Are you suspicious about someone you work with? There are times when dishonesty shows itself through handwriting. Here are some of the secrets of the art. Use then with care.

If there are times when you get a feeling of suspicion about someone - you just don't trust them. Or you know something is going on in your department but you don't know who is responsible.

Emotions are the cause of many crimes. It's possible that you have employees who go along quietly day after day, month after month. They may develop grudges or deep feelings but they don't show anything. As far as anyone knows they're satisfied and content. Suddenly, however, there is a terrific explosion, all the pent up emotionalism, all of the months of accumulated bitterness, breaks loose with the possibility of great psychological damage occurring to others and the individual themselves.

Once again, a study of the handwriting can give you some clues before you call in the experts.

Remember, these tests are not conclusive and your employees may well have some reasonable excuse for their method of writing. Note also, that a single instance of any of these transgressions is not a show of guilt. Look for six or more in a sample of work before you start to worry. But if you already have suspicions, this may be the factor that decides you to investigate more thoroughly.

Ask the person concerned to write something for you. Then here's what you look for:

Watch the person writing - often people who are feeling guilty write slowly, weighing up what they should or shouldn't say.

There is often a lack of stability in the writing. It changes style or slant.

Some words may look as though the writer has gone back over them and retouched them. This is especially true if you have a signature that may be forged.

The omission of letters or parts of letters. Often a guilty person will be concentrating so hard on the whole that they don't notice that they've left letters out. Alternatively they may neglect to join the loops of letters like O's or D's or lower case a's. And lower case b, d, g and q may look as though they have been written in two parts with a rift through the middle. Of course these people may simply be poor at spelling or lazy writers, so don't depend on this part of the test alone.

Watch out for handwriting that appears artificial or characterless. The writer could be hiding something - especially if they suspect you're studying their handwriting.

If upper case letters are disproportionate in size to the rest of the script, the writer may be subconsciously hiding behind them.

Extra dots after words or at the end of the script could indicate guilt.

Study the baseline of the writing. If it's wavy and erratic you have cause to be suspicious. Although this could also indicate someone who is ill or simply moody.

Anyone who is right-handed but slopes their writing severely to the left, may have emotional problems and therefore could be the person you're on the look out for. The same goes for a left-handed person who slopes their writing to the right.

For some real insight, look at the personal pronoun I. If the letter itself is written in the lower case or very small, then the person could be subconsciously making himself or herself insignificant so you won't find them out.

Is the pressure of the writing even or does it vary. Perhaps some letters even have strong downstrokes and fading loops. This could be a sign of distraction or guilt.

Finally watch how the person behaves while they're writing. Do they appear confident? Or are they uneasy - possibly hiding their writing with their arm or a stack of books or papers?

Whatever your suspicions, don't tackle the person without proper evidence. Although graphology is accepted in court for detecting forgeries, it's rarely considered ample grounds for dismissal or prosecution. If you're seriously worried, call in the experts.