Chapter 13 - EMMA'S TABLET
Emma had never used NorthHallAdmin.
That was clear quickly.
The anonymous login happened automatically from a saved browser session.
Someone else had previously used the tablet.
Who?
The device had been assigned to another student the year before.
School-issued tablets were wiped between students.
Or supposed to be.
The wipe log for Emma’s device was incomplete.
The prior student:
Luke Evans.
One of the NORTH HALL members.
Claire felt the case shift again.
Luke had used the tablet last year.
Could old browser tokens survive a partial wipe?
IT said yes.
Rare.
Possible.
Then Luke admitted something.
He created NorthHallAdmin.
At first.
Not the later version.
He made the account as a joke in eighth grade.
Used it twice.
Forgot about it.
The account password was simple.
Shared among friends.
Ryan had known it?
“No,” Ryan said.
Tyler?
Maybe.
Mason?
Possibly.
Luke said he wrote the password on a note in his locker.
Then the account changed:
new password,
new recovery email,
different posting style.
Someone took it over.
The old tablet retained a session token.
That explained the Carter-home Wi-Fi login.
Not proof Emma or Claire used it.
Another frightening clue dissolved into old technical residue.
Then Luke said:
“I know who took the account.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Who?”
He had told one person the password after forgetting it.
His older sister:
Jenna Evans.
Why?
She helped him recover access to delete embarrassing posts.
Jenna was nineteen.
Worked part-time at the public library.
Claire stared.
Library.
Again.
Jenna denied running the account.
Then investigators checked staffing logs.
She worked:
the night Mason met “the admin,”
the day Ryan used the library during suspension,
the time the password reset request occurred.
She also had access to public computers.
Motive?
None obvious.
Then Ryan remembered.
Jenna used to date Evan Price.
Daniel’s former IT subcontractor.
The two worlds connected.
But again, connection was not proof.
Jenna admitted knowing Evan.
Said they broke up months earlier.
Then police found gift-card purchase emails in her old account.
Three matched payments Mason received.
Jenna started crying.
“I bought them.”
“Why?”
“Evan asked me.”
“What did he say they were for?”
“Teen focus groups.”
She believed him?
At first.
Then she suspected.
Why continue?
Because Evan owed her money.
He promised to repay everything if she helped “test engagement.”
Jenna had enabled him.
But was Evan NorthHallAdmin?
She looked at investigators.
Then said:
“No.”
Everyone froze.
“Then who?”
Jenna answered:
“He wasn’t the one typing.”
“Who was?”
May you like
She whispered:
“Ryan’s father.”
