Both of them seem adept at fishing for information as to how much or how little their target knows before zooming in with their lies, half-truths distortions and omissions (expertly mixed with the truth, of course, to give it plausibility).

Thanks for an excellent point. I must say that I'm getting a real insight into Lucy's character as a result of this group read, partly (speaking of distortions) to get her sweet little ol' S&S2 character out of my head and replace it with Jane Austen's one!