Whether or not he believes Fitcher lacks information on Petrana—certainly possible, but not entirely a given—he decides to let the assertion pass with nothing more than a small sigh at her evident pleasure or the state of his hand. (Or both.)

"I certainly don't think less of you for wondering about it," of her observation about volunteers. "I'd consider stepping forward myself, but I'm already up to my elbows as a project leader, to be honest. On the other hand, we're asking people to do a great deal with much less in the way of resources than we had when we were part of the Inquisition. I can't say I'm entirely shocked we're hard up for internal volunteers." He regrets Herian's departure, for all he was never close to her. If nothing else, the woman had an overly developed sense of responsibility.