It was a good point she made: Malachi had never had to find lodgings in the way that most people did. He had always lived wherever his churches set aside for him. Some had been better than others, some crowded, some empty, but he had never had to put any thought into them.

Malachi followed Nettie's gaze to the constable nearby.

"Good plan. I believe I've met that one."

He was pretty sure that one just tried to avoid him too. It brought a smile to his face, small and amused.

"Constable Crane?" called Malachi. Making sure that Nettie followed, he directed their path towards the constable.

"Ah, that is you, isn't it?"

The poor constable was definitely trying to avoid conversation. Malachi couldn't have said why, and didn't know him nearly well enough to make a guess.

Maybe he had made him uncomfortable when they'd met. He'd hardly be the first.

"It's nice to see you as well, constable," he returned with a smile. Malachi observed him as Nettie introduced herself, but could not find anything... out of place, exactly. Constable Crane's offer brought his attention back to the man's face.

"Actually," Malachi shoved a foot in the metaphorical door Crane sought to close.

"We were hoping you could point us to a good place for Nettie to stay, semi-permanently. I'm sure you know your way around very well, being a constable and all."

So evasive. For every second that passed in which the constable avoided looking at him, Malachi's desire to steal his gaze was only made more intense. It was a painfully quick switch, he'd found, whenever something caught his curiosity and clawed it free of the unaffected countenance he sought to wear.

"That sounds perfect," he agreed with a grateful dip of his head.

He started to say more, but cut himself off before the constable could think twice about voicing his request.

'Unable' was a peculiar choice of word. Malachi hoped he hadn't frightened him off, but he did not push for an explanation.

"Of course," granted Malachi. "I can bring it to you instead. And please, never hesitate to ask for anything. I'm here to help in any way you need, constable."

The question of why Crane was unable to retrieve the basket himself was scratching at the inside of his brain, yes, but he smiled through it and hoped the man could take his words to heart.

"If you wouldn't mind showing us the way, I would be grateful."

Malachi tossed a glance to his niece, making sure that she was still content with the current plan, and walked at her side as the constable set off. His hands slipped behind him again, folding neatly at the back of his waist.

"There's no need to thank me," he assured, "just let me know where, and I'll bring it by soon."

(What would Father Richards think, he wondered, if he told him that he was going to Constable Crane's house? The poor constable had seemed nervous enough when he'd dropped off the gift in the first place, so he couldn't be sure if the gift had been ill-received or if Crane was just always like this. He did not dare ask Father Richards, either.)

If the priest thought anything of the odd look Crane gave him, he said nothing of it. His eyes merely lifted from where they'd taken to watching the cobblestone street, and met Crane's for that brief moment of the other man's suspicion.

"Yes, you're right. That is what I hope to do, in any case. I've only heard good things about you and your work, and that was very kind of you to bring the basket by the presbytery."

He carefully avoided mentioning his fellow priest.

This Crane fellow seemed to take praise about as well as he took anything else. Malachi had never met a constable so modest and... level-headed? Was that the appropriate word, when the man looked like a well-placed word would knock him down?

Malachi didn't push him. Didn't place that word, whatever it might've been. As his formalities were tempered by his niece's presence, so, too, were his less desirable qualities that might have driven him to figure Crane out.

He kept at Nettie's side as they followed after the constable, pointing things out to her here and there when he recognized them. Malachi might not have been in town for long, but he had wandered the streets enough by now to have a fairly decent understanding. Once the mentioned boarding house came into view, he glanced at his niece for her reaction, and then turned his attention back to Crane.

"That sounds fair," said Malachi. And safe.

It was also a good place for him to know about regardless of whether Nettie stayed there or not, just in case they ever happened to want a visit from a Catholic priest. Who didn't love a priest showing up on their doorstep?

Another quiet cough.

"What do you think?" he inquired with another glance towards Nettie. "They might let you in to see it first, if you asked."

Perhaps not himself or Crane... but they weren't the ones thinking of staying there.