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270 Deception at Work

The responses to such a question are likely to be along the lines shown in Table 7.34.

Table 7.34 Most likely reactions to endgame questions

Reactions indicating innocence Reactions indicating guilt
The question is irrelevant Delayed response and careful thought
Committed denial ‘I don’t know’
Possible anger at an implied accusation

Exploring the endgame weaknesses is likely to increase anxiety with a guilty suspect.
Talking about the endgame forces the liar to face reality

SILENCE

Misconceptions

The steely eyed television detective who stares down the silent suspect would be a failure in
real life and silence has to be very carefully handled because it can increase anxiety for both
the suspect and the interviewer.

Causes of silence in an interview

Silence can be the result of a number of factors:

• Created by you:
– deliberately introduced to increase the suspect’s anxiety either in relation to a relevant
question or at the pivotal point;
– while preparing for your next question or considering an earlier reply.

• Created by the suspect:
– after a question to give him time to plan the next response;
– at the pivotal point when he is considering whether or not to make an admission;
– generally, such as by crying or through any other emotional collapse, in the hope that
the interview will be terminated.

In all cases plan your response to silence and make sure you deal with it effectively.

Silence is not golden

Deliberately creating a silence

You may deliberately induce an anxious silence by saying something along the lines of:

Example : ‘I want you to pause for a minute and think very carefully about the next question. If
you are not prepared to tell me the truth, I suggest we stop the interview, right now.’