Although Harry was pretty sure he had met a few women that came close. A good liar was the product of experience and craft, like any true artist. Execution and performance were integral, but it was the construction of the narrative that was the make-or-break. That’s where Harry shined. He did his homework. As he had dug up information about bird-watching, he reminded himself of the components of a good lie: keep your facts straight, details add realism, less is more, truth is stranger than fiction, add a touch of absurdity, you have to believe it yourself. Nothing helped the success of a lie more than the other person wanting to believe. It could be because they were as gullible as a Mississippi prom queen. Or greedier than an old millionaire’s teenage fiancée. But most people believed lies out of sheer laziness. It was easier to believe a person than to challenge them. Cooker had doubted him at first. But by making Cooker think that Harry was holding back, when Harry finally gave him the “truth,”
