He wasn't intending to lie. He was planning to tell the kid who he was right off -- there's enough falsehoods getting spun by all the Vashes already -- but the kid still doesn't seem to recognize him at all. There's so many questions he'll have to answer if he confesses his identity... and for the kid's sake, most of those answers will have to be lies.

Better to start with a big lie up front, and skip all the rest of the mess.

"Melanie's a friend." It's not a lie, not really. It's just not the whole truth. "I used to do some work for her, out at the orphanage. When everything went to shit I went looking for her, to see if she needed any help, but the place was empty." The best lies are lies of omission, after all. "I recognized you from your picture, the on the wall in her office?" She had pictures of every child that had ever come through, no matter how short or long their stay. As a kid, he'd thought it sweet, if a little stupid and sentimental. As an adult, he can't help but wonder how many of those kids ended up with the Eye. How many of them he killed, without ever knowing it.

"The name's Roberto."