The story broke at six AM. It did not start as a headline on a major news network. It started as a whisper on the internet, a single, explosive post on a highly respected, independent journalism blog.
The post was simple, and it was brutal. It laid out the entire, sordid story of Mr. Thorne's criminal empire, his partnership with Silas, and his diabolical plan to frame an innocent man and murder his own daughter.
And it had proof. Scanned copies of the fabricated documents. Encrypted email exchanges. A full, un-redacted transcript of Jessica's powerful, heartbreaking statement.
The post was a digital bomb, and its shockwave spread through the internet with a terrifying, exponential speed.
By seven AM, it was trending on every social media platform. By eight AM, the local news stations were scrambling to catch up, their morning shows interrupted by "breaking news" reports. By nine AM, the national news networks had picked it up.
