perhaps it was the sight of the major apparently glowering at her from above his bushy lip gear ; perhaps it was the smell of rotten fish , which put the councillor in mind of a long-forgotten , teenage dalliance in the universitys fish store ; or perhaps the earlier sighting in patriot square of the thrashing mixture of dead fish and passion had reminded her of the unfortunate death of her own beloved professor presumed to have been eaten by piranhas in an amazonian tributary and who was by coincidence also called alfie .