Laxus arrived at Vincent's hotel. He saw Vincent, "Louise," he said looking down at his suit. "Do you think you can help me get this out. I'm afraid I can afford a stain on my character but not on my clothes!" He called. He turned around to see Laxus. Laxus could smell three distinct smells in the room. Vincent and Susan Treadwells.

"How do you do-" Vincent began.

"Save it." Laxus grunted.

"We're getting to the point of this meeting right now! I've got questions and I want them answered." Laxus snarled. Laxus saw a older woman come out the bathroom. "I can try and help. I'll take the jacket back to the misses place." Laxus watched the exchange, Vincent motioned to Laxus to give him a minute as he gave over his suit jacket. "I'm afraid it's rouge." She said.

"I'm afraid it's liquor."

"Ahem. I'll see what I can do." She said before she disappeared out the door.

Vincent looked taken aback. "Alright." He said sitting on the couch.

"First let's get this out of the way. Why did you lie about your albi?"

"What?"

"Why did you lie?"

"I didn't lie about where I was at." Vincent said nervously.

"Really, why did you say they played Brahms's First and Beethoven's Ninth at the concert? They changed the program at the last minute and played nothing but Sibelius and 'Toccata and Fugue' by Johann Sebastian Bach."

"Ah well you see I should have told you in the first place but I got embarrassed. You see I work for that advertisement company. And I've been working awfully long hours on this campaign. I couldn't keep my eyes open. I didn't hear a note at the concert I fell asleep."

Laxus's grey eyes bore into Vincent's own grey eyes. He was annoyed. Vincent coughed to clear his throat. "I know this sounds suspicious, but I'm resigned to that by now. I'm a natural born suspect just because I'm not the conventional type."

Laxus took a deep breath in through his nostrils. "I wouldn't worry about it. It sounds reasonable. I fall asleep to classical music myself."

"Thank you."

Laxus looked up when he saw Susan come into the room. She held her head high, as if she wasn't ashamed to be seen in Vincent's hotel room.

"Good afternoon Mr. Dreyar."

"Mrs. Treadwell." Laxus nodded to the woman.

"Won't you sit down." Susan asked eyeing the man. Laxus narrowed his eyes, he went to go and sit down in a giant red chair near the love seat.

"Mrs. Treadwell I was not aware you would be here."

"Well I have my reasons." She said curtly.

"Ok then let's have this out. What do you two know? What is your relationship with Vincent."

Mrs. Treadwell glared, "I'm here because of Lucy."

"Sue!" Vincent cried.

"No. I don't mind." She said, looking Laxus straight in the eye.

"As you know detective I was close with my sister-in-law. She loved the Sawarrs. Mainly Vincent's mother. She was very kind to Lucy and always went out of her way for Lucy. I wanted to help her. If nothing else."

Laxus nodded.

"I have been helping Vincent over the past year. When Vincent's mother became ill, I stepped in to help the Sawarrs."

"Are you in love with Vincent?"

"No." She said looking off to the side.

"Vincent has needed the money and I lent it to him, that is all."

"Now, on Friday, Mrs. Treadwell, you stayed home alone all evening?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you go to the concert with Vincent?"

She glared. "Because he didn't ask me."

"Laxus! This is insane. I'm eager to find the killer just as much as you are! What possible motive do I have for killing her! I wanted to get married to her! It's not like I get her fortune with her being dead before the wedding!"

"No. But maybe it was revenge for ending it. Or perhaps you knew she would say no. Maybe that drove you nuts. Now answer me this why did you have the key!"

"She gave it to me. I had a place to go this weekend. I don't live here in the city Mr. Dreyar. In case I couldn't pay for anything until she got back...I had a place to go." He looked embarrassed.

"Why not stay at Susans?"

"You're assuming I would allow such a thing-" she said.

Laxus nodded.

"I must be going now. You better not leave town even if you don't have enough money for a room."

"Don't worry detective. If he doesn't he can stay with me." Susan said.

Magnus found Laxus waiting in his apartment. And he would swear, although he was sure the sensitive hand of the lie-detector would record an Alpine sweep at the statement, that he had yielded to the charm of the old porcelain on his shelves. For the second time Magnus discovered him in his drawing room, his hands stretched toward Magnus's favorite shelf. He cleared his throat before entering. Laxus turned with a rueful smile.

"Don't look so sheepish," Magnus admonished. "I'll never tell a soul that you're acquiring taste."

His eyes shot red sparks, "Do you know what Doctor Sigmund Freud said about collectors?"

"I know what Doctor Magnus Lydecker thinks of people who quote Freud." They sat down. "To what kind whim of Fate do I owe this unexpected visit?"

