Occasionally, someone would cough or make a quiet comment about a particular painting. Maykop spotted Agent Surgut standing alone on the left side of ...he room, looking at a portrait of an old woman hanging clothes to dry. Maykop gave June's hand a squeeze and motioned slightly with his head in Agent Surgut's direction. She looked and nodded her head. Then the two of them started slowly walking among the art pieces on the right side of the room, keeping one eye on Agent Surgut the whole. You could go pretty far with just those disciplines."Again Jake considered. What Barrachus said made sense-Jake had just opened up a whole new world of magic, it might be easier to learn if people specialized.Jake nodded decisively. "Very well, Barrachus. It was your idea, I'll leave you to design it. I grant you the authority to come up with a workable system that I can then implement." Barrachus grimaced in the middle of a swallow, nearly spilling tea all over his shirt. Jake looked at him. But it's a device that fits over the right thumb and pads the palm of the hand, with a reinforced cup in the middle. The needles are triangular in section, but like ordinary needles, come in different gauges and lengths to suit different threads. The thread is usually waxed, which is protection and also helps the thread to slide.Nadiya and CC had watched sails being hand-stitched before, and merely half-watched from the other side of the cockpit. Denise, however, was fascinated – and impressed. Constable Evans can see I'm getting upset again. "I'm sorry if this is distressing Mr McEwan but we really do need to go through this. All right?"I try to calm myself. "Yes," I agree. "Sure. It's OK."The three of us go up stairs and go from room to room. I'm surprised to see that there are things missing. Why would Jenny have come back and taken these things? Where can she have gone? It's difficult remembering what was where. You take so much for granted. I'm conscious of Ackroyd watching me.