Reminds me of a "focus"-like command in a MUD of my past enjoyment. It just acted in the background to sort of auto-examine all examinable objects to a specified string and alerted you to any matches. Tired/injured NPCs could be highlighted, glints of silver/gold in visibly worn adornments likewise, things that might indicate they are hidden doorways could perhaps be given prioroty. Just the one check at a time, upon entering their 'room' (or them entering yours) and as a separate thing to watch (low/medium/high) for perception checks against actual covert, or perhaps as an additional layer upon everything deemed practically perceivable.
If you were looking for Urist Thingowner, the alleged owner of Thing Uristowned The Artefact Of Artefactuality then either "Thing" or "Urist" could be given as your desired focus, but you might still have to deal with Urist Otherfellow wearing Thing Ordinarycloak or any other match. (Practically, a string-match would be more 'game-like' than the more 'real' "Taller than average dwarf with auburn beard" or "Scepter with red gems encrusted in its handle", but whatever the focus type is it should prompt you to check, perhaps even take up your attention at the expense of standard observational skills vs other notable surprises, and be broady aimed so that false positives demand your attention as you poke your nose into every room and around every corner in the hope of a visual correlation of use to you.)