Page 273 - Deception at work all chapters EBook

274 Deception at Work

Guilty people are more likely to accept assumptions

Table 7.38 Examples of assumptive questions

Example of assumptive question or alternative Assumption that could result in a denial if
posed in an open question

‘When did you stop beating your wife?’ That he beat his wife

‘How much money did you make from this?’ He did ‘this’ and made money

‘Did this all start because you needed money for your That this started
wife or for some other reason?’

‘What time did you leave the office with Bill?’ That he was with Bill

‘Did this start because you were short of money or That this started; everyone is doing it
because you saw everyone else getting away with it?’

HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS

These can be used to challenge, accuse or to deal with any other significant matter where you
do not want to confront the suspect directly.

Example :
• ‘If someone said you had taken the money, how would you feel?’
• ‘If I could prove to you that what you just said is not true, what would you say?’
• ‘If you had taken the money, do you think we could prove it?’

The suspect’s reaction should be carefully monitored (Table 7.39).

Table 7.39 Most likely reactions to hypothetical questions

Reactions indicating innocence Reactions indicating guilt
Will take the question personally
Will not normally see the question as applying
to him Will discuss the possibilities but will normally
take a non-judgemental line
Will not normally enter into conjecture or may May challenge your proof or evidence with
take a hard, judgemental line statements such as: ‘If you can prove it, then I will
have to go to prison’
Will take a strong committed position

The bottom line is that guilty suspects and liars are usually much more prepared to con-
sider hypothetical questions: possibly because they do not understand how an honest person
would react.

DIRECT ACCUSATIONS

There is no legal or other reason why you cannot simply say what you believe the subject
has done. On the contrary, from a technical, truth-finding standpoint you must say this and