8 Ways To Tell The Perfect Lie

3. Refraction & Distraction

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VfHLfEPfLk Our detective's 'in' seems astute enough. A renowned hacker who has no love lost between himself and the authorities; capable of bringing the criminal enterprise a talent they don't possess, advantages they didn't previously have... all compounded by the nice, simple fact that there's a firm logistical way for them to get caught: they screwed up. This is good. People screw up. The only problem? Our detective doesn't have the first flippin' clue how to hack his own mailbox, let alone government systems or the like. Enter refraction: when a wave- such as light or sound- changes direction as a result of passing through a different medium. The angle of the beam of light will change but it will continue on uninterrupted. To cover for his lack of knowledge, an accomplice- with the relevant knowledge- is brought in. He is the highly paid footsoldier whom acts as a node to protect the anonymity of the true hacker. You provide a communication to this person and a demonstration and suddenly this lie carries far more substance. You have not attempted to obscure the vulnerability; rather refracted it into a 'truth'. Let's go back to the cheating husband. As a cover for being with the woman he's cheating on his wife with, he tells her he went for a drink with colleagues after work. This is a vulnerability; as she can contact one of the colleagues to check. The cheater recognises this and asks the colleagues to back up his story, telling them that he was actually buying her a present and doesn't want her to find out. She may check, she may not but if and when she does, his lie becomes steadfast with another lie. If he were so inclined, he could then actually buy her a present- albeit it something cheap. Thought that counts, right? These are the sort of things pathological liars do. The lengths they go to. It's sad and desperate but, lets be honest, all it will take is one verifiable lie about him going for a drink with his colleagues and she wont doubt it again. Why would she? The status quo of 'truth' has been set. Plus, it's miserable to live life in constant skepticism.