The story went across the state within hours.

The thousands of hateful comments turned, almost overnight, into an outpouring of support and apology.

And Brenda — Brenda suffered the worst of it, because she had spent her whole life building a polished reputation as a former private-school principal and community board president, and that reputation now shattered in public.

Her friends stopped taking her calls.

Organizations severed ties.

Old acquaintances came forward with their own stories of her cruelty.

She called me one evening, her voice trembling.