Q: Did you take that missing shipment money?
A: Never. I don’t even know how it is possible.
Q: Did you ever steal anything from here?
A: No, never.
Q: It doesn’t mean you’re right, and whatever you say is confidential, but who would you suspect?
A: If I had to suspect . . . I really can’t. I don’t believe it was lost here. I don’t think you’d risk your job for that amount of money.
Q: Who would you say definitely didn’t take it?
A: “Employee C.” She’s a hard working young lady. I don’t get along with her but people who are
thieves don’t like work. She works hard.
Q: What do you think should happen to the person when we catch them?
A: Definitely . . . I mean they had the opportunity to bring it back and resign. If it’s from our office, he or she must be prosecuted.
Q: Would you give them a second chance?
A: Definitely not! Before this you could trust somebody.
Q: What do you think my investigation and interviews will show me concerning you, and whether you
did this?
A: Nothing.
Q: Would there be a reason someone would say he or she has seen you in the vault removing a few bills
from a strap?
A: No.
Q: Would there be a reason your fingerprints would be bound on the straps?
A: No, unless it was transferred to me in the past. I didn’t stamp them before.
Q: Would there be any reason your fingerprints would be on all seven?
A: I don’t see how that’s possible.
Q: Would you be willing to chip in $75, so we could recover the money and drop the investigation?
A: No. (laughs) Not my $75.
Q: Did you tell anyone at home about what happened?
A: Umm . . . I think I told somebody the first day we were interviewed. I was shocked. I said it looks like
someone is stealing money.
Q: Why would someone do this?
A: Seven hundred dollars, I don’t know . . . Was it 700? To risk your job? That’s why I don’t believe it.
Q: Do you think it was stolen, or a mistake?
A: No, I think it was stolen.
Q: If I need to speak to you again, would you be willing to speak to me?
A: Sure.
CASE STUDY 2
The second case involves the molestation of a little girl and boy by an employee of a day-
care center.
Suspect B
Q: What is this investigation about?
A: I don’t know what it’s about. I don’t know. (leans forward, putting head down by legs)
146
10. TRADITIONAL SCORING OF THE FAINT INTERVIEW
Q: Why are you here?
A: To prove my innocence. (leans back/hands behind head, and stretches)
Q: How do you feel about being interviewed?
A: Okay.
Q: Tell me what this case is about.
A: What what’s about?
Q: Why are you here?
A: I was working at a day care center (scratches head), the Little Zoo Day Care Center. Some little girl said I touched her. And then the State Trooper came and was talking with me and then they fingerprinted me.
That was it. (scratches eyebrow) I went and got a lawyer. I went to court, they postponed, (scratches back of neck) and now I’m here.
Q: Who was the little girl?
A: Jane Doe. I was her teacher. She said Ms.
(suspect’s last name) stuck her finger in her private
part, her vagina.
Q: Are you aware of any other children complaining?
A: Yeah. I don’t know their names though. They’re saying the same thing. (poking cheek with pointer finger)
Mr.
(Defense Attorney) told me there’s a little boy involved too.
Q: Did you ever think about doing something like this?
A: Like what?
Q: Touching a child’s private part?
A: No.
Q: Did you do it?
A: No.
Q: Why would she say this?
A: I really don’t know. (rubs neck
no eye contact) I wasn’t even with her that long. She came in the room
in September.
Q: Did you ever discipline them?
A: Like how?
Q: That’s what I was going to ask.
A: Like tell them not to do it? I never hit them.
Q: Did you ever touch their private parts as part of punishment?
A: Ugh, ugh.
Q: What do you think should happen to a person if they did do this?
A: I guess they should be prosecuted.
Q: Would you give them a second chance?
A: I don’t know. They may have a problem. If they have a psychological problem, maybe, yeah. I don’t
know.
Q: What do you think my investigation and interviews will show me concerning you, and whether you
did this?
A: It should turn out good. I know I didn’t.
Q: Would there be a reason if the girl’s vagina was scratched they would find traces of your fingernail
scrapings there?
A: I don’t know. I never touched the girl, really. I never said nothing to her. She liked to be by
herself.
Q: Why would someone do this?
A: I don’t know why. (touches lip) They might be crazy. They might have had it done to them.
Q: Do you think she’s making this up, or do you think something actually happened?
A: I . . . I don’t know. (scratches eye) She never talked. Something might have happened to her. Could’ve
been someone in her own family.
Q: If I need to speak to you again, would you be willing to speak to me?
A: I guess so.
SUSPECT A
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You have now had the opportunity to evaluate and reach a conclusion on these two
cases. Here is our actual interpretation of the interviews. Suspect A was verified as truthful.
Suspect B was deceptive. Notice the lack of nonverbal indices of Suspect A in contrast to
Suspect B. Suspect A also demonstrates minimal paralinguistic behavior indicative of
deception, as well as truthful “projective” linguistic forms.
