"Did we get justice for Melissa or did we manipulate Javier?" Sharon asked Julio after they watched the police escort their witness-cum-murderer from the room.

"Ma'am?"

"Just now... did we do the right thing, or did we turn that young man's faith against him?" she sighed, lowering head to her hands.

Julio sat down in the seat across from Sharon, "Captain, I don't think you told him anything that wasn't true."

"Mmm..." she replied, looking at him for a moment. Then she turned to the camera "Buzz, can you turn the recording off, please." She watched for a moment until the hidden light went out, then returned her attention to her detective. "Julio, you and I are the only two in this department who attend Mass regularly. I don't take conversion lightly and I know you don't either. I really believe him when he says he found God in prison."

"I do too, Ma'am," Julio replied. "A lot of these guys will say whatever they want to say to get out, or to work the system. But that guy was real. I believe that."

"Exactly, so did I just use that against him?"

"Captain, like I already said, you told him the truth. No lawyer was going to do that for him."

"Especially not Jack," Sharon snorted derisively.

"Whether it was Mr. Raydor or anyone else, they would only be interested in getting Javier free from the law. I don't think Javier wanted that. I really don't. I think he wanted to be caught. The guilt was eating him alive, and anyone could see it."

"On one hand I agree with you, but on the other hand if he felt so guilty, why didn't he say something sooner? He could have told his patrol officer about Melissa's murder at any point."

"Yes, but Ma'am, he might have thought if he got out of jail he could make like better for people like his brother, and find his own forgiveness."

"I thought of that too, Julio, but if that was the case, why did he give you so much attitude when you arrested him."

"Who knows? If these guys were thinking straight they wouldn't have committed their crimes in the first place."

Sharon nodded, "I guess you're right."

"What's really bothering you, Ma'am?"

"Mmm?"

"I'm just wondering, Ma'am. This seems to really upset you, but I've seen you get murderers to confess all the time and you don't get this bothered. What's different about Javier?"

Sharon looked up to where the wall and the ceiling met, thinking through the question Julio just asked. "I... I'm not really sure. It just felt wrong somehow, talking about God with that man."

"Why? For some people it's really important. What God thinks of them makes a difference."

"Mmm... I know you're right. I guess it's just... usually when I'm talking about God, it's with people more like me, who don't have a clue what deeply felt guilt and forgiveness can look like. It's all about power, and I have to sort through the ambient noise to find what it all means to me. When I'm at work, the people who ask me why God has done bad things are usually the families of the victims."

"Javier was family, Ma'am."

Sharon looked back at Julio and nodded thoughtfully, "That's a very good point."

"God didn't kill his brother as punishment, Ma'am, we both know that. But sometimes, especially if someone is new to the church, they still think that's the way it works. It takes a lot to tell them otherwise, and sometimes they aren't ready to hear that their new faith is simple and hard at the same time. Javier was ready to hear that today, and he needed to hear that from someone with authority. That was you, Ma'am. If you hadn't helped him with his grief, I don't think he would have been honest about his guilt."

"I told him he needed to get right with God, and that meant he had to tell me everything."

"We tell these guys a lot of things, Ma'am. Sometimes we stretch the truth so far it breaks, but not this time. You told him the truth, straight up. We go to confession for a reason. We can't carry this kind of baggage around. Javier might not like going back to prison, and he will have to carry the weight of his actions the rest of his life, but at least he doesn't have to carry a secret anymore. And for your first question, Ma'am, we are getting justice for Melissa, and closure for her family. They need to know what happened to their daughter."

"Mmm... that is true. We can at least do that."

"Ma'am, if I might..."

"Mmm?" Sharon tilted her head and looked at him.

"Ma'am, in this job we can't bring our beliefs in here. We have to treat everyone as equal, get the bad guys on points of law, and give the families whatever little bit of peace we can give them. We can't afford to show our religion. Not only is that against the law, but it makes us biased. That's why we put it away whenever we do these interviews. Our own sense of right and wrong can only be the law, and nothing else.

"But when we've got a suspect who brings it up, we can't help talking about it. Those are the times we know how important it is. Those are the times that remind us what justice really means, and it's more than just what you can read in some dusty old law book. To me Ma'am, your questioning yourself is really good. It shows you don't take any of this for granted. But you wouldn't be you if it wasn't always a part of you. Javier needed to see that part of you today, and you showed him. It's not always black and white. Mostly it's grey."

Sharon smiled and reached across the table to squeeze Julio's hand. "Thank you for that, and thank you for talking this through with me, Julio."

"Thank you for trusting me, Ma'am. It's nice to have someone else in the office who really gets it."

"I agree."