“If the baby starts crying—”

“I’ll help you change him.”

“Her.”

“What’s her name?”

“Caitlyn.”

“Pretty. Mine’s Maggie.”

Then they were at the screen door of her trailer. Tabatha peered through the dusty, rusted mesh. Dance couldn’t see much other than toys: plastic tricycles, castles, doll houses, pirate chests. The house was dim inside but exuded still heat. The TV was on. One of the last remaining soap operas.

Tabatha lifted an eyebrow.

“Just a few more details about Bobby.”

Dance was continuing the discussion with Tabatha because of an important rule in kinesic analysis: the volunteering principle. When someone answers a question, then immediately offers what he or she anticipates will be the next question, that person is often trying to deflect or diffuse a line of inquiry.

Dance had noted that Tabatha said she hadn’t seen anybody here last night—or this morning.

Why had she felt it important to mention that? It made no sense unless she was covering up something.

Dance removed her sunglasses.

“I really need to get in to the children.”

“Tabatha, what did you see this morning at Bobby’s trailer?”

“Nothing,” she said quickly.

Effective kinesic analysis of witnesses and suspects involves conversing with the individual for a long period of time—days or, ideally, weeks. Initially nothing is said about the crime at all; the interviewer asks questions and makes comments that relate to the subject’s life, all topics about which the truth is known. This establishes the suspect’s baseline behavior—how he or she speaks and acts when responding honestly. It’s then that the interviewer segues into inquiries about the crime and compares the subject’s behavior when answering those questions to the baseline. Any variation suggests stress and therefore possible deception.

However, even without establishing a baseline, there are a few mannerisms that suggest lying, at least to an experienced investigator like Kathryn Dance. Tabatha’s voice was now slightly higher in pitch than earlier—a sign of stress.

A glance toward Bobby’s trailer, in front of which Madigan and his deputies were staring back at Dance. She ignored them and said calmly, “It would be good for everybody if you could give us a little more information.”

Everybody …

You too.

At least she wasn’t a crier. Often at this stage, when Dance tipped witnesses or suspects into admitting they’d been lying, many women, and a surprising number of men, began to cry. It could take upward of an hour to convince them that they were not subhuman for being deceptive; they were simply scared or concerned about their families or had other reasons. Tabatha gave no reaction, other than a thoughtful furrowing of her thick eyebrows as she probably considered the risk to her children if she was honest.

Dance assessed she was on the borderline.

“We’ll make sure you’re looked out for. But this is pretty serious.”

A low voice, woman to woman, adult to adult. “You can say that. It’s easy to say that.”

“I give you my word.”

One mother to another.