This tells Strange a few things. One, Shima knows way more about the Heart than he's letting on. Two, the fact that Shima's putting emphasis on Ignatius getting to know people tells Strange that one of the release conditions is...what, being friends? That's stupid. And a bit impractical. And an imprecise metric for releasing the Heart in the first place. No, it's got to be something more than that. But what it is, Strange has no idea.

He can at least tell Ignatius about the Ringmaster being unable to release the Heart herself. It's a little bit of information, but it's more information than Strange had to begin with.

"If the Ringmaster can't release the Heart, then someone else from the carnival is the most likely candidate for being in charge of the Heart's release." And Strange can't help but wince as he says that. "I mean this in the kindest way possible, but barely anyone here is capable enough for that."