While I think "failure is more interesting than success" is an interesting design principle I don't understand why Tav is forced to try to and deceive Fist Fountainhead (the investigator on the murder case).

Failing the check leads to more dialogue options and you recruit an ally inside the fist - if you succeed she just throws you out of the room. So why is this a forced deception check? I mean already told the Holyphant that it was Bhaal cultists so the cat's out of the bag.