53 
When the guilt of the suspect has been established to 
the satisfaction of the investigator, the chief object of 
such questioning becomes the forcing of a confession and 
a plea of guilty. Work to get him into the belief that you 
know all about it. If you do not know as much as you 
lead him to believe you do, it is vital not to make a slip 
which will show him what information you lack. When 
used judiciously, one is justified in taking some chances 
of this kind to gain an advantage and land a confession. 
When a case gets to court, it must be complete and water¬ 
tight; but up to that point the game is yours, to make by 
any fair means you can. 
But here a caution: A much longer chance in this 
direction can, in general, be taken in camp fire than in 
incendiary cases. Offenders of the former class are 
usually less independent in face of representatives of the 
law, and they are usually nonresidents of the forest com¬ 
munity. The incendiary, however, is usually a resident; 
he has less fear of an officer; and, by reason of having 
planned his act beforehand, he is definitely prepared to 
beat you at the game and is likely to know what you can 
do and what you can not. If you lose through haying 
bluffed and failed, it may set you and the service back 
very seriously in the community’s estimation. 
Threats and promises .—Both of these must be scrupu¬ 
lously avoided, since either one will completely invalidate 
a confession in court. Even the use of the words that it 
will be “better” or “worse” for the suspect to do a given 
thing must be avoided. If a suspect shows a desire to 
seek immunity or clemency as a preliminary to confess¬ 
ing, it is legitimate to state that you will be willing to say 
a good word for him if he makes a clean breast of it, but 
promise nothing as to final action. 
In any event, play clean. Neither self-respect nor the 
respect of the community in which you must work and 
live should be jeopardized by resort to questionable 
practices. 
Use of the law on perjury .—For persons who persistently 
refuse to confess, or admit the truth, the following is 
often effective. Referring to yotir notes of their conversa- 
