The Tsunami File by Michael E. Rose

fingertips.
    â€œLook, Delaney,” he said eventually. “Can we go off the record for a bit? Or whatever you lot like to call it.” “Fine with me.”
    When a police officer proposed confidentiality, Delaney knew from experience, something important was coming.
    â€œOff the record,” Smith repeated with a small smile. “Rather dramatic, isn’t it. Melodramatic.”
    â€œNot always,” Delaney said. “Not always. Necessary sometimes. Depending on the story.
    What’s up?”
    â€œWell, look,” Smith said finally. “The fact of the matter is that I’m upset about the way certain things have been handled around here. The fact is, I’m not happy and I’ve had a word with the senior people out here and they have, quite frankly, done nothing to solve what I see as a serious problem.”
    Delaney knew when to wait and listen, when not to interrupt an interview subject who is about to share a secret.
    â€œLook, I know your work a little,” Smith said.
    â€œI saw that article you did a few years ago about Aung San Suu Kyi and that crazy plot to kidnap her, or whatever it was. Quite a story. You were working for Asia Weekly .”
    For the Canadian spy service actually , Delaney thought.
    â€œI wrote it for Asia Weekly , that’s right,” he said to Smith. “But I was actually a staffer at the Montreal Tribune at the time. My editors there weren’t too happy with that little freelance effort of mine and we parted ways right afterward. To put it politely.”
    CSIS not too happy either , Delaney thought. To put it politely.
    â€œWell, I’ve run into something out here that may interest you, given the sort of investigative reporting things you do,” Smith said. “I’ve come across something odd and I think it’s an indication of a larger problem that may, to be really frank about it, get in the way of some of us doing our jobs properly, which as you know is to get all the bodies out here identified and back to their families as quickly as we can. The fact of the matter is I’m upset because the senior people here, some senior people anyway, are ignoring what I’ve told them and I’m upset about that. Not happy at all.”
    For Delaney, and those like him in the information-gathering trade, there is nothing better than an unhappy official. He did not attempt to fill any of Smith’s silences. Unhappy officials will generally fill those if left uninterrupted.
    â€œI’ve worked for the police for twenty-one years,” Smith said, continuing what Delaney could see was going to be an extended apologia before allowing himself to betray a secret. “I’ve rarely spoken to the press in all those years and never once felt the need to go off the record or reveal anything confidential about an ongoing investigation or anything else for that matter.” Delaney waited.
    â€œI’ve thought about this a lot since they told me you’d requested this interview,” Smith said. “I’m still not quite sure this is the right thing to do.”
    â€œI can see that,” Delaney said.
    â€œIs it that obvious?”
    â€œYes.”
    Smith laughed bitterly. Delaney could see he was having second thoughts.
    â€œHere’s what I think we should do,” Delaney said. “We’ll go off the record, completely. You tell me what it is that’s bothering you about the operation and then we can decide together how I use it or whether I use it. If you have any misgivings about things in any way after you’ve told me what’s on your mind, I won’t use what you give me in my article. Not directly. But in situations like this, I tell people that I’ll use what they tell me to try to get the information from another source and if I get it again in that way I can use it in the piece. And, at that stage, I can also use what you have told me directly, but still off