I anticipated that Rebecca Mackwell would not agree to have dinner with us for at least a few months, owing to her busy schedule. But alas, if she is the one who set the kernel in the first place, she is the only one who can remove it without us all having to rebuild the entire dymensional plane. So we had a bit of an obvious conflict.
Iona, though, was very clever about this, for she had us pull Rebecca to the side and inform her of an "apparent rumor started by an anonymous source" that she was a Pageturner Guild insider.
"Whoever it was that told you must have known me from Northmoor," Rebecca told us, to our surprise. "Yes. I was a member of the Pageturner Guild. But just because I am a former member does not automatically mean I am an insider."
And so she explained. She spent two years in the Pageturner Guild, even becoming a prominent member, before joining the Third Level Society. There was, however, a rival within the ranks named Robert Tims, who accused her of attempting to sabotage the organization. This came after she won a rank promotion over him. Despite the obvious jealously and obvious evidence that he tried to set her up, the majority of the Guild ended up believing Tims. Mackwell was able to save her standing, being demoted rather than having her membership terminated. Regardless, she left the Guild and joined the Third Level Society.
"I had nothing to do with the kernel incident," Rebecca told us. "I'm glad that you at least understand. There must be someone in the organization wishing for our undoing. I will initiate an investigation on this if you bring more evidence. But whatever the cause, do not submit to a search of your account without an actual court warrant, especially if there is a false accusation going around. I certainly won't."
Iona was suspicious of Rebecca over that last statement. But I had to disagree.
"Let's rule out Robert Tims first," I said. "Then we can focus on Mackwell."
Iona was reluctant to agree with me, understandably of course. Nevertheless, she agreed.