Mothers. Oddly that of all things could actually make something of an emotional appeal to him. Eli had been close to his mother, had embraced his Welsh heritage - her Welsh heritage - so tightly because of her. Losing her had hurt and while he didn't know this person, he could hear the care there. Eli also thought he could hear that sort of desperation to get help.
"Do you and your friend have any idea as to why your mother or the others have been affected?" He still hadn't returned his memories of his experiments to the proper place in his head, but he had reviewed his findings on the similarities and differences of a magic and muggle brain. It was all about nuances really.
And okay, maybe, he was just a little bit interested to see if this man had any sense at all. At the very least, Eli would need something to entertain himself as he located the book the man would need from the stacks.