The Best American Travel Writing 2014 by Paul Theroux

Author:Paul Theroux
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

MATTHEW POWER

Excuse Us While We Kiss the Sky

FROM GQ

AS SINGAPORE AIRLINES Flight 322 descended through the early-morning haze toward Heathrow, Bradley L. Garrett, PhD—just Brad to his research subjects—looked out over the gray sprawl of London spreading to a horizon streaked by sunrise. He was returning from a monthlong study project in Cambodia, and seeing his adopted city of London again, he thought about all the incomparably strange and wonderful things he had witnessed there over four years—all the dizzying heights and hidden depths.

The plane touched down and taxied, its passengers cramped and bleary after the 14-hour flight. But when the aircraft reached the gate, its doors didn’t open. After several minutes, the pilot came on the intercom, and Garrett fired off a tweet: “Just landed at Heathrow and we are told the police are boarding our aircraft. Welcome home. x.”

A group of officers from the British Transport Police (BTP) entered the plane and came down the aisle. They stopped at his seat, 42K. “Dr. Garrett?” “Yes?” “We need you to come with us.” An officer gripped each arm, and they led him down the aisle, past scores of wide-eyed passengers. In first class, former British prime minister Gordon Brown was furious over the delay.

Garrett was handcuffed and led through passport control, where his ID was seized. Fingerprints, mug shots, and DNA swabs followed. He was eventually led to a holding cell and then an interrogation room. There he was told that he was being investigated for burglary and property destruction, among numerous other possible charges. He had been the subject of a lengthy manhunt by the BTP. His alleged crimes were a blatant affront to the image of a high-tech security state London had constructed for itself. And yet, at one point during his interrogation, Garrett said, an investigator leaned across the table and whispered: “Off the record, Bradley, I love the work that you do.”

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