"I don't. Know, I mean. What he did. I know he killed someone, that he was dirty, but I didn't want to hear the rest of it. Not then. I was a kid."

He was a kid, and Ellen had wanted to keep him from walking in to the police academy and immediately taking it from all sides. He clears his throat. "Lost the opportunity to find out, after that."

Again, not the whole truth, but a part of it. Neal gives Malcolm's hands a little squeeze and finally lets go. "And you're proving my point. About your own strength. Just saying."