Page 63 of Stolen Ones

‘So who?’

‘Steven Harte asked us to reconsider the request. It was him that asked us to dig up Hawne Park.’

Thirty-Five

‘Bloody hell, your boss needs a refresher on rapport posture,’ Alison said, sitting back in her chair.

Stacey groaned. ‘Alison, we’ve already had one guy come and lecture us. We don’t need—’

‘We’re talking basics here, Stace. The idea is to get answers from this guy.’

‘So what’s she done wrong?’ Penn asked, rolling his chair closer.

‘She started well. She was businesslike, not hostile or over friendly. But she never controlled her temper or masked her distaste or disgust. She’s supposed to stay emotionally detached and relaxed, but you can see the tension in every part of her body.’

‘He is trying to play her like a violin,’ Penn defended.

‘And who are you analysing, the suspect or the boss?’ Stacey asked.

‘Both at the minute because I can’t work out if he’s feeling genuinely tense or if he’s mirroring.’

‘Whatting?’ Penn asked.

‘It’s when someone imitates the movements or gestures of another person to enhance familiarity and liking. I don’t know if he’s feeling his own tension or picking it up from the boss.’

‘Well, you’ve been doing plenty of scribbling so you must have spotted something.’

‘Grooming,’ she answered. ‘He touches his ring…’

‘Touches his what?’ Stacey called out.

‘The ring of his cup. It’s non-verbal deceptive behaviour, where anxiety is dissipated through physical activity in the form of grooming either oneself or the immediate surroundings.’

‘He asks for a lot of tea,’ Penn offered.

‘Often, he touches his face or head before messing with the cup; it’s another form of non-verbal deceptive behaviour, this time prompted by discomfort associated with circulatory changes triggered by the fight-or-flight response.’

‘What if he just has an itch or a mild skin condition?’ Penn asked.

‘That’s why we look for clusters,’ Alison explained.

‘Not every skin condition produces clusters, you know,’ Penn offered with a cheeky smile.

Alison chuckled before continuing. ‘Clusters of behaviour. Non-verbal clusters include grooming gestures, hand-wringing, inward curled feet, pursed or biting of lips, slumped posture, finger tapping, a shift in blink rate, shrugs, clenched fists, winks, closed eyes and fake smiles.’ Alison smiled and took a breath. ‘There are more if you want me to—’

‘But how can you tell if the smile is fake?’ Stacey asked, intrigued. ‘Everyone is different.’

‘The muscles around the eye sockets are the most difficult to control. Only one in ten people can do it. Forcing a smile to reach the eyes is difficult to do. Only genuine happiness can control the orbicularis oculi, the eye orbiting muscle.’

‘How about verbal clusters?’ Penn asked.

‘Qualifying statements like “to tell you the truth”. Repeating the question verbatim, non-spontaneous response time, weak tone of voice, dodging questions, inappropriate detail, objections to irrelevant specifics, dismissive attitude. More emphasis on persuasion than facts.’

‘But what if a person naturally speaks or acts that way?’ Stacey asked.

Everyone was different. Some people had idiosyncrasies that could be interpreted inaccurately.

‘That’s why we need a baseline behaviour against which to compare it. Just like a polygraph interviewer will ask baseline questions before starting a lie detector test. He needs to establish normal physical responses against which he can compare the set questions. I need baseline behaviour before the boss began questioning him.’