Linden stays quiet. He's imagining the scene based on the sparse information he has, in an unfamiliar, surreal context. In the Capitol, such a scene would never occur, but in the Districts, ones like it are all too common. Perhaps not the smothering by pillow part, but slow death with loved ones helpless to intervene? Everywhere, and never any less painful.

He's bad with crying people. He's not inherently good at comfort and outward signs of compassion. James is emotional, and that inherently means unstable, and Linden hesitates to get too near anyone in that state.

"I won't tell you that you did the right thing or the wrong thing," he says. "And I won't tell you that the Capitol will or won't bring her back. But in any case... I can tell you, for certain, that nothing you do will change the outcome of what's happened already or influence the Capitol's decision. Be happy about that second one; if they brought her here, it would almost certainly not be in a way you would want."