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WHOLE TRUTH
    ‘So what’s this new invention of yours?’ Mrs Trifle asked.
    Mrs Trifle had been reading all morning, sometimes laughing out loud. Meanwhile Dr Trifle worked on his new invention on the loungeroom floor.
    ‘It’s going to be a Truth-ometer,’ Dr Trifle said. ‘Let’s see now, this is the delicate part. I have to get this battery in here the right way around or it won’t work at all.’ ‘A Truth-ometer, very nice,’ Mrs Trifle said. She read for a moment and then laughed again.
    ‘What’s so funny?’
    ‘This book. It’s about a talking dog. Camilla Bonzer, the librarian at the primary school, lent me a few of them. She says they’re very popular with the kids.’
    Selby suddenly gagged on a Dry-Mouth Dog Biscuit.
    ‘Uh-oh,’ he thought. ‘I should have known this would happen sooner or later.’
    ‘A talking dog?’ Dr Trifle said. ‘That’s absurd.’
    ‘I know but it’s just a bit of harmless fun.’
    ‘Do the other people — I mean, the people in the books — know that he can talk?’
    ‘No, he’s keeping it a secret. He doesn’t even want his owners to know. He can talk and can read and write, too. The one thing he can’t do is swim.’
    ‘Does this have anything to do with all those cards the kids swap?’
    ‘No, I don’t think so.’
    ‘What’s his name?’ Dr Trifle asked looking over at Selby who was suddenly looking very guilty.
    ‘His name is Selby.’
    ‘Selby. Hmmm. It’s a pity his name isn’t Selby,’ Dr Trifle said. ‘Just like our little guy.’
    ‘Now you’re being silly. I told you that his name isn’t Selby, it’s Selby. And his owners are Dr and Mrs Trifle’ but they’re nothing like us.’
    ‘How so?’
    ‘Well their name is completely different for starters,’ Mrs Trifle said. ‘And they’re quite silly sometimes — not like us.’
    ‘Why does he want to keep it a secret that he knows how to talk?’ Dr Trifle asked.
    ‘He’s afraid that suddenly he’d be so famous that he’d never get any peace and quiet. There would be TV camera people everywhere, watching him. Bus loads of tourists would come to his house. And he might be sent off to a lab to be asked silly questions by scientists all day. He might even be dog-napped if he wasn’t careful.’
    ‘He’s got a point,’ Dr Trifle said. ‘But surely he could trust his owners not to tell anyone.’
    ‘He’s afraid that his owners would put him to work around the house if they knew.’
    Dr Trifle looked over at Selby.
    ‘We wouldn’t do that to Selby, would we?’
    ‘No, of course not. We’d just treat him like one of the family. He could sit at the table andeat people-food like us — if he liked people-food,’ Mrs Trifle said.
    ‘Yes, I do believe we would.’
    ‘Tell me, isn’t a Truth-ometer just a lie-detectorand haven’t they already been invented?’
    ‘No, no. A Truth-ometer is much better than a lie-detector. Lie-detectors only tell when someone is lying. There’s more to telling the truth than not lying.’
    ‘Are you sure?’
    ‘Sure I’m sure. If you say “yes” when the answer is “no” then you’re lying. And when you say “no” when you know that the answer is “yes” then you’re also lying. But what if the answer is yes or no and you just don’t say anything?’
    ‘Then you’re not lying,’ Mrs Trifle said.
    ‘Ahah! But you’re not telling the truth either. That’s the problem with lie-detectors: they want you to lie —
out loud.
If my Truth-ometer works it will be able to detect a lie when somebody doesn’t say anything.’
    ‘Now you’ve lost me,’ Mrs Trifle said.
    ‘Well the problem is that criminals sometimes don’t lie, they just refuse to talk,’ Dr Trifle said,handing Mrs Trifle two wires. ‘Hold this one in your left hand and the other one in your right hand.’
    ‘I’m not going to get a shock or anything, am I?’
    ‘Certainly not. Now let’s pretend that I’m a police detective about to ask a question. And