Liadán knew that this meeting was overdue- but she had other things going on in her life, and had been enjoying the distraction from worrying about her farm. Her dragon eggs had eventually arrived- but they had died shortly after being hatched. So Liadán had acquired more, and they had also died. It was frustrating. From everything that Liadán had read, dragons- even as hatchlings- were supposed to be incredibly immune to illness, especially of the magical variety. It wasn't easy for dragons to get sick and die unless you tried.

The dragon hatchlings had been sold for high coin, though, for their hide and ingredients. Baby dragons made very potent potions ingredients- especially for potions of a less than innocent nature.

But it hadn't just been the dragons. Liadán had been enjoying her time with Christian. She had taken him to the Valentine's Day event at Calaveras, and things had gone much better than either of them had expected. People talked, of course- she had received questioning looks, and even afterward curious owls. Gregory had even owled to chide her for her stupidity- as if Gregory had any right to talk about somebody's level of intelligence. But it made her feel more secure not to be sneaking around and to accept her feelings.

Still, she did have a business to salvage. And things were not getting better. The RCMC had lost interest, the only advice she had left was to move elsewhere. Perhaps something was wrong with the land. But Liadán could not leave her family home. So she had owled Mr. Grimm and her cousin Delilah to come and have a look around sometime after lunch, and see if they had any help to lend. Alberic could be incredibly useful in most situations- if he could clean up after the ministry, he could certainly handle this.

Liadán had put on something casual since they would be spending most of their time outside- she saw no reason to muddy up any of her business attire. "Lead them to the back gardens when they arrive," she said to the house elves. "We'll be starting from there."

Between Liadan’s owl and Torquil’s report on what was going on at the farm, Delilah had a rough idea of what might be going on at the farm, nothing ordinary. So, even though the Jamaican witch was not one of Liadan O Morain’s fondest family members, she did have a sense of care for the girl, and rather than let some epidemic of catastrophe unfold for the girl she decided to assist with the problems plaguing the farm.

With the chill of winter melting into the rainy humidity of spring, Delilah slipped into a long-sleeved dress and wool leggings, and draped her shoulders with one of her many wraps. She slipped a bracelet charm on her left hand and then her wicker bag over her other and onto her shoulder as she wedged the slim clutch under her arm, then floo-ed to the O Morain estate.

The doors opened for her and her lids fell as her gaze dropped upon the a tiny house elf, “Mrs. Foley,” the creature informed gesturing its feeble arm into the home, “The Mistress wishes to meet in the gardens,” Delilah strode into the dark and elegant home, waiting as the elf shut the door behind her and began to guide her towards the back of the house. She wasn’t to keen to rely on house-elves for everything—assistants, possibly, but for everything tending to hand and foot? The witch preferred self-reliance.

However she could appreciate beauty, and the ripening bloom of the gardens and greenery sprouting up around the farm. At least the land was well taken care of.

“Liadan,” she greeted in a slick and cordial tone, “You seem well, despite di’ circumstances.” No smile, just an eyebrow tilt of curiosity. She crossed her arms and waited, obviously her cousin was not very quick to move on with things, or they were waiting for something or someone. So before an awkward silence took hold she brought up the subject of the matter she was called for. “I suppose The Ministry, ‘Dey’ve gone t’rough the basics of detecting any enchantments?”

Leaving the office for a day was easy.  As a high-ranking government employee, Alberic had accrued enough leave time by this point that if he did not start taking at least a month a year, he'd begin to make considerable earnings in compensatory time. His superiours begged him to take time off.

And so, when he said he was going to visit a family friend, no questions were asked. Which was how Alberic liked it.

Alberic also liked to be of service to his family friends. It came in handy later, when they had something he needed. He was not sure what Liadán Ó Móráin, who seemed to have nearly everything at risk -- including her reputation -- might have to offer, but the appreciation of a young, talented, and beautiful pureblood never went wrong anyhow. Though he was not assured of immediate profit, Alberic's sensibilities and charitable nature drew him to help this once.

When he arrived at the  farm, Alberic surveyed the property. He paused to hand his cloak to a nearby house elf, who hesitated and, obediently and with the proper level of deference expected in well-trained creatures, told him that Mistress Ó Móráin requested his presence in the gardens, if he pleased, and that Master Grimm might be more comfortable keeping his cloak on, if he pleased.

With a nod, Alberic refastened the clasp of his cloak, situated his bowler cap, and, valise in hand, moved through the sunning rooms in the back. Pushing the doors open with the flat of his hand, he smiled slightly as he recognised the two women conversing: one was of course the friend who he had come to visit. The other he knew solely by reputation.

"I suppose The Ministry, 'Dey've gone t'rough the basics of detecting any enchantments?"

"It depends on what one means by The Ministry, of course." Alberic said, joining them with a slight bow of the head to show proper respect. "Miss Ó Móráin," he greeted, awaiting the introduction.

"What is a woman if she does not maintain her dignity in a time of crisis?" Liadan responded. Of course she was doing well. Liadan did nto squander the family fortune in a matter of a few years, although if she didn't start putting money back into it, her lavish spending habits would have to be curbed- or she would have to marry someone who was far more rich than she. Considering her current relationship options, that wasn't very likely. "I've money to survive, of course, I am not solely reliant upon the success or failure of the business. although I would like to see it flourish again. I would like for my children to inherit someday."

Alberic arrived shortly, and she smiled at him as he approach. "Mr. Grimm!" she greeted cheerily. "It is so good of you to take the time to come. This is my cousin, Delilah Foley, she has some special talents I thought might be beneficial for the day. Delilah, this is my friend Alberic Grimm."

"The regulation and control of magical creatures has tested for known illnesses and have turned up empty handed. Seems there is no poison in the water or food supplies either. I don't know that they checked for enchantments. Certainly they made sure i don't have any illegal wards in place- as they tend to do every so often from where my father had some rather dangerous ones in place. Other than that I do not believe that any magical testing was done in the way of enchantments. Although I am not an expert on the matter, I would assume it not a particularly simple task to check for a mass amount."

She hoped it wasn't that easy anyway. Liadan was in the habit of practicing some fairly questionable magic in her spare time. If it were so easy to detect she would not practice quite so often. "I'm not sure how the two of you would like to do things. Do you want to have a look at the creatures? Or I could hang back and just let you guide yourselves."

Delilah admired Liadan's responsibilities to her farm and the unfaltering pride she held for it. It was unlike a pureblood to relinquish their duties when simply faced with hardships.

And then a reply, and she returned to the new arrival, someone she recalled from her husbands recounting of his New Years mummy encounter and a bit of wiggling through his memories, "Pleasure, Mr. Grimm" she greeted after the introductions. She hid her distaste for where he placed the employment of such skills. She would rather be pleasant despite the obvious friendship between the two wizards, which caused her to wonder how close the bonds twisted between the two.

Then Liadan quickly delved into outlining the problem. "I'm sure a look would help," She settled her gaze on Liadan, working off her suggestions, "I'm inclined t'employ the work of an engineered arthropod," There were plenty to choose from, but Delilah was only concerned with one very thorough one.  "A spider," she looped her gaze to Alberic Grimm to study his interpretation, "by behavior and chemicals. It would be easy to catch the problem and read it t'rough the creature's... reaction."

She reeled her mind with the different methods of altering the creature, through its generations, through potions, or a ritual--naturally the latter was the quickest but the two former were more thorough. She lifted her arm uncurling her fingers towards the new arrival,  "Your thoughts, Mr. Grimm?"