Makes me think that Nandi has contacts out in the 'verse - not completely alone. And that someone is keeping tabs on Inara. Aware of the kind of ship she is on. I really can't imagine Inara bragging about Mal's criminal endeavors to her friends back home.

I'm also thinking those contacts would be Companions. they strike me as a close set - a sisterhood. Maybe Sheydra? Sheydra knows what Mal is - she calls him a pirate. And their friendship seems not new, as in not just forged when Inara went to the Training House.