"Victims. Aren't we all?"
The Crow
"How do you know Erza?"
Cana is the first to break the silence when they all take a seat around the table she'd been perched upon. Mirajane had wandered off to attend to the other guild members.
"We're friends."
Harry laughs at Erza's short reply.
"We go way back." He grins, "Known her since before she joined Fairy Tail."
"Really?" Even Cana can remember the solemn and gaunt Erza that had first appeared at the guilds door, ragged and righteous all wrapped up in a tiny body that belied her strength.
"Yep."
"Enough chit chat. Harry, what do you know about Alyssa Drexler."
Harry's tempted to not answer, but this is Erza he's talking to and he decides to come clean. He makes himself comfortable and reclines in his chair. In the process his foot accidentally brushes against the ankle of Natsu and when he see's the boy jump at the contact, he lets his limb wander higher and higher as the tale unfolds,
"She's dead. She died in an accident one month ago. Her father covered up her death to cash in on Alyssa's inheritance."
As Natsu's face steadily turns brighter, Harry bites back a grin. It's hardly appropriate, but he can't seem to bring it in him to care.
"Drexler's first wife had a stipulation in her will that Alyssa's inheritance would only pass to Drexler on the condition that Alyssa was over 21 years of age when she died and unmarried."
"Wh-What?" Harry isn't sure if it's fear or disgust that makes Lucy's voice waver.
"Alyssa was meant to turn 21 in three weeks. Drexler hired you to find his daughter whilst he pretended to act the part of grieving father. He was going to have you find her dead body in three weeks and then claim the inheritance ."
He eyes Erza contemplatively,
"He would have gotten away with it if hadn't been for the fact that Alyssa was having an affair with Lady Carmichael and the Lady had noticed Alyssa's disappearance a month ago when she failed to show up at one of their secret rendezvous'. Carmichael had one of the western Lords take a look into Alyssa's disappearance."
Actually Carmichael had asked Eridanus to look into the disappearance and Eridanus was of course just another face of Evan Harrison. He found it semi-odd mentioning himself in third person. This was the first time that his two lives had ever crossed each other.
"But what about the pirate ship that attacked them?"
"The pirate ship was stolen from a local drug-dealer last year. Apparently Drexler had a side business where he'd take in stolen boats, strip them down and then re-model them before selling them to the highest bidder. The pirate ship happened to be one of the boats that hadn't been remodelled yet."
"And the slave-trader?"
"A rumour. None of the slave-traders are idiotic enough to operate anywhere near Hageon."
"How the hell would you know that?" Gray is preturbed by the information that flows so freely from Evan's mouth. They'd wasted days trying to track down even a hint of possible information that could help them, and here was this random stranger who'd done what they couldn't: solve the mystery of Alyssa Drexler's kidnapping.
"I'm Evan Harrison. It's my business to know things."