Editing Unwritten: System Reference Document/Discovery and Investigation (section)

=====Contests in Questioning=====

It’s possible that you might end up trying to get information out of an unwilling subject in a more confrontational way. This could be an intense bit of back and forth, or it could be a full on interrogation. One way to model this is through a contest between you and the other person instead of an investigation. Run the questioning as various exchanges based off of social skills. You should be describing what you are doing and including bits of dialog with each exchange.

If you win the contest, then you get the information out of them. You might be able to push the contest a few more rounds in order to get more advantage actions in, if the GM is willing. If you lose the contest, then you aren’t getting any information out of them; they’ve won the battle of wits. Even if the subject is confined and can’t get away, you can’t go back and press the issue. You’ll have to change the situation enough (get a new bit of information, find some different leverage, wait a chunk of time) before you can go back in.