An example of how a slight misreading of a news story can turn a fuzzy report into a firm allegation. That's what I mean by hints and rumours.

In a BBC story about this datelined Monday, 10 September 2007, 17:33 GMT 18:33 UK, Prosecutor reviews Madeleine case, there was this paragraph:

During an 11-hour interview, detectives suggested to Mrs McCann that traces of Madeleine's blood had been found in the family's hire car, she said.

In an earlier post this was passed on as "The latest news from Portugal matches the DNA of the blood in the car to that of Madeleine", credited to the BBC News.

Not an intentional distortion - but a Chinese Whisper style firming up of a possibility into a firm fact. A statement that in an interrogation a police made a suggestion becomes a firm and potentially damning allegation about firm scientific evidence.