Ford eyed the man who'd greeted him and tried to determine how much he could get away with saying. He wasn't a rude person by nature — quite the opposite, being polite almost to a fault on occasion — but the most expeditious way through this situation was definitely to just make a curt excuse and leave. He could have lied about what he was after, on the other hand, and then left when they didn't have it (or it could backfire and he could be stuck trying to come up with an excuse to avoid buying something he didn't even want in the first place), but if he went making weird obscure requests and this was someone whose opinion he ought to care about, it might come back to haunt him later. Telling the truth, on the other hand, might be fine if they didn't actually have a copy of the book he was looking for. If they did, he'd either have to buy it or think up something fast about why he couldn't.

The man who'd greeted him looked vaguely familiar, but also vaguely like a pirate. This did nothing to help him determine whether or not he was someone whose opinion on Ford's taste in books might matter.

"Well, uhm," Ford began, still unsure whether or not he intended to lie but having decided at least not to just say something rude and leave, since the man looked familiar. "I'm looking for something that's a little obscure. I'm not sure you'll have it."