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Thank you. It's 2 p.m. on October 16, 2017, in Bidnia, on the island of Malta in the Mediterranean.

29-year-old journalist Matthew Caruana Galitia smiles as his mother, places a plate of tomatoes and mozzarella in front of him. He's about to dig in when the phone rings. Matthew glances

up, but his mother answers it before he can move, so Matthew goes back to his food. Matthew is just

starting out in a journalism career, but he has an excellent role model to inspire him.

His mother is Daphne Caruana Galitia, Malta's most prominent investigative reporter.

Matthews helping her with research on her latest story, digging into an international scandal

that reaches right into the heart of Malta's government.

When Daphne's finished her phone call,

she tells Matthew that she needs to head out on an errand.

She grabs her keys and bag,

kisses her son on the head,

and tells Matthew she won't belong.

But after only a few moments of scrolling,

a loud explosion battles the windows.

Matthew jumps up, rushes to the door.

Lying in a field at the side of the road is the wreckage of a car consumed in flames,

his mother's car. But the fire is so ferocious that Matthew can't get close. And with terror rising in him, Matthew realizes that there's no way she could have survived the blast

and no way to help her even if she did.

...