If it's any consolation - with things like this someone wouldn't have to physically access your laptop or your notes if they wanted data, they'd already have it - via data/metadata collection or remote access methods. I imagine Andrew Wilkie would know quite a lot about it. What you've described would take about 3 minutes with the right tools.
Linux Mint or Fedora Cinnamon are both pretty easy to use. Protonmail for email also.
If it's any consolation - with things like this someone wouldn't have to physically access your laptop or your notes if they wanted data, they'd already have it - via data/metadata collection or remote access methods. I imagine Andrew Wilkie would know quite a lot about it. What you've described would take about 3 minutes with the right tools.