Malcolm Bright

It still bites into one of Neal's small, guilty places. For a second he wants to backpedal, say Malcolm is right and that Neal changed his mind, but...

"Because... it happened," he says softly. He hesitates another moment, looks down. "It's like when Ellen told me who my dad was, who he really was, before I could enroll in the police academy and find out the hard way. I didn't want to know it, sometimes I still wish I didn't, but... it's better to know than to believe a lie when everyone else knows the truth."