Before dawn on the fourth day of the investigation, Rachel wakes and goes downstairs to check Nicky’s computer. The Facebook comments posted online about her disturb her. Most people have concluded that she’s guilty. Rachel is even more horrified when she comes across a website devoted to her son’s case. The blogger implies that she killed her son and may get away with murder.

Later that morning, Nicky says that they need to go to John’s house to decide on the design for a missing person’s flyer. Reporters dog their steps all the way from Rachel’s house to John’s. Even though Rachel isn’t happy to be there, Katrina shows her Ben’s room. Rachel is astonished. She assumed her son was unhappy staying with John and Katrina, but they went to great pains to make him feel welcome and comfortable. Rachel realizes she took the scraps of information that Ben provided about his visits and wove it into a negative fantasy about a wicked stepmom.

When Rachel and Nicky return home in the afternoon, they notice that somebody has scrawled the message “BAD MOTHER” in orange spray paint on the backyard fence. Rachel is deeply upset by the slander. “I was being persecuted.