Bare-Faced Messiah (PDF) - Apologetics Index

Scientology were the owners of the Fort Harrison Hotel and the Bank of Clearwater building. Its
involvement had not previously been revealed only out of an altruistic desire to avoid
overshadowing the work of its subsidiary organization, United Churches. On 5 February, five
hundred citizens attended an open day at the Fort Harrison Hotel to view the renovation work that
had already been completed. Maren reassured those present that there was nothing to fear from
Scientology. 'Scientologists are people who don't drink or violate laws,' he said. 'They are friendly
and want to contribute.' Next day, the Church of Scientology filed a $1 million lawsuit against Mayor
Gabriel Cazares, accusing him of libel, slander and violation of the church's civil rights.
Hubbard thought it was unlikely that his own security in King Arthur's Court had been
compromised, since his location was known to so few people and all of them were well-trained
and fanatically loyal. But there was a kind of perfidious inevitability that he would eventually be
wrong-footed, as had happened so often in his singular career. This time it was no one's fault but
his own. He decided he needed a new wardrobe for his new life on shore. His usual habit was to
order what he wanted from a tailor in Savile Row, via his secretary at Saint Hill Manor, but on this
occasion he was impatient and decided to call in a local tailor from Tarpon Springs, the next town
up Route 19A, north of Dunedin. The tailor turned out to be a science-fiction fan and while he was
measuring his new client they got talking about science fiction. Hubbard let slip his identity and the
tailor was delighted to be able to shake the hand of the great L. Ron Hubbard, whose sci-fi stories
he had for so long admired. Back in Tarpon Springs, he told his wife, 'You'll never guess who I was
just measuring for a suit . . .' News travelled fast thereabouts and it was not long before a reporter
began knocking on the doors of King Arthur's Court in Dunedin.
Hubbard bolted. 'We're leaving right now,' he shouted at Kima Douglas, then head of the household
unit. 'What do you want to take with you?' Kima, who was accustomed to handling crises,
suggested her husband, Mike. Hubbard agreed he could be their driver. 'He was more agitated
than I had seen him for years,' Kima recalled. 'We did not have time to do anything but pack a small
bag.' Hubbard had five suitcases already stowed in the trunk of his gold Cadillac and they swept
out of King Arthur's Court as the sun was setting in the gulf. With Mike Douglas at the wheel, Kima
on the front seat beside him and Hubbard cowering in the back to avoid being seen, they headed
across the Florida panhandle on Route 4 in the direction of Orlando.
It was a journey that Kima Douglas would never forget: 'Somewhere near Orlando we stopped at a
hotel, I think it was a Great Western, and checked in under false names. LRH was supposed to be
my father. We got adjoining rooms and then LRH sent Mike out to telephone Mary Sue from a
payphone to find out what had happened. When he came back, he said he had not been able to get
through because she had moved her office. The old man just broke down and wept; tears poured
out of his eyes. We didn't know what the hell was happening. He started to wail, "Don't you see? If
she's moved her office it means that someone's been there. The whole thing's broken down. Don't
you understand?" It looked like he was going to have a heart attack right there, so Mike went out to
the payphone again to try and get some more information. When he got back he said everything
was OK. Mary Sue had moved her office from one apartment to another because she thought she
would be more comfortable.'
Early next morning Hubbard apprised his travelling companions that they were going to drive the
1200 miles to New York, but they were going to ditch the Cadillac because it was too noticeable. He
gave Douglas $5000 to go out and buy another car; Douglas returned an hour later with a secondhand
Chevrolet hatchback, big enough for their suitcases and suitably nondescript. They left
immediately.
'We were on the road for three or four days,' said Kima. 'It was a horrendous trip. He sat in the back