I decided I needed someone to exposition dump fill in some inevitable gaps in understanding much later in my Pathfinder campaign, so I decided to introduce her early. It would help tie in this fairly inconsequential treasure hunt into later events.
So the party are at an inn, and a woman in dragonscale armour approaches them to chat. The party are very cagey about why they're here (fair enough, the only way anyone could beat them to this treasure is they they leaked it). But they go a step beyond that, and before she can really introduce herself they make it really clear she's unwelcome. Then one of them decides the generic NPC with a large hat is the one who's worth talking to.
I'm honestly completely cool with this. Well, other than trying to talk to a generic NPC, that was annoying. But rebuffing the dragon hunter just means the dynamic will be different when they meet again later, which was always going to be a "coincidence".