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276 Deception at Work

Empathetic questions – Phases D and E

PRINCIPLES

People usually confess because they cannot continue with the anxiety caused by deception: in
short, because they have internalized that ‘the game is up’ (see Chapter 3, page [xref]). At this
stage, which will be repeated throughout a ‘tough’ interview, the suspect is faced with what
are usually unbearable conflicting pressures. The first is that he has recognized the futility of
further deception; lost confidence in his ability to succeed and wants to confess. The second
is that he is fearful of the immediate consequences of telling the truth. The monkeys are really
on his back.

THE PIVOTAL POINT ‘You will go to prison for eight years, you
bastard’. Unsurprisingly, there was no
The suspect was at the pivotal point and confession.
had gone very quiet. He was considering
a confession and asked: ‘What could
happen over this?’ The interviewer replied:

Your approach is to work with the suspect to help him resolve this dilemma by:

1 Stressing his inability to succeed with deception –
• the absolute inevitability that the facts will be established;
• that you have limitless time and resources to find the truth;
• the weaknesses in and hopelessness of his explanations.

2 Stressing that the consequences are tolerable –
• how you and he can resolve the problem together and what the future could hold;
• why the problem occurred and a rationalization for it.

This stage is likely to be emotional and you must take your time. You must make a conscious
move to adopt the transactional role of a nurturing parent. In the cold light of day, the sug-

Wish to confess Fear of the
consequences

Figure 7.2 The pivotal point