SUSPECT A
Q: How long have you worked here?
A: Uh . . . since 27th February, I believe this year. (coughs)
Q: What do you do?
A: I’m a bank teller. Accepting deposits, tax payments, a variety of work.
Q: How do you like working here?
A: Uh . . . (smiles) the work is great; the experience. I’ve had differences with my co workers, but I believe we can get along. It’s kid stuff.
Score: 0. Inconsistent feelings about job: states it’s great, but talks about problems with
co-workers.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: Oh, a lot of things. Satisfaction of helping someone.
Q: What do you like the least?
A: The least? (laughs) . . . hate coming into work Mondays too early. I like to sleep a lot.
Note: Although the preceding two questions are not scored, it is the authors’ experience
that during “in-house” investigations truthful people are more likely to tell what they like
least about the company.
Q: What is this investigation about?
A: What is that again? Money that was supposedly lost here. According to our vice president it was lost
here.
Score: –1. Repeated question to gain time/resistance by structure. Uses mild term, “lost.”
Q: Why were you selected to be interviewed?
A: We’re all selected. Nobody’s exempt.
Score: 0. Needs to say he had access to commit the crime to get a þ1.
A: I feel we have to. If there’s a thief among us, we have to know. In addition to this money, there’s been
20 dollars here and there missing from MAC. You never count money from “Employee B,” and she was
short $100. It was a stack.
Score: þ1. Strong terminology, “a thief,” and attitude of cooperation.
Q: Tell me whatever you know about the missing money, and how you would explain it.
148
10. TRADITIONAL SCORING OF THE FAINT INTERVIEW
A: What I know is about $700 was supposedly missing from money transferred from the vault that was
being shipped to XYZ Bank. I do not recall vault currency, except for coins and one dollar packs, being ever left unattended. Customers are never left alone in the vault room. Non branch personnel are never left alone in the vault room while currency is left unattended. . . . I can only conclude that only someone involved in the shipment process, or someone with access to the vault, could have pilfered money in the manner
described to us, if indeed the loss did occur at the branch and not in transit.
Score: þ1. Talkative, narrows investigation by eliminating customers and nonbranch
personnel.
Q: If you were going to conduct the investigation, how would you do it?
A: Question the people involved in the shipment process and find out if at any time only one person had
access to the money. Also, it may be possible the person that signed the shipment transfer slip did not count the full shipment as is required. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case, because often due to time
restraints and heavy customer turn out, proper procedures are not followed in the transfer process.
Score: þ1. Talkative and logical response.
Q: What are the five most important causes that would have created this situation?
A: Procedures were not followed. Not all the money was counted before it was shipped. One of the two
parties left the other alone during the shipment process. Both parties in process were involved in the theft.
Someone who had access to the vault before or during the shipment process took the money while it was not
under dual control.
Score: þ1. Talkative and logical response.
Q: Did you ever think about doing something like this?
A: I never have to steal. We’re a wealthy family.
Score: 0. Almost answers like a denial of Comparative question.
Q: In your entire life, did you ever steal anything from a job?
A: I never stole a penny from a job . . . from anybody.
Response to Comparison question is compared to following Relevant question.
Q: Did you take that missing shipment money?
A: Never. I don’t even know how it is possible.
Score: –1. No noticeable difference between the nonverbal and verbal behavior of the
Comparative and Relevant question.
Q: Did you ever steal anything from here?
A: No, never.
Score: –1. No noticeable difference between the nonverbal and verbal behavior of the
Comparative and Relevant question.
Q: It doesn’t mean you’re right, and whatever you say is confidential, but who would you suspect?
A: If I had to suspect . . . I really can’t. I don’t believe it was lost here. I don’t think you’d risk your job for that amount of money.
SUSPECT A
149
Score: –1. Doesn’t narrow the investigation.
Q: Who would you say definitely didn’t take it?
A: “Employee C.” She’s a hard working young lady. I don’t get along with her, but people who are
thieves don’t like work. She works hard.
Score: þ1. Narrows investigation.
Q: What do you think should happen to the person when we catch them?
A: Definitely . . . I mean they had the opportunity to bring it back and resign. If it’s from our office, he or she must be prosecuted.
Score: þ1. Strong answer.
Q: Would you give the person a second chance?
A: Definitely not! Before this you could trust somebody.
Score: þ1. Strong answer.
Q: What do you think my investigation and interviews will show me concerning you, and whether you
did this?
A: Nothing.
Score: þ1. Quick response of noninvolvement.
Q: Would there be a reason someone would say they saw you in the vault removing a few bills from a strap?
A: No.
Score: þ1. Quick denial of reason for incriminating evidence.
Q: Would there be a reason your fingerprints would be found on the straps?
