總部,受到一幫醫(yī)生的盤問。由于他自己的堅持,六個月后他便回到哈羅茲上班了。法耶德很關(guān)心他,每周要見他三四次。“法耶德變得很容易激動,后來有一半時間在哭,并告訴你他對每件事作出的推測:這不是撞車,是MI6(英國秘密情報局,二戰(zhàn)時的策情六處)干的,是這樣,是那樣。”