Now, since it seemed that Mr. Singer’s endgame at the beginning was to get Elan declared incompetent it is possible that he may have pushed Elan into a field where he knew Elan would fail, giving him the grounds to disown Elan, have him watched, and wait for Elan to slip up, land in major trouble (drugs or the sex trade being the most likely), and gain the spoils from there. However, this theory suggests a level of coldness on Mr. Singer’s part that I find difficult to believe. It seems more likely that he has been working with a web of possible plans that are most likely to provide him with the best outcome as circumstances evolve.

Mr. Singer is betting hugely on Elan’s trust, affection, and devotion to overcome his education here. For someone who so often seems to have all the angles covered, this is sloppy. Which indicates two things, neither of them good. Either this is a mark of just how desperate he is (in which case I wouldn’t put it past him to pull a gun on Elan himself) or he has one hell of a joker in his back pocket. He just does not strike me as the kind of man to put all his eggs in one basket like this.

Regardless, Mr. Singer has made the most common mistake in this comic. He assumes that because Elan is quiet, he is powerless. (Even Rafa is guilty of this.) Mr. Singer has underestimated Elan, and now we must hope that Elan has not made the same mistake about Mr. Singer.