Quite frankly, that extended explanation does not clarify things at all. If Shrike sounded incredulous before, now he nearly looks it.

Yet somehow, despite his mounting pile of questions on the matter, that last question posed him manages to cut right through it all. It's both so absurd and so... suspicious, perhaps? that it's a rather effective distraction for a moment.

"No," he says flatly. Frankly, he nearly didn't answer at all, but then thought better of it and decided to simply cut off whatever speculation this might be. (His ears' shape is pretty distinctive too, though.)