"I happened to be passing by."

Magnus's spirits rose. This casual visit was not without a certain warm note of flatter. Yesterday's disapproval had melted like an ice cube surprised by a shower of hot coffee. But even as Magnus hastened to fetch whiskey for his guest, Magnus cautioned himself against an injudicious display of enthusiasm.

"So," Laxus chose his words carefully, "I saw Vincent this evening along with her father." He announced as they drank a small toast to the solution of the mystery.

"Indeed," said Magnus, assuming the air of a cool but not ungracious citizen who cherishes a modicum of privacy.

"Does he know anything about music?" Laxus asked.

"He talks a music-lover's platter, but his information is shallow. You'll probably find him raising ecstatic eyes to heaven at the name of Beethoven and shuddering piously if someone should be so indiscreet as to mention Ethelbert Nevin." Magnus said lighting his pipe.

"Would he know the difference—" Laxus consulted his notebook "—between 'Finlandia' by Si-bee-lee-us and 'Toccata and Fugue' by Johann Sebastian Bach?"

"Anyone who can't distinguish between Sibelius and Bach, my dear fellow, is fit for treason, stratagem, and spoils." Laxus rolled his eyes at the older gentlemen. He was beginning to see what her father meant about Magnus.

"I'm a cluck when it comes to classical music. Classic rock, grunge, Metallica is my soup." He offered a sheet from his notebook. "That is what Sawarr told me they were playing on Friday night. But they changed the program at the last minute and played nothing but those other pieces I mentioned. Said he fell asleep at the concert-"

Magnus took a sharp breath. "Next," he said drinking more of his whiskey. "He'll produce photographic evidence of his dreams."

"It shoots his alibi as full of holes as a mosquito net. But it still doesn't prove he murdered her," Laxus reminded him with righteous sharpness.

Magnus poured him another drink. "Come now, you haven't told me what you think of him."

"It's a shame he isn't a mage, he would do excellent over at Blue Pegasus."

Magnus cast discretion to the wind. Clapping him on the shoulder, Magnus cried zestfully: "My dear lad, you are precious! A mage! Mah deah suh, Old Missy is whirling in her grave. Come, another drink on that, my astute young Hawkshaw. Properly we should be drinking mint juleps, but unfortunately Uncle Tom of Manila has lost the secret." And Magnus went off into roars of unrestrained appreciation.

Laxus regarded Magnus's mirth with some skepticism. "He's got all the physical requirements. And Bob wouldn't have to team him how to be polite." He said drinking more. "He would fit right in with the Trimmens."

"Who are the Trimens exactly?"

"If you don't know you don't want to know, but he would fit in with Ichiya nicely." Magnus nodded.

Laxus mused the whole conversation over. "There are a lot of people who haven't got the brains for their education you know that?" The comment, while uttered honestly, was tinged faintly with the verdigris of envy. "The trouble is that they've been brought up with ideas of class and education so they can't relax and work in common jobs. There are plenty of fellows in these fancy offices who'd be a lot happier working in blue collared jobs. Or a mages life." Lucy was like that. She had left that life to be happier.

"I've seen many of them break under the strain of intelligence," Magnus agreed. "Hundreds have been committed for life to the cocktail bars. There ought to be a special department in Crocus to handle the problem of old fussy men. I dare say Vincent looks down with no little condescension upon your profession."

A curt nod rewarded Magnus's astuteness. Mr. Dreyar did not fancy the Duke, but, as he had sternly reminded him on a former occasion, it was his business to observe rather than to judge the people encountered in professional adventure.

"The only thing that worries me, Mr. Lydecker, is that I can't place the guy. I've seen that face before. But where and when? Usually I can give you names and dates and places I've seen them." His jaw shot forward and his lips pressed themselves into the tight mould of determination. Magnus told more stories about his time with Lucy before she ran away.

"I remember when she was younger she was so timid, that changed. She became this woman who wanted to change the world and make a name for herself. She had innate breeding but she deferred to my judgment and taste. I suggested more attractive hairstyles for her to wear, what clothes suited her. Her youth and beauty Dreyar, her poise and charm of manner captivated them all. She had warmth, vitality. She had authentic magnetism. Wherever we went she stood out Dreyar. Men admired her, women envied her but I was the only one who truly knew her."

Laxus listened to him. He became lost listening to his stories imagining Lucy in his head.

