FlushVision,
Just a comment on your last relative to some personal experiences.
My wife used to start wearing some rather expensive new clothes that seemed to come out of nowhere. When asked when she got them she would always say she'd had them a long time. Found out later she would buy stuff and hide them in the trunk of her car for a few months before wearing them.
Sometime later I bought a new and expensive saddle I didn't say anything about, on purpose. Since she didn't go into the tack room very much I just put it on a stand that was not out in the open like the other equipment was. About 6 months later I was saddling up to go for a ride when one of my daughter's friends, standing with my wife, commented on the nice looking saddle. My wife instantly noticed the saddle was different in color from the usual saddle and asked if it was a new saddle. I told her "no, I've had it for a long time". She became quite angry. We both had told the truth, but the way is was framed betrayed trust. After a long conversation with my wife related to clothes kept in the trunk, the practice of shaping the truth to achieve a desired goal ended that day.