That fish line had genuinely slipped my mind while doing the inking and shading and such for the comic, and I only got reminded that, yes, that was a thing I wrote when I was nearly ready to share it.
What I'd originally written was "…but a bigger concern intervened." That left a lot of empty space in the narration box, which wouldn't have been the end of the world, but it made me want to try some alternatives.
Somehow, I wound up with that fishy disaster.
I considered having Bishop sense that something had been terribly worded, but obviously decided against it.