"Tuesday and Friday nights we stayed in and ate dinner trading off who ate at who's before she was engaged to Vincent. She would sit and listen to my articles. The way she listened was always more eloquent than speech. These were the best nights Dreyar. Then one Tuesday, she called and said she could not make it. It did not matter really. But when it happened the following Friday I was disturbed. I could not understand it, I felt betrayed and yet I knew she would not betray anyone. I found out she was "seeing" that Jacoby. Some Lord her father arranged her to be with, at the time Lucy had a say somewhat in who she would be sold too. He was so obviously conscious of looking more like an athlete than an artist. I sat up the rest of the night writing a column about him. I demolished his affectations, exposed his camouflaged imitations of better painters. Ridiculed his theories.."

Laxus raised an eyebrow at this.

"I did it for her, knowing Jacoby was unworthy of her. It was a masterpiece because it was a labor of love. Naturally, she could never regard him seriously again."

Laxus listened, he reminded himself to go through Lucy's diary again and read about Jacoby. This Lucy that Magnus painted did not sound like the Lucy he read about.

"There were others of course. But her own discrimination ruled them out before it became necessary for me to intervene."

Laxus eventually excused himself for the evening. He was beyond tired and wanted a shower. It was amazing what a shower can do when you're tired and feeling gross. He walked home through the dark and into the forest. He thought more about Lucy's diaries and letters. She said she liked the forest.. Would she have liked his home?

He shook his head of that thought as he unlocked the door to his two story home. It was stone with stained glass windows, a red porch swing under a covered wrap around porch, and a red roof with a tiny stone chimney poking out of it. He walked into his house and shook his head. He could not be thinking of a dead woman this way and yet something deep down inside of him didn't want him to stop. He went into his kitchen and made a protein shake. As he went into the cabinets to get his protein he saw a file laying on his counter along with a note.

New information from the council. Hope you don't mind but I finished off your fire infused whiskey

Bickslow

Laxus was annoyed. He looked in his liquor cabinet. He smirked when he saw another note it was from Freed.

I knew he would drink your whiskey so I bought you a spare bottle.

Freed

Laxus grabbed the bottle and cleaned up his liquor cabinet. He wondered what Lucy liked to drink. Wine? She looked and sounded like a wine girl. He took the bottle to the kitchen and made himself a frozen pizza instead of a protein shake. He sat there reading the file. It basically said things he knew. That she was killed with what was theorized a shotgun sawed off to the face... BB shot...this was interesting...He decided it was time to take this investigation back to her place. Once he finished that deep dish mushroom and spinach pizza of course.

Laxus looked at the police report that came in. A receipt that was found, stated that she had gone and bought a bottle of whiskey that was charged to her name. There were no glass found though, but a half drunk bottle of whiskey was in the liquor cabinet...He didn't bother to read the rest. He would check that out later.

He teleported to her apartment and let himself in. He was thankful he was alone. He wondered at the dream he had earlier. He sat on the couch. He took a deep breath, he got up and poured himself a whiskey. He brought a bottle earlier to her place. He sat down grabbing another diary. Her father had mentioned Lucy had a crush on him. That intrigued him. He lifted an eyebrow at another entry. It was about the boyfriend list. Of who in the guild was on it and not. He wasn't on it for the fact he dressed like douche and was mean. He sighed. But that wasn't the case at some point. She did mention in great detail, how much she wanted to run her hands through his hair, and lick his scar. She was 15 at the time so he smirked reading that.

Dear Diary,

Cana has decided to thoroughly embarrassed me today by taking me to a sex shop. I have never dated before and never orgasmed before, So Cana thought it would be great to take me to a sex shop. It was interesting. I'm not proud to admit that I was interested in the sex toys she showed me. There were these toys that electrocuted you, and they looked..I don't know they looked so interesting.

Laxus raised an eyebrow at that. That was interesting, this woman was something else. Her apartment, her novel, bills and bank statements, her letters and diaries were filling his mind. Her apartment smelled of her now that they removed most of the blood stained items. Her apartment smelled of strawberries and vanilla, and was that wild flowers? He took a deep inhale. He flipped to another diary this one was a older one.

I could not believe Magnus, he was being so self righteous it was nauseating. Then again this was Magnus, he was always like this. It was what made him well him. I love the man but sometimes I don't know why he says or does the things he does. We were sitting at lunch and here Magnus was tearing into this woman who was clearly scared to talk to him. I said it took moxy to do what she had done. Creating an add all on her own! And asking Magnus himself to endorse it! His comment on how he hates pens and would publish that using the Byron Pen was awful and was a bit much. I sat there eating my soup in silence.

