If someone tells you to ‘come clean’, they are not telling you to take a shower, as you might first think. ‘To come clean’ means to tell the truth about something that you are keeping a secret - something that perhaps you want to hide.
Conversation One
Annie: I would like a word with you, brother dear. I'm not very pleased. But I think you can see that.
Jake: You’ve got a face like thunder. What's the matter? Who's upset you?
Annie: Who’s upset me? Who's upset me? You know very well who's upset me. I'm looking right at him!
Jake: Me? Me? What have I done? I haven't a clue what you're talking about!
Annie: Don’t play the innocent with me. You know very well what I'm talking about. How have Dad and Mum found out about my part-time job? They've both gone ballistic. First because I'm working a couple of hours two evenings a week after uni and secondly because I kept it a secret.
Jake: You should have told them. You know Dad is worried about you getting poor grades in you final exams. He's always going on about you going out too often and not studying enough. He thinks you won't get a good degree if if you don't spend more time on your studies.
Annie: That’s not the point! I'm furious because you poked your nose in and told them when it was none of your business.
Jake: I didn't! It wasn't me!
Annie: Oh, come on. Who else could it have been? All I'm asking you is to come clean. Admit it was you.
Jake: I’m telling you. I didn't say a word to them.
Annie: Oh, come on! Don't be such a coward. The damage has been done now - all I want you to do is come clean.
Conversation Two
Voice: I’ve asked the six of you to this meeting about a very serious matter. I thought that I could trust everyone in this room, but obviously I was very wrong. One of you has let the company down in a most serious way.
It’s no use you all looking surprised and pretending you don’t know what I am referring to. One of you at this table knows very well what I’m talking about. I am asking that person to come clean.
I don’t need to tell any of you that the recent success of our company is due to one amazing woman. Over the last five years, B.B. Thomas, has written six novels for the young adult market that have brought in millions of dollars. Now Ms Thomas has written a thriller for adult readers using another name - Peter West.
When we got permission to publish this book, it was with the condition that no one would discover the true identity of the writer. The seven of us in this room were the only ones to know the secret. But this morning, a certain newspaper editor called me to tell me he was going to run a story telling the world that Peter West is really B.B. Thomas. Only a person in this room could have revealed the secret. Who was it?