Eventually I just stopped asking questions. I realized he might lie, or might not, but because I wouldn't know which was the case, what was the point in asking? I knew what I knew, what I could see and feel in my gut, and that's all I needed to know.
Besides, if you guys are going through some of the nonsense I did - and I know you are, or have - he had a lot of reasons to think I was an idiot. Believing his lies was not at the top of the list.