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I agree, which is why I don't think Brinton is a pathological liar. I would naively predict a person who lies compulsively to have more practice at coming up with convincing-sounding lies on the spur of the moment. Brinton's behaviour seems more consistent with someone who did something stupid and then panicked when caught red-handed, than with a smooth cunning con artist effortlessly talking their way out of a tight spot.
If Brinton had been caught red-handed, but immediately came up with an untrue-but-believable explanation on the fly, that would cause me to update in favour of their being someone who routinely tells lies and gets away with it. The fact that they got caught red-handed and their "explanation" was so unconvincing (as you said yourself) suggests to me that they do not have a great deal of practice in telling lies i.e. they are not a pathological liar.
"Smooth talking con artist" who is good at his con job is not pathological, pathological lying is compulsive, absurd lying for no conceivable benefit.
We all heard about people who keep inventing fanciful, over the top tales about their past, who cannot stop talking how they are war heroes or Indian princesses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathological_lying
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