- [first lines]
- [Jason Colwell is driving around a city block, looking for a parking space. His secretary, Paula Doremus, is in the passenger's seat]
- Narrator: Jason Colwell entered the army of the United States in 1942 with the rank of second lieutenant. One afternoon three years later, a combat patrol led by Jason Colwell, still a second lieutenant, was pinned down by heavy enemy crossfire. He knew that if he moved forward, he would either die or earn himself a captaincy; if he retreated, he would earn himself a court martial. So he neither retreated nor advanced. A year later Jason Colwell came out of the army alive, and still a second lieutenant.
- Paula Doremus: [sees a parking space] Uh, there's one.
- [Colwell stops just past the parking space and starts to back in. Another driver pulls in behind him and keeps blowing his horn. Neither driver can park unless the other pulls out]
- Narrator: Now, eighteen years later, Jason Colwell once again will come under crossfire.
- [last lines]
- [Beaten and tired, Jason Colwell enters the door to the detectives' work area. His secretary has been waiting there to hear some word about him]
- Jason Colwell: My name is Jason Colwell. I'm not a murderer, but I killed a man.
- [Detective Adam Flint opens the door in the room divider, and Colwell walks through]
- Jason Colwell: I should have married her... long time ago. I wouldn't a-had all this problem, about a parking place.
- Det. Adam Flint: Have a seat, Mr. Colwell.