INTERROGATION STARTERS
Feel free to change pronouns etc. CALM / QUESTIONING.
“ tell me, what happened?” “ did you see anything?” “ what do you remember?” “ do you remember anything unusual?” “ please, try to remember as much as you can.” “ every detail is important.” “ and what happened next?” “ and what did you do when all this took place?” “ what were you doing around __ am/pm?” “ where were you around __ am/pm?” “ can anyone verify that?” “ was someone with you?” “ and you had nothing to do with it?” “ and you weren’t involved?” “ did you see it happen?” “ did you see who did it?” “ did you see or hear anything? anything at all?”
CARING / UNDERSTANDING.
“ you seem scared… is that why you don’t want to talk?” “ did someone hurt you?” “ it’s okay. you can tell me.” “ you were just trying to defend yourself, weren’t you?” “ we can take a break, if you want.” “ everything will be okay, i promise. but you need to talk to me.” “ it’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. but it really would help if you did.”
SUSPICIOUS.
“ there is something you’re not telling me.” “ i think you’re lying.” “ you looked away just now when you said that. are you sure you’re telling the truth?” “ except what you’re telling me doesn’t align with what we already know.” “ seems to me like you know more than you’re letting in on.” “ what aren’t you telling me?” “ who are you trying to protect?” “ so you really don’t know what any of it means? no clue at all?” “ they must’ve told you more than that.” “ you have to have seen more than that.” “ and you want me to believe you don’t remember?” “ and you want me to believe you had nothing to do with it?” “ an accident? is that what you’re going with?”
DEMANDING.
“ i need you to tell me the truth.” “ i need you to tell me what happened.” “ i know you’re not telling me the truth.” “ that doesn’t line up with the evidence. so… you wanna try that again?” “ stop lying. i already know that’s not what happened.”
MAKING A DEAL / ASKING FOR HELP / DEMANDING HELP.
“ what do you want in exchange for this information?” “ i’m listening…” “ you’re coming with me.” “ since you’re the only one who knows how to find them, i don’t really have a choice but to take you with me.” “ fine. i’ll take you with me, but if you try anything…” “ i can’t give you that. you know that.” “ if we’re going to make a deal, you’re gonna have to ask for something a little more rational than that.” “ okay. we have a deal.” “ sorry. no deal.”
