The Taste of Lies: Can the Taste of a Man’s Face Betray His Wickedness?

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With his private all-you-can-eat snow cone factory long since melted away, RocketNews24‘s Mr. Sato was taking a much-needed break in a comfy chair in the corner of the office. Setting a hot cup of tea down on the table beside him, he pulled up one of his favourite manga comics on his iPad- Jojo no Kimyouna Bouken, or JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure in English – and began to read. Around five minutes in, however, Mr. Sato stopped as he came across a scene in which the character Buccellati licks hero Giorno’s cheek in order to ascertain whether he is telling the truth. Able to taste the salts secreted in a liar’s perspiration, Buccellati was able to tell whether his companions were pulling the wool over his eyes.

Could the taste of a person’s cheek really reveal whether they are telling dirty, horrible fibs? Could this be a secret technique that top criminal investigators employ to help pin down a guilty man? Mr. Sato sidled over to unfortunate coworker Mr. H and asked him to help him test the theory.

Rather than complicate matters by asking him to recount a seemingly implausible story, Mr. Sato asked Mr. H to tell him something about a recent event in his personal life that may or may not have been true. After thinking for a moment, Mr. H nodded.

“I had natto for breakfast this morning!” he stated in clear, if slightly concerned tones.

Lie Detector Sato absorbed the message, stepped forward, extended his suspicious tongue and took a good, long lick of Mr. H’s cheek. His brow furrowed and his eyes darting back and forth behind his iconic spectacles, Mr. Sato thought hard about the taste of H’s cheek; the salt; the occasional hint of sweetness. Synapses began firing in Mr. Sato’s brain, setting off a chain reaction. He, too, began to perspire. And then!

“Aha! That flavour! Lies! Dirty, dirty lies!”

Mr. H gasped. “How did you-” he said, touching his now sticky left cheek. “I didn’t have natto this morning; you’re right!”

Mr. Sato stroked his manly beard and nodded. Never before had he felt more powerful. He knew that everything would be different from that moment on, but he was also painfully aware that with this new-found skill would come tremendous responsibility…

▼”Fascinating! Human sweat reveals whether they’re lying or not…”

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