52 
To break the continuity of a man’s frame-up thread is 
one of the greatest helps in getting the truth. To this end 
let questions skip around the story—to the end, then to 
the middle, and so on; occasionally jump to something 
outside of or beyond his story. 
In general, look for motives of lying—relationship, 
friendship, business connections, etc. Scrutinize the 
testimony itself; see how he colors other people, favorably 
or otherwise, as an author paints his hero or villain in 
advance of actual deeds. It is important to build a 
mental picture of the witness's story as fast as he tells it. 
This will show discrepancies not at all apparent from 
mere words; that is, witness says his house was in danger 
. of burning, but your mental picture shows that with the 
wind as already given, or as you know it to have been, 
his house was on the windward side of the fire. 
All statements should be reduced to writing, if possible, 
over the witnessed signature of the person questioned. 
The suspect in intentional offenses .—The written-out 
'statement of an accused or suspected party should be 
followed by a statement that the foregoing is made by 
him voluntarily, realizing that anything which it contains 
may be used against him. 
In addition to the above methods, if there is any possi¬ 
bility of a suspect having a previous criminal record, the 
questioning should in his case go back as far as is neces¬ 
sary to include it, even to his childhood or his birth. 
This serves two good purposes. If he has any previous 
criminal record, the questioning may open the way for 
prosecution on some other offense if the intended one 
should fail; and with hardened criminals it should be a 
rule to get them on something, if possible, even if not on 
the offense under immediate investigation. Nothing 
will serve better to give this kind of man a wholesome 
incentive to refrain from' violating the laws. Further¬ 
more, if there are shady spots in his record, close ques¬ 
tioning will certainly make him nervous about them. 
He will forthwith be uncertain how much you know all 
along the line, and his nervous tension may materially 
help to bring out the truth as to the case in hand* 
