The assessor at the doorway

The assessor paused on the front step until Mrs Khan invited him inside. In the hall, water had lifted the wallpaper and left a dark line above the skirting board. He measured it, but when Mrs Khan reached for a pile of soaked family photographs, he closed his notebook. Rather than calling them ‘damaged contents’, he asked which photograph she wanted him to lift first. Later, beside an armchair that had belonged to her father, he listened without interrupting and resumed writing only when she moved away. I had expected him to notice costs; I had not expected him to notice silences.

From the passage, select two words or phrases that show the assessor responding sensitively to Mrs Khan’s distress. Explain how each choice conveys his sensitivity.