whereas maxwell corey blaine and hector milagros had at first been treated like national heroes for disposing of that vilest of human beings , the informer , they were now being pilloried as monsters or worse because a second informer - who was now a media darling and something of an instant heroine - had for a substantial reward turned in the white man , who had at once copped a plea and given up his partner , the black man who 'd been denied bail .