Bill sighs. Oh well, another card on the table. "NAH."

True. He almost sounds like he wishes he were making it up. Damn, that'd be great.

"THE BARGE'S PURPOSE THING COULD HAVE BEEN ONE, BUT THE CHANGE OF CHARACTER WOULD BE TOO HARD TO SELL!"

...That's true. A little weird to think about. A good lie relies on reinforcing assumptions the mark has, not challenging them. You don't want to make them uncomfortable.