Briefly, an image of Roddy Martindale seemed to superimpose itself over the image of this ridiculous-sounding young man and Smiley had to suppress an urge to simply turn tail and flee. But this man's circumlocutions were elaborate to a degree of which Roddy was entirely incapable, and that alone caught Smiley's interest. Pushing through an instinctive feeling of dread, he merely frowned, genuinely confused as to exactly what sort of person this man could possibly be alluding to.

"I beg your pardon?" And then: "Fish?"