Hal Buckley asked Detective Murray if he’d be willing to give Jake the news in person. It wasn’t really his job, but Murray had been worried about Jake ever since he’d been put on leave. When Jake opened the door, Murray stood there with a sheepish grin on his face, which faded when he saw Jake. Jake was in boxers and an undershirt, clearly two days away from his last shower. Jake started to shut the door, but Murray put his hand out, stopping him. “I’ve got good news,” he said.

Jake just stared at him for a moment then turned silently and walked back into his apartment, leaving Murray to follow him in and close the door.

“It’s been awhile,” Jake said. He poured a cup of coffee for himself, not offering anything to Murray, and sat at his kitchen counter. He looked at Murray expectantly.

“Sorry, buddy,” Murray began. “But you know how it is. With everything that was going on, I needed to give you a little space.”

“I haven’t heard one word from you,” Jake clarified. “But you’re not the only one. It’s been complete radio silence from the office. Except for one call from Hal, letting me know he’d accept my resignation if I wanted to move forward right away.” Jake shook his head. “Move forward to what? You think I was sleeping with that teenager. You think I’m the kind of man who would do that? A creep?”

“Hey,” Murray said, holding up his hands. “You have to understand how this looked from their perspective. You’re handling a case against a bunch of kids from the school. Then it looks like maybe you have a thing going on with one of them. And, lo and behold, she hasn’t been charged with anything. It could have blown up the whole case. Taking leave was the best thing you could do, while it all got sorted out.”

“That’s a nice way to spin it,” Jake said sarcastically. “There’s just one problem. I didn’t do it. I barely know that girl.”

“Well, yeah,” Murray agreed. “It turns out that’s true.”

Jake stared at Detective Murray.

“That’s why I’m here,” Murray said. “She came into Hal’s office today, said she made up the whole thing.”

Jake’s mouth opened slightly, but he didn’t say anything.

“She said she did it to try to get her friends out of trouble. I don’t know how she thought it was going to help. Batshit crazy, if you ask me. But the father supported her story.”

Jake let out a long sigh, leaned forward, and rested his forehead on the counter. For a minute he didn’t say anything. Then he raised his head and looked at Murray.

“Did you really think I did it?” he asked.