Sometimes When You Call People Listed as References You Cannot

Sometimes when you call people listed as references you cannot fully trust what you hear, either because the references have been chosen by the job applicant or because the references are afraid of being sued if they give a negative recommendation.What is the best way to handle this problem?

A) Ask the reference for the name of someone else that you can contact about the applicant.
B) Pretend to be a police officer.
C) Promise the references not to repeat anything they might say.
D) None of the above