 He began by asking a prisoner a question he already knew the answer to, informing the prisoner that he already knew everything about him, but his superiors had given instruction that the prisoner himself had to say it.Scharff continued asking questions that he would then provide the answers for, each time hoping to convince his captive that there was nothing he did not already know.When he eventually got to the piece of information he did not have, prisoners would frequently give the answer, assuming Scharff already had it in his files anyway, often saying so as they provided the information.