Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the lack of contradiction a sign of truth.

Consistency is not evidence. A story can be perfectly coherent and entirely invented, while a true account of a complicated situation will often contain tensions that cannot be tidied away. Smoothness is a property of construction, and reality is not usually smooth.

Use that in both directions. When somebody’s version of events fits together too well, ask whether the world it describes could really be that neat. And when your own understanding contains a contradiction, resist resolving it prematurely; the unresolved part is often where the truth is still visible.