Splinter in his eye

So many things are going down now; it is quite the chaos, with Leon’s unpredictable behavior we foresee trouble on the horizon. Leon’s classified research material will fall into the wrong hands if he continues on like this. And more so.., what will they do to him after they’ve gotten their hands on his files?

I would like us to broaden our perspective and to assess the situation from all possible angles. With the right understanding we might be able to avert the worst case scenario.

Firstly, we need to recap briefly what we observed from the moment Leon was last seen in his apartment at Calle Obispo up until the poetry event at the National Library José Martí the next day:

We already established that Leon, very uncharacteristically, had shown aggravated emotions toward his wife right before he went ‘missing’. Then there’s the gaps in his memory while he was trained to remember all details in all situations at all times. And how cringe-worthy his feeble decision to handle his emails from a government owned computer!

But most alarmingly, he had been oblivious to the fact that he was being followed from Maya’s to the library, even Isabel had noticed it right-away. Admittedly, Isabel was raised by a very attentive woman, but still. And how could Leon have missed the resemblance between this girl, who served him breakfast, and Diaz, his sister in law?

That Leon had not shown much alertness after downing his two strong espressos, is hereby acknowledged.

Then there is something else I would like to point out. Do you remember Reinaldo Arenas’ quote on the leaflet, about the lightning bug? I bet you thought the same as I did.
       Granted; Leon, in a moment of clarity, had noticed it too: someone had underlined the word ‘bug’ – occurring 5 times in the poem – with black pen. Maybe Leon intuited the significance, however unlikely; I am only guessing that the word ‘bug’ would automatically raise the alarm for a diplomat in research mode.

Whatever the case may be, I am glad Leon understood it to be a good idea to attend the poetry gathering.

To finish this off, let us go back to the moment Leon disappeared from his apartment. He was in disagreement with his wife so he wasn’t really listening to what she was saying. But he should have; if he hadn’t been so defensive, he would have picked up on her warning:

“ Is this even a matter for the embassy, what is their agenda? Why must it be you, why do they want Leon Marchant to look into it? Now babe, what will you do when you have figured it all out.., blow the whistle about it, and then go into hiding? Do you want to write a book?”

Although laced with sarcasm; her questioning had laid bare the crux of the nettlesome matter: the deaths of Kennedy and Monroe were obviously veiling something deeply troubling. If there was something new to add to the many conspiracy theories; why should he be the one to disclose the facts, and what would be the consequences?

If it were not for the splinter in his eye; Leon would have given this thought, much thought.