There's always the hope that they will be honest with you when asked didrectly, is what I'm getting at. If the person is close to you, I hope they would care enough to tell the truth.
Any one who isn't close to me is always taken with a grain of salt, in the knowledge that even if they are lying, it does not affect my life. I know a lot of guys that like to tell stories... I just listen. It's amusing.