What Every BODY Is Saying : An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed Reading People

146 W H A T EVERY BODY IS SAYING

BOX 39: WHERE THERE’S (JITTERY) SMOKE, THERE’S FIRE

During my work on a major espionage investigation, I was interviewing a

man of interest in the case. As I watched him, he lit a cigarette and began

smoking. I had no real clues with regard to his possible connection to the

case; there were no witnesses to the crime, no significant leads, and only

vague ideas of who might be involved. During the interview I brought up

many names of people who were of interest to the FBI and the army in

this matter. Whenever I mentioned the name of one particular individual

named Conrad, the man’s cigarette shook in his hand like the needle on a

polygraph machine. To see if this was a random event or something more

significant, I mentioned additional names to test his reactions; there were

none. Yet, on four separate occasions, when I mentioned Conrad, the

subject’s cigarette repeatedly shook. For me that was enough to verify

there was more to the relationship between the interviewee and Con-

rad than we knew. The shaking of the cigarette was a limbic reaction to a

threat. It was also an indication to me that this individual felt somehow

endangered by the revelation of that name; therefore he likely either had

knowledge of something nefarious or was directly involved in the crime.

During that initial interview with the subject, I did not know whether or

not he was actually involved in the crime because, frankly, I did not know

enough about the case. The only thing that spurred us to pursue the in-

vestigation and additional interviews was the fact that he had reacted to

one name with the “shaky hand” response. Perhaps but for that one be-

havior, he would have escaped justice. In the end, after many voluntary

interviews over a year, he admitted his involvement with Conrad in espio-

nage activities and eventually gave a full confession of his crimes.

their emotional state. In fact, if such a person suddenly ceases to tremble
for a moment, it may indicate a deliberate attempt to focus more deeply
on the particular subject just mentioned (Murray, 2007). Remember, it is
change in behavior that is most significant.