I'm sitting East, defending a two heart contract with the following hand: (s) QJ (H) J642 (d) K743 (c) T72. Partner, West, leads the king of Spades, from what is likely an AK sequence. With two random small cards, say 82, I would "echo" by playing the 8 followed by the 2. I did the same here, playing the Q, followed by the J on lead of the A. (With say, Qx, I would have made a judgment call.) But here, my playing of the Q was meant to encourage by showing that I had either a singleton Q or QJ doubleton.
Partner protested, saying that I should followed with the J, then Q. Then today, I read a Larry Cohen column https://www.larryco.com/bridge-articles/actual/real-deal-23 that said, "when playing third to a trick on defense, play the cheapest of touching honors."
Are these people right, and if so, why does what they say go against what I was taught about echoes?
Note: I do not believe that my question is context dependent. Even so, for the record, with neither side vulnerable, the bidding was North 1C, East (me) Pass, South 1H, West, pass, North 2H all pass. Lead, king of spades.