managing what he won't say

Orin is a source being worked, and he half-knows it. He has "zero intent of forthrightly answering any stained-family-linen-type questions from anybody, much less somebody who takes shorthand" — but he grasps that effective concealment requires knowing the true answer first, so he can control the shape of the lie: his aim is "to avoid being forthright about the Stork material" unless he knows what the real answers are. That is why he reaches past the family to interrogate Hal — the entire grief-therapy horror-comedy Hal narrates is, from Orin's side, source-debriefing: pumping his estranged brother for the facts he needs in order to safely stonewall his interviewer. Counter-interrogation prep dressed as a catch-up call.