A: No, unless it was transferred to me in the past. I didn’t stamp them before.
Score: 0. Inconsistent, so follow-up question asked.
Q: Would there be any reason your fingerprints would be on all seven?
A: I don’t see how that’s possible.
Score: þ1. Denial of incriminating evidence.
Q: Would you be willing to chip in $75, so we could recover the money and drop the investigation?
A: No. (laughs) Not my $75.
Score: þ1. Refusal to chip in.
Q: Did you tell anyone at home about what happened?
A: Umm . . . I think I told somebody the first day we were interviewed. I was shocked. I said it looks like
someone is stealing money.
150
10. TRADITIONAL SCORING OF THE FAINT INTERVIEW
Score: 0. Vague about whether or who he told.
Q: Why would someone do this?
A: Seven hundred dollars, I don’t know . . . Was it 700? To risk your job? That’s why I don’t believe it.
Score: 0. Would want him to express negative views, like they are a thief, a drug addict,
etc., to receive a þ1.
Q: Do you think it was stolen, or a mistake?
A: No, I think it was stolen.
Score: þ1. Confirms a crime took place.
Q: If I need to speak to you again, would you be willing to speak to me?
A: Sure.
Score: þ1. Quick response indicating willingness to cooperate.
Overall, this suspect scored þ10 and was correctly identified as truthful.
SUSPECT B
Q: Tell me what this case is about.
A: What what’s about?
Q: Why are you here?
A: I was working at a day care center (scratches head), the Little Zoo Day Care. Some little girl said I
touched her. And then the State Trooper came and was talking with me and then they fingerprinted me.
That was it. (scratches eyebrow) I went and got a lawyer. I went to court, they postponed it (scratches back of neck) and now I’m here.
Score: –1. Repeats question to buy time/resistance by structure. Brief response, accompa-
nied by deceptive nonverbal behavior.
Q: What is this investigation about?
A: I don’t know what it’s about. I don’t know. (leans forward, putting head down by legs)
Score: –1. Refuses to say crime, and consistent deceptive nonverbal behavior.
Q: Why are you here?
A: To prove my innocence. (leans back/hands behind head, and stretches)
Score: –1. Refuses to state crime when given a second opportunity, and consistent decep-
tive nonverbal behavior.
Q: How do you feel about being interviewed?
A: Okay.
SUSPECT B
151
Score: 0. Lacks any strong positive or negative feelings.
Q: Who was the little girl?
A: Jane Doe (false name). I was her teacher. She said Ms.
(suspect’s last name) stuck her finger in her
private part, her vagina.
&
nbsp; Q: Are you aware of any other children complaining?
A: Yeah. I don’t know their names though. They’re saying the same thing. (poking cheek with pointer finger)
Mr.
(Defense Attorney) told me there’s a little boy involved too.
Q: Did you ever think about doing something like this?
A: Like what?
Score: –1. Tries to evade issue for the third time.
Q: Touching a child’s private part?
A: No.
Q: Did you do it?
A: No.
Score: þ1. Note: Ideally we would have liked to have had a comparison question to com-
pare it to, but lacking it, gave her þ1 for the quick reply.
Q: Why would she say this?
A: I really don’t know. (rubs neck/no eye contact) I wasn’t even with her that long. She came in the room in September.
Score: –1. Doesn’t answer the question.
Q: Did you ever discipline them?
A: Like how?
Score: –1. Answers with a question being evasive and showing it is a sensitive question.
Q: That’s what I was going to ask.
A: Like tell them not to do it? I never hit them.
Q: Did you ever touch their private parts as part of punishment?
A: Uhuh.
Score: –1. Fails to respond (neologism) with a word.
Q: What do you think should happen to a person if they did do this?
A: I guess they should be prosecuted.
Score: 0. “I guess” is a hedge, and weak response indicating she’s not sure.
Q: Would you give them a second chance?
A: I don’t know. They may have a problem. If they have a psychological problem, maybe, yeah. I don’t know.
Score: –1. Lenient response.
152
10. TRADITIONAL SCORING OF THE FAINT INTERVIEW
Q: What do you think my investigation and interviews will show me concerning you, and whether you
did this?
A: It should turn out good. I know I didn’t.
Score: –1. “It should” is a hedge; it differs from “It will.”
Q: Would there be a reason if the girl’s vagina was scratched they would find traces of your fingernail
scrapings there?
A: I don’t know. I never touched the girl, really. I never said nothing to her. She likes to be by herself.
Score: –1. Fails to deny any incriminating evidence.
Q: Why would someone do this?
A: I don’t know why. (touches lip) They might be crazy. They might have had it done to them.
Score: –1. Gives actual reason why some molesters do this, “They might have had it done
Nathan J Gordon, William L Fleisher Page 21