And the shrewdest judge of human nature is incapable of judging between them.
"I am innocent--before God I swear it!" cries the guilty wretch in a voice calculated to wring tears from the Accusing Spirit itself.
"I am innocent--before God I swear it!" protests the wrongfully accused person despairingly.
The experienced detective, or prosecutor, or judge, places as much faith in the protestation of the one as in the other.

He reserves judgment until sufficient evidence shall have been developed to establish which of the accused is telling the truth.

For, he knows that while the guilty man's lie may sound entirely plausible, it will collapse like a perforated gas-bag in the end.

Likewise, truth coming from the innocent man's lips may be utterly lacking in plausibility.

Yet, it will establish itself by reason of its own indestructible qualities.
Regardless of the statement so solemnly delivered by the secretary, Britz believed that the woman had committed suicide.