ANALYSIS (May 30): If there are any spies around Dominic, they are spying for Dominic, not on them. This comes as no surprise. The Mitsubishi would have sent a professional killer, and anyone else likely to spy on Dominic would know Dominic well enough to realize they will brutally murder anyone who interferes with Mycroft, or their pursuit of Sniper. The hand that stabbed Mycroft the second time had neither unsteadiness nor hyper-resolution, the two characteristics of someone who knows they are condemning themselves to a painful death. The only associate of Dominic’s who is currently in the right emotional state to accept such a painful death without either confidence or trepidation is Blacklaw Carlyle Foster. Though a little small for our physical profile, Foster had their tracker switched off during the incident (and often does, common for Dominic’s associates). Foster was, as I understand, trained in spy-work by both Commissioner General Papadelias and Julia Doria-Pamphili, and is certainly an amateur at murder and timid enough to strike so impotent a blow, but lacks motive, both for killing Mycroft and for holding Sniper.

June 1: For lack of a more direct test, I suggested the possibility of Foster’s guilt to Headmaster Faust. Faust laughed. Note: Faust believes Sniper’s chapter is mostly genuine.

ANALYSIS (June 1): The failure of all these tests, along with the release of Sniper’s chapter, has convinced me of the probability of a traitor-spy (or more than one?) within O.S., or at least within the ranks of Sniper’s trusted supporters. When Dominic originally kidnapped Mycroft, they informed Sniper by tipping off several fans and doll factory staff in different parts of the world. Word of this might easily have reached Sniper’s subordinates before it reached Sniper themself, giving a traitor the opportunity to reach Mycroft first. A traitor in the inner circle of Sniper’s faction might well desire Sniper’s removal. Such a traitor might also desire Mycroft’s death, because Mycroft is a resource for our side, or because the completion of Mycroft’s history could threaten the traitor’s agenda. How a traitor might benefit from releasing Sniper’s chapter I cannot yet say. I would like to set traps for this traitor as I did for other kinds of spies, but it is not easy to plausibly release Mycroft’s location to the enemy. Confident that Lesley Saneer is clearly not working against Sniper, and is too physically small to be Mycroft’s assailant, I eliminated them as a suspect, and informed them of my suspicions on June 3rd:

Saneer: “And, so you can hunt this theoretical traitor, you want me to give you access to the inner workings of my side? My closest allies?”

Guildbreaker: “Want, yes; expect, no. Your caution is justified.”

Saneer: “Then what do you expect?”

Guildbreaker: “Just tell me if there is anyone in your inner circle who doesn’t care very much, one way or the other, about Mycroft Canner.”