Roadside Crosses

She wasn’t a participant—either involved in another crime or staging her own abduction.
    Second, what’s the motive to lie? The answer, it was pretty clear, was that the poor girl was terrified of reprisal. This was common, and made Dance’s job easier than if Tammy’s motive were to cover up her own criminal behavior.
    The third question: What’s the subject’s general personality type? This determination would suggest what approach Dance should adopt in pursuing theinterrogation—should she, for instance, be aggressive or gentle; work toward problem solving or offer emotional support; behave in a friendly manner or detached? Dance categorized her subjects according to attributes in the Myers-Briggs personality type indicator, which assesses whether someone is an extravert or introvert, thinking or feeling, sensing or intuitive.
    The distinction between extravert and introvert is about attitude. Does the subject act first and then assess the results (an extravert), or reflect before acting (introvert)? Information gathering is carried out either by trusting the five senses and verifying data (sensing) or relying on hunches (intuitive). Decision making occurs by either objective, logical analysis (thinking) or by making choices based on empathy (feeling).
    Although Tammy was pretty, athletic and apparently a popular girl, her insecurities—and, Dance had learned, an unstable home life—had made her an introvert, and one who was intuitive and feeling. This meant Dance couldn’t use a blunt approach with the girl. Tammy would simply stonewall—and be traumatized by harsh questioning.
    Finally, the fourth question an interrogator must ask is: What kind of liar’s personality does the subject have?
    There are several types. Manipulators, or “High Machiavellians” (after the Italian political philosopher who, literally, wrote the book on ruthlessness), see absolutely nothing wrong with lying; they use deceit as a tool to achieve their goals in love, business, politics or crime and are very, very good at deception.Other types include social liars, who lie to entertain; adaptors, insecure people who lie to make positive impressions; and actors, who lie for control.
    Dance decided Tammy was a combination of adaptor and actor. Her insecurities would make her lie to boost her fragile ego, and she would lie to get her way.
    Once a kinesic analyst answers these four questions, the rest of the process is straightforward: She continues questioning the subject, noting carefully those queries that elicit stress reactions—indicators of deception. Then she keeps returning to those questions, and related ones, probing further, closing in on the lie, and noting how the subject is handling the increasing levels of stress. Is she angry, in denial, depressed or trying to bargain her way out of the situation? Each of these states requires different tools to force or trick or encourage the subject to finally tell the truth.
    This is what Dance did now, sitting forward a bit to put herself in a close but not invasive “proxemic zone”—about three feet away from Tammy. This would make her uneasy, but not overly threatened. Dance kept a faint smile on her face and decided not to exchange her gray-rimmed glasses for her black frames—her “predator specs”—which she wore to intimidate High Mach subjects.
    “That’s very helpful, Tammy, everything you’ve said. I really appreciate your cooperation.”
    The girl smiled. But she also glanced at the door. Dance read: guilt.
    “But one thing,” the agent added, “we have some reports from the crime scene. Like on CSI, you know?”
    “Sure. I watch it.”
    “Which one do you like?”
    “The original. You know, Las Vegas.”
    “That’s the best, I hear.” Dance had never seen the show. “But from the evidence it doesn’t seem like there were two people. Either in the parking lot or at the beach.”
    “Oh. Well, like I said, it was just a, like, feeling.”
    “And one question I had. That clanking you heard? See, we didn’t find any other car wheel tread marks either. So we’re real curious how he got away. Let’s go back to the bicycle. I know you didn’t think that was the sound in the car, the clanking, but any way it could have been, you think?”
    “A bicycle?”
    Repeating a question is often a sign of deception. The subject is trying to buy time to consider the implications of an answer and to make up something credible.
    “No, it couldn’t. How