While she filled him in, her cell phone vibrated on the table. Her gaze followed his. “It’s the media. They are incessant.”

“I’d forgotten that you tend to attract the media, Ms. Lange. You are the proverbial nectar to the bee.”

Her phone buzzed again. Kate glanced at the number. “It’s Hillcroft.” She hurriedly swallowed her mouthful of macaron. “Hello, John.”

“Kate! I wasn’t sure if I’d reach you. The media are staked outside your house.” He chuckled. “Although, that’s probably not new for you. I’m glad you are okay. The Owen case went in a direction no one had anticipated.”

“That’s one way of putting it.” She straightened. “Have you been briefed by the police investigators on the role Leah Roberts played in averting disaster?”

Eddie gave her a thumbs up.

“You don’t waste much time, do you?”

Kate shook her head. “That’s one thing I’ve learned from the past few years, John.”

“Understood.”

“You can’t put Leah or her brother away. They’re good people.”

He sighed. “They both committed crimes.”

“But for the right reasons. Leah Roberts wanted to expose a serious, criminal data breach by the government. And Joey took her laptop for the purposes of protecting her. He did it out of love, John.”

“Two wrongs don’t make a right.”

“Leah was afraid of being treated like Edward Snowden. You have to acknowledge that the law does very little to protect whistle blowers.”

“Yes, I agree. But she broke into Mel Owen’s house, Kate. It wasn’t just a computer crime. It was break and enter.”

Kate tapped her fingers on the teapot. “She also freely provided the police and myself with the information to stop the container ship. And she wasn’t responsible for the hacking of that ship. You can’t blame her for that. She lacked mens rea regarding the theft of those files from Harry Owen’s computer. She was tricked by Aiden Boyne and that hacker Tr0lz.”

There was a long silence. Finally, he said, “Here’s what the Crown will offer for Leah Roberts. We will reduce the charge to trespass. And for Joey Roberts, his charge would be accessory to Leah’s trespass. Both of those charges have miminum sentences that can be carried out in the community.”

Should she push him harder? Kate caught Eddie’s eye. He gave a small shake of his head. “Deal.” Before John Hillcroft could hang up, she added, “Don’t forget Matt Leon. He should have leniency, as well. He risked his life to uncover the exploit.”

“The US wants to extradite him, Kate.”

“But the events took place on Canadian territory.”

“He is suspected of other online activities with his hacktivist forum.”

Her heart sank. “Can’t you do something to help him?”

“This is out of my jurisdiction, Kate. I’ll talk to you on Monday. Get some rest.” He hung up.