I wish Magnus would be kinder, oh he's gotten better don't get me wrong but when he says stuff.. I..understand he didn't want to be bothered at our lunch out, it's rare now and days we get to be alone especially now that I'm being auctioned off to be married but still. He said that our time alone was precious and should not be disturbed. I could tell he was getting aggravated by the fact she was insisting on not leaving when she showed him that ad. When she finally did leave I chastised him. He shook and waggled his face;

"Lucy my dear you seem to be forgetting something much more important than her career.

"What's that?"

"My lunch."

"You can't be serious."

"Indubitably."

"That sounds selfish Magnus."

"In my case self absorption is justified. I've never discovered a subject more worthy of my attention, besides you my angel."

"That's amazing, you know you could fool me. You write about people with such a real understanding and sentiment. In my opinion it's what made your column so good over the years."

"Sentiment comes easily at 50 cents a word."

"If that's how you feel I don't understand how you don't get lonely."

He set his fork down then. "My angel stop fretting, put down this character analysis. I care about you and I don't need anyone else as long as I have you."

I snorted, "one day you may not have me around what then?"

He stiffened at that. "And why not?"

"Well I plan on getting married and having kids-and my father is setting up a arranged marriage now that I'm old enough for it-"

"Those men aren't worthy of a person like you. Besides I won't allow it you're mine. Everyone else is rubbish. Now let's change the subject. This one is beginning to bore me."

I felt sorry for him, he's a poor man I think...

Laxus raised an eyebrow reading further. He flipped to another entry. This one was a couple of days later...

Magnus came to the house to ask why I was giving him the cold shoulder after that displeasing event at lunch.

"Why have you been ignoring me my pet?"

"Magnus I haven't been." I argued.

"Yes, yes you have. Now out with it!"

"Okay. Yes, I'm angry with you. You can be such a intolerable fussy old man. I didn't appreciate how you treated that woman!"

"Lucy-"

"Magnus you already said what you wanted to say."

"Lucy that is not fair! She caught me at my most difficult!"

"Well you didn't need to be that mean!"

"You know I am ordinarily not without a heart."

"Really?"

"Shall I produce X-Ray pictures to prove it?"

I fiddled with the vase of flowers that were in front of me.

"I wish to apologize."

"Your apology is accepted!"

"Now, for reasons which are too embarrassing to mention, I endorsed that pen."

"You're a very strange man aren't you?" I laughed at that. "You're really sorry about how you acted in that restaurant."

"Let's not be psychiatric my pet."

I looked down at my feet. Magnus sensed my discomfort.

"You have moments when your kind."

"I'm not kind I'm vicious. It's the secret to my charm. Now my pet, shall I call you for dinner? Saturday at 8?"

"No. You can't. I have plans."

"What plans?"

"Dinner plans."

"Why?"

"Father has set up my marriage. We will be discussing the wedding. I'm to dine with my fiance."

"What!? When did this happen!?"

I winced, I should have told him at lunch but something stopped me. Magnus, he gets so possessive...

"Who is it?" He yelled at me. I hate it when he yells at me like that. He knew this day would come. He should have known. He looked at me like I betrayed him.

"Vincent Sawarr."

"That disgrace of a Duke?"

"Magnus! He is kind and at least closer in age to me than the other suitors father chose. His mother is very sweet and Mama liked him... This maybe my only real chance to actually find love-"

"Don't be insane!"

"Well Magnus I have to look at this as positive as I can!"

Magnus glared at me. It sent shivers down my spine. He stormed out the tea room without saying a word to me.

Laxus read the entry over again. 'Who were you Lucy Heartfilia?'

He was discovering the richness in her life, but also the profligacy. He was trying to figure out who she was. Before she ran away, it was too many guests and too many dinners, too many suitors assuring her of their undying devotion. And after, too much of herself spent on the casual and petty, the transitory, and the undeserving. He was starting to see what Magnus meant, no man seemed good enough. He learned through reading her letters, balanced her unbalanced accounts, adding the sums of unpaid bills, that while to be a connoisseur of living it meant it was not lonely, but the price was high. Lucy never was alone and seized the day and her own happiness when she could.

The snapshot album was filled with portraits Lucy and her mother, and some of her father. Lucy looked young in all of them. He even saw a few baby photos, he suppose this made up for her seeing his. He still needed to talk to his grandfather about that. He found one little scrapbook Summer of 782. Two years before she ran away. It mostly consisted of her and Vincent. Laxus had read that part of her diary. In a single summer, Lucy had fallen victim to his charms and the candid camera. She had caught him full face and profile, closeup and bust, on the tennis court, in a roadster, in swimming trunks, in overalls, in hip boots with a basket slung over his shoulder, a fishing reel in his hand. Laxus paused at the portrait of Vincent, the hunter, surrounded by dead ducks. Laxus really couldn't believe she fell for that crap. But she was to be fair 15 when that summer happened. That summer she truly met Vincent and they were forced to see one another because their parents had made the arrangements to have them married. He picked up the diary again.

