There was a pause, then Kellerman said: "I'll sign those papers now, Frank. I'll take the fall. I shot him, I made this happen."

"Good man," Frank said.

He and Kellerman started to head back to interrogation room one, when suddenly Lewis called out: "Wait!" and they turned back to look at him. Lewis glanced around at his fellow detectives and said, "Mikey is clean. This is my fault. I'll take the fall."

"Meldrick, really, it's okay," Kellerman insisted.

"Naw, Mikey, it's not. Tell me this: after you told Mahoney to drop the gun, how come he didn't do it? How come he said, 'What are you going to do, read me my rights?' What did he mean by that?" Lewis said.

"I don't know. I thought he was . . . mocking me. Like he was saying that I couldn't touch him. That I'd read him his rights, arrest him, and he'd be back on the streets in twenty-four hours," Kellerman said.

"That's not what he meant."

"What did he mean, then?" Pembleton said.

Lewis swallowed. "Like the girl said, I was beating on Mahoney. But she couldn't tell what we had been saying before that. What none of youse know is that I went in to his apartment with my gun out, Mahoney put his hands up and he said that he was surrendering. He said that he was going to let me take him into custody without a fight. But I started that fight anyhow.

"Without cuffing him first. (That's why he was able to get my gun.)

"And that's what he meant when he asked if you would read him his rights after he dropped the gun, Mikey. He thought if he dropped the gun, you'd wale on his ass just like I did.

"He thought he was protecting himself.

"He wasn't going to drop the gun no matter what you said.

"He was definitely going to shoot someone. Probably me.

"So your shooting him was clean all along, Mikey, and I was dirty. I was dirty from the minute I walked into Mahoney's apartment. This is my fault."

Lewis hung his head.

"I'll understand if you hate me after all this."

Everyone was stunned by Lewis's confession. Nobody could meet anybody else's eyes.

Pembleton came out of his shock first. "Kellerman, Lewis, we're going to see Gee. Lewis, you're going to repeat exactly what you said just now. And I am going to say that shooting was clean. Got that?"

Kellerman and Lewis nodded dumbly.

"Howard, maybe you could talk to the girl, get her a soda or something because I'm going to have to take down her statement. She may be here for a while," Pembleton said.

"Sure, Frank," Kay said.

The group disbursed to their respective corners, their minds awhirl with the idea that the situation was turned on its head. It seemed that Kellerman was going to be to keep his badge after all.

Kellerman could barely think coherently. The voices were repeating themselves in his mind:

Pembleton: Kellerman, you're clean.

Lewis: I'm dirty.

You're clean.

I'm dirty.

Clean.

Dirty.

Clean.Dirty.Clean.Dirty.Clean.Dirty.Clean.Dirty. . . .

Clean.