Agreed. They may be lying brazenly, or they may be missing information. The gaps in their knowledge strike me a little as. . . I don't know. If it isn't an outright deception, then maybe some way of keeping them from questioning inconsistencies. It's been known to happen.

Either way, I am not counting on them being very helpful, but we may as well talk to them while we have the time and see if I'll be proven wrong.