Dear Diary,

Tonight I went to a party at Auntie Sue's. I was accompanied by Magnus and my father tonight. Magnus was complaining about going to another one of her "usual roundups of bizarre and nondescript characters corralled from every stratum of society." I was alone looking at myself in a compact. I was wearing the new white dress I got from Lori's for the party. Anyways that's when he came over, Vincent Sawarr. He wore a dark black three piece suit. He was handsome as ever and had this deep voice that made my knees weak. He has also the prettiest gray blue eyes...well besides Laxus. But that's beside the point!

I was fixing my hair when he walked up to me. He came up and said hello, I had to look upwards. He has to be over 6 foot. He asked me to dance, I was hesitant..."I'm not alone." I looked back at Magnus. I agreed to be there with Magnus that evening.

"Him? I bet he's still doing the polka." He joked. I smiled, it had been years since I had seen Vincent. I was a little girl then, not even wearing a training bra, and here he was standing before me handsome now.

"Excuse me," I heard Magnus say, "Betsy Ross taught it to me."

Everyone laughed at Magnus's joke, except Vincent. My father even laughed. That's when Auntie Sue reintroduced us. My father became excited to know that Vincent was still single. Magnus was displeased, Aunt Sue explained that she invited Vincent because they reconnected at some derby...

Laxus's eyes were fixated on the page.

I went into the kitchen later that night, asking for a glass of milk for Magnus when I saw Vincent conversing with Sue's head cook Louise. Louise went to go and fetch some. I blushed as Vincent come up to me.

"I forgot to tell you Lucy I read palms, I cook, I swallow swords, I never eat garlic or onions! What more could you want from a man!"

I laughed at that, thinking it was funny. I laughed harder when Louise came behind him telling me to not listen to that "scallywag." I was surprised he was in there and said as much. Vincent told me they were old friends. That Louise feeds, him, humors him, and repairs him, and refuses to marry him. I said she had good taste, walking away smiling.

Laxus flipped to another page, this one entailed the discussion of Lucy helping give Vincent a job. Apparently Vincent told Lucy he was looking to have a sensible job so he wouldn't be a "pet." Apparently he wasn't happy having Lucy make all the money and him doing nothing. Lucy used her connections to give Laxus a job at a advertising company.

Laxus flipped to another page this one was interesting. This one talked about Lucy meeting Vincent at his job. Where she met a Diane Redfern. A model who was sweet on Vincent. Lucy stated that the situation made her slightly uncomfortable at how much attention Diane was giving Vincent. Lucy dismissed the situation though later in the entry. She had lunch with Vincent later where they discussed their marriage even further. Laxus rolled his eyes at things Lucy wrote down Vincent called her like moon of my delight. Laxus set the diary down sighing.

Laxus later had gone back to the guild that evening and asked more of his guildmates about Lucy. He wasn't sure when he had the change of heart but it pleased him more now to discover sincere praise and mourning among them than to hear the former testimonies of her fellow aristocrats and people she had worked for. Anyone who was smart, Laxus opined, could please a boss or a pompous aristocrat, but it took the real stuff for a girl who came from her background to be popular with her fellow guildmates. Basically, she didn't see herself below or above them. She worked hard to pay her rent and make ends meet like the rest of the guild did. She was one of them. He now was back at her place.

"So Lucy had the real stuff?" He said aloud reading another letter. There was no shadow of conflict on his face as he said the statement aloud.

Magnus Point of View

It was not until several hours later that Magnus reviewed the conversation and reflected upon the fact that Laxus was shaping Lucy's character to fit his attitudes as a young man might be when he is enamored by a living woman. Magnus's mind was clear and penetrating at the time, for it was midnight, the hour at which he was most brave and most free. Since Magnus had learned some years ago that the terrors of insomnia could be overcome by a half-hour's brisk walk, he had not once allowed lassitude, weather, nor the sorry events of a disappointing day to interfere with this nocturnal practice. He now though chose a street which had become important to him since he found Lucy again.

Naturally he was shocked to see a light burning in the house of the dead, but after a moment's reflection, Magnus knew that a young man who had once scorned overtime had given his heart to a job.

AN: God I hoped this made sense LOL

Shout outs to , CliffordTheBigSteeleMan, lokiwinners Thank you for the likes and favorites.

Two stories down, and one main story to go and a one shot to finish and I'll have accomplished my writing goals this week XD

Madaleine