When Mom and Dad walked into that room, Steve wished he were dead. Dad looked mortified, as if he had suffered a great humiliation; Mom's expression showed grief; they both looked bewildered and wounded. At the time, it was all he could do not to burst into tears, and he still felt choked up whenever he recalled it.
But this was different. This time he was innocent.
The woman detective came in carrying a cardboard file folder. She had taken off her jacket, but she still wore the gun on her belt. She was an attractive black woman of about forty, a little on the heavy side, and she had an I'm-in-charge air.
Steve looked at her with relief. 'Thank God," he said.
"For what?"
"That something is happening. I don't want to be here all damn night."
"Would you sit down, please?"
Steve sat.
"My name is Sergeant Michelle Delaware." She took a sheet of paper from the folder and put it on the table. "What's your full name and address?"
He told her, and she wrote it on the form. "Age?"
"Twenty-two."
"Education?"
"I have a college degree."
She wrote on the form then pushed it across to him. It was headed:
POLICE DEPARTMENT
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
EXPLANATION OF RIGHTS
Form 69
"Please read the five sentences on the form, then write your initials in the spaces provided beside each sentence." She passed him a pen.
He read the form and started to initial.
"You have to read aloud," she said. He thought for a moment. "So that you know I'm literate?" he asked.
"No. It's so that you can't later pretend to be illiterate and claim that you were not informed of your rights."
This was the kind of thing they did not teach you in law school.
He read: "You are hereby advised that: One, you have the absolute right to remain silent." He wrote SL in the space at the end of the line, then read on, initialing each sentence. "Two, anything you say or write may be used against you in a court of law. Three, you have the right to talk with a lawyer at any time, before any questioning, before answering any questions, or during any questioning. Four, if you want a lawyer and cannot afford to hire one, you will not be asked any questions, and the court will be requested to appoint a lawyer for you. Five, if you agree to answer questions, you may stop at any time and request a lawyer, and no further questions will be asked of you."
"Now sign your name, please." She pointed to the form. "Here, and here." The first space for signature was underneath the sentence
I HAVE READ THE ABOVE EXPLANATION OF MY
RIGHTS, AND I FULLY UNDERSTAND IT.
Signature
Steve signed.
"And just below," she said.
I am willing to answer questions, and I do not want any attorney at this time. My decision to answer questions without having an attorney present is free and voluntary on my part.
Signature
He signed and said: "How the hell do you get guilty people to sign that?"
She did not answer him. She printed her name, then signed the form.
She put the form back in the folder and looked at him. "You're in trouble, Steve," she said. "But you seem like a regular guy. Why don't you just tell me what happened?"
"I can't," he said. "I wasn't there. I guess I just look like the jerk that did it."
She sat back, crossed her legs, and gave him a friendly smile. "I know men," she said in an intimate tone. "They have urges."
If I didn't know better, Steve thought, I'd read her body language and say she was coming on to me.
She went on: "Let me tell you what I think. You're an attractive man, she took a shine to you."
"I've never met this woman, Sergeant."
She ignored that. Leaning across the table, she covered his hand with her own. "I think she provoked you."
Steve looked at her hand. She had good nails, manicured, not too long, varnished with clear nail polish. But the hand was wrinkled: she was older than forty, maybe forty-five.
She spoke in a conspiratorial voice, as if to say "This is just between you and me." "She was asking for it, so you gave it to her. Am I right?"
"Why the hell would you think that?" Steve said with irritation.
"I know what girls are like. She led you on then, at the last minute, she changed her mind. But it was too late. A man can't just stop, just like that, not a real man."
"Oh, wait, I get it," Steve said. "The suspect agrees